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This paper presents empirical evidence that allows us to understand how does the welfare level of beneficiary households of the conditional cash transfer program Oportunidades evolve, both in the short and in the medium term. Understanding this evolution is relevant in order to design efficient exit mechanisms for this type of programs -something that concerns at least 27 conditional cash transfer programs worldwide. Using administrative data of the universe of beneficiary households, we study changes in welfare levels of rural and urban households in the short and medium term. Furthermore, recognizing that the evolution of each household's welfare level might be heterogeneous, we analyze the paths different types of households have followed over time. Our results confirm the existence of heterogeneity in the evolution of welfare levels among households. The data shows that poorer households have achieved greater improvements in their welfare level than (relatively) better off households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]