Bolsa Família
"[2] The program was a centerpiece of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's social policy and is reputed to have played a role in his victory in the general election of 2006.
[11] On 30 December 2021, Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned a new cash transfer program, called Auxílio Brasil, formally ending Bolsa Família.
[12] However, after Lula's reelection as president of Brazil in 2022, he declared that he would rename the program back to Bolsa Família, putting an end to Auxílio Brasil.
Fragmentation makes it difficult for a non-consensual form to reach the central level, creating a policy challenge for national leaders.
He unified all prior programs to create one and provided a monetary amount per month that would allow households to rise above the poverty line.
Aside from the ability to bypass state involvement, there are additional enabling factors such as the interaction of a non-majoritarian system of government and fiscal incentives for central-local collaborations.
The hardening budget constraints put in place by Cardoso's administration to stabilize macroeconomic performance gave municipalities an incentive to collaborate with the central government.
The federal center and municipalities’ abilities to collaborate with each other have facilitated Brazil's capability to build an effective welfare policy for the poor.
The existence of a power sharing logic in Brazil enabled a widespread means tested social program that was able to achieve success nationwide.
Surveys conducted by the Federal Government among Bolsa Família's beneficiaries indicate that the money is spent, in order of priority, on food; school supplies; clothing; and shoes.
[22] A study conducted by The Federal University of Pernambuco, using sophisticated statistical methods, inferred that 87% of the money is used, by families living in rural areas, to buy food.
[25][26] A system of control and monitoring of the Bolsa Família Program was inaugurated in December 2006, which uses satellites and the internet via radio waves, which allows the exchange of data with the Municipalities of more remote locations, even in that there is no electricity or telephone.
[27] The Bolsa Família was criticized by political opponents of President Lula for allegedly using the revenues of the CPMF tax (which was originally created under the pretext of financing the public health system during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration;[28] the CPMF tax expired in December 2007, and was not renewed) for political and electoral purposes,[29] to the detriment of the public health system that currently faces enormous difficulties.
During a trip to Brazil in 2005, the former president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz said, "Bolsa Familia has already become a highly praised model of effective social policy.
[35] The program has clearly contributed to improvements in Brazil's fight against poverty, according to research promoted by some universities and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
An ex ante econometric evaluation of Bolsa Escola found a significant increase in school attendance rates and decrease in the number of children involved in child labor.
[40] Research promoted by the World Bank shows a significant reduction in child labor exploitation among children benefited by the Bolsa Família program.
Children in public schools receive one free meal a day—two in the poorest areas—so less of their family's limited income is needed to pay for food.
[43] In 2018, it was found that an increase in the Bolsa Família coverage was associated with a reduction in suicide rates between 2004 and 2012 even when controlling for socio-economic, demographic and social welfare factors.
[47] The World Bank studies reveal that, although the program is very new, positive measurable results have already been recorded in the consumption of food, in the quality of the diet and in the growth of children.
Kathy Lindert, head of the Bolsa Familia project team, lists a series of challenges that the Bolsa Família will have to face in the future, such as clear definition of objectives, monitoring and evaluation, to ensure that the program does not become an isolated island ", but is complemented by investments in education, health and infrastructure, helping families, in their words" to graduate "(i.e., to leave) of the program.
