scholarly journals Combating Poverty as a Main Challenge of Sustainable Development: The Case of Brazil’s Bolsa Família

2018 ◽  
pp. 87-105
Author(s):  
Bettina Dabrowski de Flores
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
International Media ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Bolsa Familia

Brazil’s conditional cash transfer Bolsa Família is one of the largest poverty reduction policies worldwide, providing cash transfers to poor households on the condition of fulfilment of a series of health and schooling requirements. Bolsa Família helps 13.8 million families or 25% of the total population. Since its launch in 2003 results are the following: poverty in Brazil has notably decreased; three million people left poverty and four million are no longer indigent; the Gini coefficient and Human Development Index has improved. Therefore, Brazil has implemented a policy in the realm of sustainable development strategies, combatting the most pressing and degrading condition of deprivation: poverty. As Bolsa Família’s impact became prominent due to international media and international organisations, 63 countries have sought Brazilian expertise on social policies. The aim of this essay is to assess if Bolsa Família is an effective mechanism for sustainable development, particularly poverty alleviation.

Anti-Poverty Transfers and Poverty Reduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Barrientos
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfers ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer Program

This chapter examines the role that public policy initiatives—specifically anti-poverty transfers—have played in the reduction of poverty and inequality in Brazil. A number of anti-poverty initiatives are considered in turn, and not just the widely known Bolsa Familia conditional cash transfer program. The analysis establishes that such transfers—including conditional cash transfers—have proved surprisingly effective, even helping to tackle long-standing income inequality. It is recognized that explicit anti-poverty initiatives were not the only drivers of the reduced incidence of poverty and inequality: factors such as growth and improved access to labor markets also played a role. However, progress is now threatened by the recent economic and political crisis.

A Spatial Analysis of Homicide Across Brazil’s Municipalities

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Ingram ◽  
Marcelo Marchesini da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Violence Reduction ◽  
Reduction Program ◽  
Spatial Dimensions ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
Small Clusters ◽  
Positive Effect

Examining homicide across Brazil’s 5,562 municipalities, we find that violence nearby has a positive effect on local violence (diffusion effect), violence exerts an unusual negative spatial effect in small clusters of communities in northeastern Brazil, and a prominent poverty-reduction program (Bolsa Família [BF]) has mixed effects. The spatial dimensions of violence complement existing non-spatial research on violence in Brazil, and the results regarding BF offer a spatial complement to research on conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs, clarifying the sources of violence in Latin America’s largest country and shedding light on the content and geographic targeting of violence reduction policies.

scholarly journals Combination of conditional cash transfer program and environmental health interventions reduces child mortality: an ecological study of Brazilian municipalities

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anelise Andrade de Souza ◽  
Sueli Aparecida Mingoti ◽  
Rômulo Paes-Sousa ◽  
Leo Heller
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
High Coverage ◽  
Solid Waste Collection ◽  
Access To Water

Abstract Background This study aims to assess the interactive effects of Brazilian public interventions, environmental health programs (access to water, sanitation and solid waste collection) and a Conditional Cash Transfer Program (PBF), on the mortality reduction due to diarrhea and malnutrition among children under 5 years old. Methods The study design is ecological, with longitudinal analysis in a balanced panel. The period covered is 2006 to 2016, including 3467 municipalities from all regions of the country, which resulted in 38,137 observations. The generalized linear models were adjusted considering the Negative Binomial (NB) distribution for the number of deaths due to malnutrition and diarrhea, with fixed effects. NB models with and without zero-inflation were assessed. Subsequent interaction models were applied to assess the combined effects of the two public policies. Results In relation to the decline of mortality rates due to diarrhea in the municipalities, positive effect modification were observed in the presence of: high coverage of the target population by the PBF and access to water, 0.54 (0.28–1.04) / 0.55 (0.29–1.04); high coverage by the total population by the PBF and access to water, 0.97 (0.95–1.00) and high coverage by the total population by the PBF and access to sanitation, 0.98 (0.97–1.00). Decline on diarrhea mortality was also observed in the joint presence of high coverage of solid waste collection and access to water, categories 1 (> 60% ≤85%): 0.98 (0.96–1.00), 0.98 (0.97–1, 00) and 2 (> 85% ≤ 100%): 0.97 (0.95–0.98), 0.97 (0.95–0.99). Negative effect modification were observed for mortality due to malnutrition in the presence of simultaneous high coverage of the total population by the PBF and access to sanitation categories 1 (≥ 20 < 50%): 1.0061 (0.9991–1.0132) and 2 (≥ 50 < 100%): 1.0073 (1.0002–1.0145) and high coverage of the total population by the PBF and solid waste collection, 1.0004 (1.0002–1.0005), resulting in malnutrition mortality rates increase. Conclusion Implementation of environmental health services and the coverage expansion by the PBF may enhance the prevention of early deaths in children under 5 years old due to diarrhea, a poverty related disease.

scholarly journals The Association between Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes and Cohort Fertility: Evidence from Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Ferreira Soares ◽  
Everton Emanuel Campos de Lima
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Parity Progression ◽  
Monetary Transfers ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cohort Fertility ◽  
Reproductive Cycles ◽  
The Relationship

Brazil’s Bolsa Família Programme (BFP) aims to combat poverty and social inequalities through monetary transfers to families. A much-discussed indirect effect of the programme was its correlation to the fertility of the beneficiary families. In this paper, we use a cohort fertility approach with parity progression ratios that differs from existing literature, which mainly used period fertility measures, to better understand the relationship between fertility and the BFP. This study analyses the relationship between the BFP and the reproduction of Brazilian women. We use data from the 2010 Brazilian micro-censuses, the only census after the start of the BFP in 2004, to reconstruct the childbirth history of women with incomplete reproductive cycles (women aged 25 to 29), and estimate parity progression ratios (PPRs) and cohort fertility rates (CFR). In addition, we estimate propensity score matching (PSM) models comparing fertility outcomes of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the programme. Our results show distinct differences in CFRs and PPRs. On average, BFP beneficiaries had more children than women not covered by the programme. This finding remained consistent even after controlling for educational gradients and other covariates. Our empirical findings show that women opt for a “rational” strategy, where they tend to have children in more rapid succession up until three children. These findings contradict the recent literature that has not found any correlation between BFP and fertility. The results also suggest that cohort analyses may fill certain gaps left by previous studies of period fertility. This paper is one of a few that have analysed the relationship between a conditional income transfer programme and cohort measures in Brazil.

Governmental programmes associated with food insecurity among communities of descendants of enslaved blacks in Brazil

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Camilla Christine de Souza Cherol ◽  
Aline Alves Ferreira ◽  
Rosana Salles-Costa
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
Food And Nutritional Security

Abstract Objective: To assess the access to government programmes and their association with food insecurity (FI) in families from quilombolas communities in Brazil. Design: An analysis of secondary data from the 2011 Quilombolas Census was performed in Brazilian territories. The Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale (Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar, EBIA) was used to assess the household FI status. The relationships of governmental programmes with the levels of FI were estimated using logistic regression models. Setting: Greater national survey census of food and nutritional security of the recognised Quilombolas Brazilian territories. Participants: Totally, 8743 quilombolas families. Results: The prevalence of household FI was 86·1 % (moderate/severe FI: 55·9 %, 95 % CI 54·8, 56·9). After adjustment for socio-demographic variables, access to rural development programmes (Food Acquisition Program: OR: 0·6, 95 % CI 0·4, 0·8, P-value < 0·01) and health programmes (Center for Family Health Support: OR: 0·5, 95 % CI 0·5, 0·7, P-value < 0·001) is inversely and significantly associated with moderate/severe FI. The Brazilian conditional cash transfer programme (Bolsa Família) was associated with quilombolas families with moderate/severe levels of FI (OR: 3·3, 95 % CI 2·8, 4·0, P-value < 0·001). Conclusions: The prevalence of FI was high among quilombolas families. Despite reduced participation in governmental programmes, rural development, agriculture and conditional cash transfer programmes are fundamental to the autonomy of quilombolas communities. In spite of the low participation, when families are able to access these programmes, the study revealed the importance of these initiatives in reducing the likelihood of severe levels of FI.

Do Conditional Cash Transfers Empower Women? Insights from Brazil’s Bolsa Família

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-74
Author(s):  
Natasha Borges Sugiyama ◽  
Wendy Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfers ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Transfer Programs ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer Programs ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTConditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) have emerged as an important social welfare innovation across the Global South in the last two decades. That poor mothers are typically the primary recipients of the grants renders easy, but not necessarily correct, the notion that CCTs empower women. This article assesses the relationship between the world’s largest CCT, Brazil’s Bolsa Família, and women’s empowerment. To systematize and interpret existing research, including our own, it puts forth a three-part framework that examines the program’s effects on economic independence, physical health, and psychosocial well-being. Findings suggest that women experience some improved status along all three dimensions, but that improvements are far from universal. A core conclusion is that the broader institutional context in which the Bolsa Família is embedded—that is, ancillary services in health and social assistance—is crucial for conditioning the degree of empowerment obtained.

scholarly journals From Fome Zero to Bolsa Família: Social Policies and Poverty Alleviation under Lula

2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 689-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTHONY HALL
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Maternal Nutrition ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Bolsa Familia

Under the administrations of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002) and especially President Lula (2003–), conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes have become adopted as mainstream social policy in Brazil. This follows a marked trend since the 1990s in Latin America towards the setting up of targeted safety nets to alleviate poverty. Lula consolidated and expanded CCTs, firstly under Fome Zero and later Bolsa Família, now the largest such scheme in the world. Its four sub-programmes (educational stipends to boost school attendance, maternal nutrition, food supplements and a domestic gas subsidy) benefit some 30 million of Brazil's poorest people, with a target of 44 million by 2006. Since 2003, spending on Bolsa Família has risen significantly to consume over one-third of the social assistance budget for the poorest sectors and it remained a flagship policy in the run-up to the presidential elections of October 2006. Although coverage of Bolsa Família is impressive, however, systematic evaluation of its social and economic impacts is still lacking. Evidence from other CCT programmes in Latin America suggests that positive results may be achieved in terms of meeting some immediate needs of the poor. However, there have been many implementation problems. These include poor beneficiary targeting, lack of inter-ministerial coordination, inadequate monitoring, clientelism, weak accountability and alleged political bias. Given the heightened profile of cash transfers in Brazil's social policy agenda, key questions need to be asked. These concern, firstly, the extent to which Bolsa Família does indeed contribute to poverty alleviation; and secondly, whether it creates greater dependence of the poor on government hand-outs and political patronage at the expense of long-term social investment for development.

scholarly journals Voter Response to Peak and End Transfers: Evidence from a Conditional Cash Transfer Experiment

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Galiani ◽  
Nadya Hajj ◽  
Patrick J. McEwan ◽  
Pablo Ibarrarán ◽  
Nandita Krishnaswamy
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Cognitive Bias ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Experimental Finding ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Transfer Experiment ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Incumbent Party

In a Honduran field experiment, sequences of cash transfers to poor households varied in amount of the largest (peak) and last (end) transfers. Larger peak-end transfers increased voter turnout and the incumbent party’s vote share in the 2013 presidential election, independently of cumulative transfers. A plausible explanation is that voters succumbed to a common cognitive bias by applying peak-end heuristics. Another is that voters deliberately used peak-end transfers to update beliefs about the incumbent party. In either case, the results provide experimental evidence on the classic non-experimental finding that voters are especially sensitive to recent economic activity. (JEL C93, D72, I32, O15, O17)

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