Bolsa Família after Brasil Carinhoso: An Analysis of the Potential for Reducing Extreme Poverty

POLICY RESEARCH BRIEF by Rafael Osorio and Pedro Ferreira

This policy Research brief explains the changes in the design of the Bolsa Família Programme from 2003 to 2012. It focuses on the introduction of Brasil Carinhoso, an unconditional cash transfer aimed at eliminating extreme poverty in families with children aged less than 15 who are beneficiaries of Bolsa Familia. To achieve this, the extreme poor families receive an income transfers that is equal to the gap between the self-reported monthly family per capita income and the extreme poverty line.

The authors estimate that had Brasil Carinhoso be implemented in 2011 covering all extreme poor families with children below 15, extreme poverty would have decreased from 5.3 to 0.8 per cent for the whole population and from 9.7 to 0.6 for the population aged 0-15 years.

The authors also suggest that given the small number of families without children aged 0-15 who are still in extreme poverty, the government could in fact extend the Brasil Carinhoso benefit to all families living in poverty. This change was actually announced by the Government of Brazil on the 19th February.

 Visit the The International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) to read the paper