Bolsa Família: An international example of social inclusion. An interview with Helmut Schwarzer. 

Helmut Schwarzer is the National Secretary for Citizenship Income, Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger (MDS) of Brazil since 2015. Before joining the MDS, Helmut held the Geneva-based position of Senior Social Security Specialist for the Americas, Social Protection Department, International Labour Organization (ILO). He is an economist trained at the Universities of Paraná (Brazil) and Berlin (Germany).

1. Bolsa Família is a flagship social protection programme in Brazil and one of the largest and best known programmes worldwide. What are the latest developments of Bolsa Família in terms of design, performance, and coverage?

The Bolsa Família Programme has significantly evolved since its creation. It has maintained the responsibility of families in sending children and adolescents to school and meeting a mandatory medical care agenda, but also deepened its focus on fighting extreme poverty. The rules currently in place were set in 2011 and 2012. The rule which calculates the value of benefits takes into account the number of family members, especially children, and the economic situation of the family: the more children, the higher the benefit; the lower per capita family income, the greater the transferred amount. The Benefício de Superação da Extrema Pobreza (Benefit to Overcome Extreme Poverty) was launched in 2012 in order to ensure a minimum income of 77 Brazilian reals (BRL) per family member among all beneficiaries. This benefit is paid to those families that remain in extreme poverty (i.e. income below BRL77 per person) even after taking into account all other applicable benefits of the Programme (i.e. basic, child, and lactating/pregnant women benefits). The Bolsa Família currently covers 13.8 million families (a total of 48 million persons or close to 25 per cent of the Brazilian population), with an average family benefit of BRL166 per month. The 2015 budget corresponds to BRL27.7 billion and has not been subject to cuts despite the difficult fiscal situation Brazil has to manage this year.

2. The impact on poverty and inequality is one of the critical questions at the time of evaluating a social protection programme. Could you mention recent data on the impact of Bolsa Família? What does the data say?

Since its inception in 2003, data available shows that the Bolsa Família Programme has helped to lift 36 million people above the extreme poverty line (currently defined as a household income of up to BRL77 per person). The Programme has also a strong impact on inequality, especially in terms of access to education and health. Fostered by Bolsa Família´s Programme participation conditions requiring health care and education, access to public services has becomes less unequal to the poorest population. 

Statistics from household surveys on the poorest 20 per cent of the population and administrative data from the Ministry of Education and from Bolsa Família/MDS show gains in access to education: there is an increase of 8 per cent in the chance of enrolment and 97 per cent of Bolsa Família kids meet the minimum school frequency thresholds. In spite of highly unfavourable socioeconomic backgrounds, Bolsa Família kids reach approval levels similar to those of non-Bolsa Família children in fundamental school. High school approval rates are even 2.6 per cent higher if compared to the same level of non-Bolsa Família adolescents. School dropout rates are 0.2 per cent lower in fundamental school and 3.1 per cent lower in high school. Bolsa Família has 17 million beneficiaries between 6 and 17 years of age. Among them, the Programme has complete information on the educational situations of 15.7 million children.

Regarding the impact on health, Bolsa Família mothers have a 50 per cent higher chance of receiving prenatal attention compared to non-Bolsa Família mothers and a 60 per cent higher chance of starting prenatal care before completing the third month of pregnancy. Bolsa Família babies have 14 per cent less chance of premature birth and 8 per cent higher chance of being breastfed. Also, 99 per cent of the Bolsa Família kids are up-to-date with their vaccinations and child mortality rates have fallen 19 per cent in regions with strong Bolsa Família coverage. Child mortality caused by diarrhoea fell by 46 per cent and child mortality by malnutrition dropped 58 per cent. Recently published data also showed a reduced incidence of poverty-related diseases such as tuberculosis and Hansen´s Disease in communities with high Bolsa Família coverage.

3. Could you explain how Bolsa Família articulates with other social protection programmes and, more globally, with other actors? Do you consider that there is progress in terms of articulation and coordination with other programmes and actors?

We understand Bolsa Família and Cadastro Único (the unified registry and database of low-income families) as a gateway to access a number of social programmes. Programme conditions are seen as a way of fostering access to social rights and not as an instrument for punishing families. Hence, Bolsa Família is a programme that intelligently performs the articulatory role suggested by the ILO’s Social Protection Floor concept, completing a “non-contributory subsystem” of policies embedded within the larger social protection system.

In addition to health and education, there is also a strong relationship between Bolsa Família and social inclusion/activation policies by means of the Plano Brasil Sem Miséria (Brazil Without Extreme Poverty Plan). Through the social assistance network at the municipal level, the population can obtain missing documentation and social counselling services that pave the way to access further benefits and services. Technical support for rural and urban occupations is part of productive inclusion policies. For example, Programa Nacional de Acesso ao Ensino Técnico e Emprego (PRONATEC) offered vocational training for 1.8 million beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família and others registered in the Cadastro Único: 75 per cent finished their courses and 55 per cent were employed upon completion. In rural areas, besides traditional technical advice to small farmers, the supply of traditional seeds and policies to allow peasants stronger access to markets, as well as direct purchases of food produced for public institutions, have expanded. Moreover, there is also technical assistance and financial support to small and micro-entrepreneurs. As a result, half a million beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família have formalized a small enterprise over the last five years. Further programmes targeted at the poor and vulnerable provide access to things such as potable water cisterns, a social electricity tariff, nutritional security, housing, and to Bolsa Verde – a top-up granted to Bolsa Família families in exchange for environmental services in vulnerable areas.

4. What are the major challenges that Bolsa Família and, in general, the Brazilian social protection system is facing?

Brazil is currently facing a recession and, thereby, budget restrictions. Fiscal space for social protection programmes therefore needs to be protected. In a long term perspective, the acceleration of population ageing poses challenges not only to social protection policies, but to all areas of public policy, and will require a careful approach in the spirit of the 2013 discussion at the International Labour Conference. Regarding Bolsa Família, I believe that one of the main challenges is communication. Specific communication strategies must target both beneficiaries and society at large. Beneficiaries wish to better understand, for example, the calculation rules for benefits and how to access services available for their families. On the other hand, communication with society at large is essential for ensuring political support, refuting disinformation, and fighting prejudices against the poor. Strengthening social dialogue with stakeholders is a priority as well, and Bolsa Família should go beyond the traditional dialogue pattern by including civil society, beneficiaries, and users. Finally, a technical and political dialogue needs to be nurtured with all partners from the three governmental levels established by Brazilian Federalism (municipalities, states, and the federal Government), so as to act in a coordinated manner.

5. Bolsa família does not have a time limit. Are there families who leave the Programme?

We think that permanence in the Programme should be granted as long as a family is poor and complies with rules and co-responsibilities. This is the essence of a rights-based approach. In addition, we want children and adolescents to stay in school as long as possible because any dropout would represent a failure of the Programme to help break the intergenerational poverty transmission chain. This said, Bolsa Família’s membership is dynamic. On average between 100 and 150 thousand families leave the Programme each month. Actually, there are continuous inward and outward flows: those who no longer need support exit the Programme while new rights-holders are registered. Over the years, Bolsa Família has covered quite a number of families. Three million have quit the Programme because their income level surpassed the allowed threshold; another 3.2 million left because they did not match other criteria (e.g. their children aged). Each year, a review is initiated by the management to confirm information on families whose last update was two or more years ago. A second annual procedure crosschecks data provided by families with official administrative information on wages and social security benefits, available from other ministries, and requests the beneficiaries to update self-declared information and to clear possible differences. These procedures (and others) help keep the Programme well targeted.

It is, therefore, simply not true that people become freeloaders once their family is selected to take part in the Programme. The benefit is meant as a supplement to other sources of income and 75 per cent of the adults in beneficiary families are in the labour market. Last but not least, one should always keep in mind that Bolsa Família has not only the effect of fighting monetary poverty, but also to ensure that children stay at school and families get access to regular medical services, hence increasing their chances to exit poverty in a sustainable way. For all these reasons, we do not think that hurrying families to an “exit door” or setting a maximum permanence period for a family is the correct policy approach.