SES Publications - Brazil - Socio-economic security

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Assessing Local Minimum Income Programmes in Brazil
Lena Lavinas, Octavio Tourinho and Maria Lígia Barbosa, June 2001

Do Bolsa-Escola programmes have positive impact on poverty reduction? An in-depth evaluation was conducted by the Institute for Applied Economic Research - IPEA, in collaboration with the municipal government of Recife (Pernambuco), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank, to assess the impact of the Bolsa-Escola Programme which, created in 1997, currently pays benefits to some 1,600 families. The study consisted of an analysis of the factors which affect learning outcomes among children attending school under the Programme and which impact upon the social vulnerability and economic welfare of the families benefited.

The study sought:

to identify the impact of the Programme on the economic activities of adult family members;

to assess its contribution to increasing family income (other than the cash benefit itself);

to determine how long a family must remain in the Programme in order to escape poverty;

to ascertain whether child labour had definitively been eradicated among families participating in the Programme; and

to appraise Bolsa-Escola's real contribution, in terms of the children's school performance, aside from ensuring high rates of attendance.

The study was based upon a sample of 1,218 beneficiary families and a control group consisting of 268 families with characteristics similar to those of the beneficiaries but which were not participating in the Programme. Two interviews were conducted with each participating family: the first at the time when they entered the Programme, and the second, one year later.
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Updated by LD. Approved by GS. Last update: 1 August 2001.