Citizen’s Basic Income in Brazil: From Bolsa Família to Pilot Experiments, with an Appendix: From Local to National: Mexico City and Basic Income, by Pablo Yanes

Abstract

Silva and Lima discuss the Bolsa Familia, a national targeted income transfer programme, intended as a first step towards a ‘Citizenship Basic Income’ (defined as a Basic Income sufficient for basic needs). They also describe pilot experiments in four municipalities across Brazil. They conclude that some of the characteristics of the experiments conflict with the definition of Basic Income, and that the experiments are limited, both in the size of the populations covered, and in the monetary value of the benefits. In the appendix, Yanes describes the implementation of an unconditional pension in Mexico, first in Mexico City, and now nationwide; and he recounts debates in the Mexico City Council that nearly resulted in a Basic Income appearing in the city’s constitution.