Programa Bolsa Família: contribuições para o enfrentamento à pobreza

Abstract

This article aims to present some considerations about the effects of the income transfer Program called Bolsa Família in the fight against poverty in Brazil. After a review of the literature on the concept, definition and contextualization of poverty and a brief description of the history of the Bolsa Família Program, a survey of economic data on Brazilian States was made, provided by Atlas Brazil and the Ministry of Social Development and Hunger Combat (Ministério do Desenvolvimento Social e Combate a Fome – MDS). Data analysis was made from the perspective of comparisons between Brazilian states, regions and with the national average. The data analysed show that the Bolsa Família Program may have contributed to reduce the poverty rates of the Brazilian population, improving the profile of social inequalities. However, this evolution is still insufficient to generate structural changes. Ideally, social policy should be articulated with economic mechanisms capable of achieving self-sustaining development projects.