The contribution of Bolsa Família to the educational achievement of economically disadvantaged children in Brazil

Abstract

This paper investigates whether the Brazilian conditional cash transfer programme, Bolsa Família (BF), contributes to improvements in school performance in test scores and pass-grades, and reductions in dropout rates for 4th grade children. Our results suggest a positive effect of length of participation in BF and amount of cash received with respect to school outcomes, but with substitute effects. A trend of increasing gains in school outcomes over time associated with BF participation raise an important challenge for policy makers: how much support to give, and for how long, to ensure progress in school outcomes?