Brazil's Bolsa Família & its Limitations

In its effort to reduce poverty and child labor, Brazil created a welfare program in 2003 called Bolsa Família (family grant). Participating households get a monthly stipend of about 22 reais ($12) as long as their children stay in school and get regular medical check-ups. This program has been acclaimed for being responsible for 1/6 of Brazil’s poverty reduction and for reducing Brazil’s Gini index from 0.58 to 0.54. The article I have linked deals with the limitations of this program, most notably about its ineffectiveness in cities versus its significant impact in rural areas. Out of all the possible causes explained in the article, I think the most notable reason why the program might work less in cities is because the costs outweigh the benefits. The jobs kids hold in cities pay a lot more than rural jobs like farming, which most children do essentially for free. The monthly stipend given through Bolsa Família may often be less than a city worker’s wage. If Brazil is really looking to further increase the number of participating families, a program needs to be designed uniquely for city living conditions. Even so, the article also makes a good point that Bolsa Família has done an outstanding job at helping reduce rural poverty, malnutrition, and the absence of clean water in Brazil.