The Consolidation of Social Assistance Policy in Brazil
"Brazil's trajectory in the field of income transfers is quite well known internationally. Especially after the implementation of Bolsa Familia, Brazil's experiences in the field have been the object of constant references, studies and analyses. Such experiences were even used as a foundation for a wide array of South-South cooperation initiatives. Less known, however, is that conditional cash transfers are just a part of the non-contributory social-protection system that Brazil has been developing over the past 20 years." (?)
Social Development through Efficient Policies, Evaluating the Impact of Bolsa Familia
The Brazilian welfare state has developed over time in relation to national and global trends. This study analyses the creation of Latin Americas largest Conditional Cash Transfer program in relation to these trends. The thesis provides an historical overview of the creation of Conditional Cash Transfers in the country that lastly ended with Bolsa Familia. Alongside events that led to Bolsa Familia, the nation witnessed the development of social welfare initiatives as well as alternative poverty reducing programs. The study analyses this in the context of the creation of the Brazilian welfare. The question guiding the study is: Has the Bolsa Famila programme helped to reduce poverty in Brazil? It is argued that Brazil has been successful in reducing its poverty rate as a result of the programme. The study looks deeper into the structure of Bolsa Familia in order to view its results and effects both advantages and disadvantages of the programme are assessed. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Gasto Social e Política Macroeconômica: Trajetórias e Tensôes no Período 1995-2005
Este trabalho analisa a trajetoria do Gasto Social Federal (GSF) de acordo com a metodologia de areas de atuacao, desenvolvida na Diretoria de Estudos Sociais (Disoc) do Instituto de Pesquisa Economica Aplicada (Ipea). Atualiza-se a serie iniciada em 1995 ate o ano de 2005, completando assim um periodo de 11 anos. Constata-se o crescimento do Gasto Social Federal, liderado pelas areas de previdencia e assistencia social, tanto em seus valores reais, quanto em proporcao do Produto Interno Bruto (PIB). Todavia, discute-se que tal crescimento permitiu uma expansao na protecao social proporcionada pelas politicas publicas - que nao deve ser subestimada. A trajetoria do GSF revela-se tambem bastante irregular e instavel no periodo, e um segundo objetivo deste texto consiste em relacionar essa instabilidade a conducao da politica macroeconomica. Observa-se que as mudancas ocorridas na gestao da politica economica - que delimitam claramente os tres mandatos presidenciais deste periodo - condicionam fortemente a trajetoria do GSF. Para tal, contextualiza-se esse gasto diante da trajetoria da despesa financeira do governo federal e ao desempenho da carga tributaria. This paper aims at analyzing the trajectory of Federal Social Expenditure (FSE), according to the methodology developed by the Social Studies Department (Disoc) of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea). The series is updated, now covering an 11 years period - from 1995 to 2005. It is identified a growth in the FSE both in absolute values and in percentage of the GDP, particularly concerning to social insurance (pensions and disability benefits) and social assistance programs. We argue that such increase in social expenditure allowed a higher social protection under the public policies. In the other hand, it was also noted an irregular and unstable growth of the FSE, and as we argue there is a link between that instability and the macroeconomic policy in the mentioned period. We observe that changes in the economic policies have strongly influenced the amount of FSE in the referred interval, which covers three presidential mandates. This way, the FSE is compared to the amount of Financial Expenditure of the Federal Government and to the Tax Burden.