The effects of Bolsa Família on human development: systematic review approach

Author:
Raffaele Ciula Italian Revenue Agency, Italy

Search for other papers by Raffaele Ciula in
Current site
Google Scholar
Close
Restricted access
Get eTOC alerts
Rights and permissions Cite this article

Usually conditional cash transfer programmes (CCTs) are interpreted as passive policies dealing with income maintenance and needs fulfilment. However, recently some of the literature has suggested a more active role for them. The aim of this article is to investigate the inclusive role of human rights-based CCTs using the Bolsa Família (BF) policy as a case study. Specifically, I assess the effect of this programme on human development using a systematic review of results from natural, quasi-experimental, counterfactual and longitudinal analyses. The main findings suggest some positive effect of the BF on human development. However, the BF programme should be more integrated with the education and the health system to ameliorate the advancement of human rights. For example, when social workers visit recipient families they should enrol children in the education system. Also, healthcare teams should visit recipient families more frequently and provide healthcare advice as well as healthcare support to ameliorate the nutritional and health status of children.

  • Amaral, E., Goncalves, G. and Weiss, C. (2014) The impact of Brazil’s Bolsa Família program on school attendance, age–grade discrepancy, and child labour, Journal of Social Science for Policy Implications, 2(1): 10125.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Anand, S. and Sen, A. (1997) Concepts of human development and poverty: a multidimensional perspective, in Poverty and Human Development Papers 1997, New York: UNDP.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Andrade, M., Chein, F., Souza, L. and Puig-Junoy, J. (2012) Income transfer policies and the impacts on the immunization of children: the Bolsa Família program, Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 28(7): 134758.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Arsky, D. (2013) A integração do Programa Bolsa Família e da Assistência Social – um olhar sobre a gestão municipal do Programa, Especialização em Gestão Pública, 8th edn, Brasilia: Escola Nacional de Administracao Publica.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Bastagli, F. (2008) The Design, Implementation and Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers Targeted on the Poor: An Evaluation of Brazil’s Bolsa Família, PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Bither-Therry, R. (2014) Reducing poverty intensity: what alternative poverty measures reveal about the impact of Brazil’s Bolsa Família, Latin America Politics and Society, 56(4): 14358. doi: 10.1111/j.1548-2456.2014.00252.x

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Bohn, S., Veiga, L., Dalt, S.D., Brandao, A. and Gouvea, V. (2014) Can conditional cash transfer programs generate equality of opportunity in highly unequal societies? Evidence from Brazil, Revista de Sociologia e Política, 22(51): 11133.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Bronson, D. and Davis, T. (2011) Finding and Evaluating Evidence Systematic Reviews and Evidence-Based Practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Cecchini, S., Filgueira, F., Rossel, C. and Brain, I. (eds) (2015) Towards Universal Social Protection: Latin American Pathways and Policy Tools, Santiago: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • CEPAL (2003–2021) Bolsa Família: Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes. Non-contributory social protection programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean database, https://dds.cepal.org/bpsnc/programme?id=6.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • CGAP (2011) Brazil Country Report, Washington, DC: CGAP.

  • Cruz, M. and Ziegelhofer, Z. (2014) Beyond the Income Effect: Impact of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs on Private Investments in Human Capital, Policy Research Working Paper 6867, Washington, DC, World Bank.

  • da Costa, A., Salvato, M. and Diniz, S. (2008) Counterfactual Analysis of Brazil’s Bolsa Família Programme for the Period 2004–2006.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • da Silva e Silva, M. and de Almada Lima, V. (2014) Avaliando o Bolsa Família: Unificação, Focalização e Impactos, São Paulo: Cortez Editora.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • da Silva e Silva, M., de Lima, A., Ferreira, M., de Fatima e Silva, M. and de Almada Lima, V. (2008) O Bolsa Família no Enfrentamento a Pobreza no Maranhao e Piaui, São Paulo: Cortez Editora.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • de Brauw, A., Gilligan, D., Hoddinot, J. and Roy, S. (2012) The Impact of Bolsa Família on Child, Maternal and Household Welfare, Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • de Brauw, A., Gilligan, D., Hoddinott, J. and Roy, S. (2015) The impact of Bolsa Família on schooling, World Development, 70: 30316. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.02.001

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • de Oliveira, A.M. (2005) An Evaluation of the Bolsa Família Program in Brazil: Expenditures, Education and Labour Outcomes. Unpublished Report.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • de Oliveira, L., Correa, M., Nascimento, G., Goettems, M., Tarquinio, S., Torriani, D., et al (2013) Inequalities in oral health: are schoolchildren receiving the Bolsa Família more vulnerable?, Saúde Pública, 47(6): 103947.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Drèze, J. and Sen, A. (2013) An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

  • Drodge, S. and Shiroma, E. (2004) Social inclusion in two worlds: the conceptualization of the social role of lifelong learning in the education policy of Brazil and the UK since the mid 1990s, Compare, 34(2): 17796. doi: 10.1080/0305792042000214001

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Farrington, D. (2003) Methodological quality standards for evaluation research, ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 587(1): 49. doi: 10.1177/0002716202250789

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Ferro, A. and Nicollela, A. (2007) The impact of conditional cash transfer programs on household work decisions in Brazil, Research in Labor Economics, 31: 193.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Gabel, S. (2016) A Rights-Based Approach to Social Policy Analysis, Cham: Springer.

  • Guanais, F. (2013) The combined effects of the expansion of primary health care and conditional cash transfers on infant mortality in Brazil, 1998–2010, American Journal of Public Health, 103(11). doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301452

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Hakim, C. (2000) Research Design: Successful Designs for Social and Economic Research, London: Routledge.

  • Hall, A. (2006) From Fome Zero to Bolsa Família: social policies and poverty alleviation under Lula, Journal of Latin American Studies, 38: 689709. doi: 10.1017/s0022216x0600157x

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Hall, A. (2008) Brazil’s Bolsa Família: A double-edged sword?, Development and Change, 39(5): 799822. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.2008.00506.x

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Hall, A. (2012) The last shall be first: political dimensions of conditional cash transfers in Brazil, Journal of Policy Practice, 11(1–2): 2541. doi: 10.1080/15588742.2012.624065

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Hellmann, A. (2015) How does Bolsa Família work? Best practices in the implementation of conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America and the Caribbean, IDB Technical Note, n 856.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Higgins, J. and Green, S. (2008) Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

  • Higgins, S. (2011) The impact of Bolsa Família on poverty: does Brazil’s conditional cash transfer program have a rural bias? Journal of Politics and Society.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Kamakura, W. and Mazzon, J. (2014) Measuring the impact of a conditional cash transfer program on consumption behavior with propensity scoring, Costumers Needs, and Solutions, 2: 30216. doi: 10.1007/s40547-015-0037-0

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Kanbur, R. and Squire, L. (1999) The Evolution of the Thinking about Poverty: Exploring the Interactions, Washington, DC: World Bank.

  • Lindert, K., Linder, A., Hobbs, J. and de la Briere, B. (2007) The Nuts and Bolts of Brazil’s Bolsa Família Program: Implementing Conditional Cash Transfers in a Decentralized Context. Social Protection Discussion Paper, No. 0709, Washington, DC, World Bank.

  • Madaleno, M. and Waights, S. (2014) Guide to Scoring Methods Using the Maryland Scientific Methods Scale, London: What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Marinho, E. and Mendes, S. (2012) The impact of government income transfers on the Brazilian job market, Estudios Economicos, São Paulo, 43(1): 2950. doi: 10.1590/s0101-41612013000100002

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Midgley, J. and Piachaud, D. (2013) Social Protection, Economic Growth and Social Change: Goals Issues and Trajectories in China, India, Brazil and South Africa, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Ministerio de Desarrollo Social del Brasil (2013) Programa Nacional de Promocão do Acesso ao Mundo do Trabalho – Acessuas Trabalho.

  • Mourão, L. and de Jesus, A.M. (2011) Bolsa Família (Family Grant) programme: an analysis of Brazilian income transfer programme, Field Actions Science Reports, special issue 3.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Mourão, L., Ferreira, M.C. and de Jesus, A.M. (2012) Evaluation of the Brazilian family grant program: a quasi-experimental study in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Revista Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 25(4): 71929.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Nazareno, L. (2016) O programa Bolsa Família e o mercado de trabalho informal: uma análise de impacto da ação Brasil carinhoso, Economia Aplicada, 20(4): 45770. doi: 10.11606/1413-8050/ea153891

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Neri, M. C. (2008) Income policies, income distribution, and the distribution of opportunities in Brazil, Ensaios Economicos, No 678.

  • Nilsson, H. and Sjöberg, K. (2013) An Evaluation of the Impacts of Bolsa Família on Schooling, MA thesis, University of Lund.

  • Paes-Sousa, R. and Santos, L. (2009) Measuring the Impact of Bolsa Família Program Based on Data from Health and Nutrition Days (Brazil), FAO Working Papers.

  • Paes-Sousa, R., Santos, L. and Miazaki, E. (2011) Effects of conditional cash transfer programme on child nutrition in Brazil, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 89: 496503. doi: 10.2471/BLT.10.084202

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Parsons, K. (2014) Reaching Out to the Persistently Poor in Rural Areas: An Analysis of Brazil’s Bolsa Família Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Petticrew, M. and Roberts, H. (2006) Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences: A Practical Guide, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

  • Quinhoes, T. and Fava, V. (2010) Intersetorialidade e transversalidade: a estrategía dos programas complementares do Bolsa Família, Revista do Serviço Publico Brasilia, 61(1): 6796.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Rasella, D., Aquino, R., Santos, C., Paes-Sousa, R. and Barreto, M. (2013) Effect of a conditional cash transfer programme on childhood mortality: a nationwide analysis of Brazilian municipalities, The Lancet, 382.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Reynolds, S. (2015) Brazil’s Bolsa Família: does it work for adolescents and do they work less for it?, Economics of Education Review 46(June 2015): 2338.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Robles, C. and Mirosevic, V. (2013) Sistemas de proteccion social en America Latina y el Caribe: Brasil. Documentos de Proyecto, No. 532 (LC/W.532), Santiago de Chile, Comisión Economica para America Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).

  • Salomon, M. (2007) Global Responsibility for Human Rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Santos, C. and Magalhaes, R. (2012) Pobreza e política social: a implementação de programas complementares do programa bolsa família, Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 17(5): 121524.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Schaffland, E. (2014) Essays on Development and Behavior Economics: An Impact Evaluation of the “Bolsa Família” – Conditional Cash Transfer on Education and the Effect of Leadership Identity on Group Cooperation and Elite Capture, PhD thesis, University of Göttingen.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Sen, A. (2000) A decade of human development, Journal of Human Development, 1(1). doi: 10.1080/14649880050008746

  • Sen, A. (2005a) Development as capability expansion, in S. Fukuda-Parr and S. Kumar (eds) Readings in Human Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Sen, A. (2005b) Human rights and capabilities, Journal of Human Development, 6(2). doi: 10.1080/14649880500120491

  • Sen, A. (2006) Children and Human Rights, Institute for Human Development Foundation Day Lecture. doi: 10.1177/0973703020070201

  • Sen, A. (2015) The Country of First Boys, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Shei, A. (2013) Brazil’s conditional cash transfer program associated with declines in infant mortality rates, Health Affairs, 32(7): 127481. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0827

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Shei, A., Costa, F., Mitermayer, R. and Ko, A. (2014) The impact of Brazil’s Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer program on children’s health care utilization and health outcomes, BMC International Health and Human Rights, 14: 10. doi: 10.1186/1472-698X-14-10

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Shulte, H. (2007) Chile Solidario: Toward an Integrated Approach to the Delivery of Social Protection. Policy paper, Learning Programme on Evidence Based Policy Analysis to Deliver Results for Children.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Silveira, F., van Horn, R. and Campolina, B. (2013) Bolsa Família’s Effects on the Combination of Work and School for Children and Adolescents Aged 10–18. International Policy Center for Inclusive Growth Working Paper, n. 121.

  • Simoes, A. and Sabates, R. (2014) The contribution of Bolsa Família to the educational achievement of economically disadvantaged children in Brazil, International Journal of Educational Development, 39: 15166.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Soares, S. (2012) Bolsa Família, its Design, its Impacts, and Possibilities for the Future. Working Paper, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, No. 89.

  • Soares, S. (2013) The efficiency and effectiveness of social protection against poverty and inequality in Brazil, in J. Midgley and D. Piachaud (eds) Social Protection, Economic Growth and Social Change, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Trubek, D., Garcia, H., Coutinho, D. and Santos, A. (2013) Law and the New Developmental State, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • ul Haq, M. (2005) The birth of the Human Development Index, in S. Fukuda-Parr and S. Kumar (eds) Readings in Human Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • UNDP (2000) Human Development Report 2000: Human Rights and Human Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Vázquez, D. and Delaplace, D. (2011) Public policy from a human rights perspective: a developing field, International Journal of Human Rights, 8(14): 3372.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Vizard, P. (2006) Poverty and Human Rights. Sen’s Capability Perspective Explored, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Vizard, P., Fukuda-Parr, S. and Elson, D. (2011) Introduction: the capability approach and human rights, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal for People-Centered Development, 12(1): 122.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

Supplementary Materials

    • Supplementary_AppendixS1.docx (DOC 63 KB)
Raffaele Ciula Italian Revenue Agency, Italy

Search for other papers by Raffaele Ciula in
Current site
Google Scholar
Close

Content Metrics

May 2022 onwards Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 142 142 52
Full Text Views 55 55 32
PDF Downloads 44 44 21

Altmetrics

Dimensions