Educational differential between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of Programa Bolsa Família

ABSTRACT

Programa Bolsa Família [Program to Eradicate Child Labor] - PBF -, was created in 2003 to reduce inequality and extreme poverty. It was conceived as a conditioned income transfer system: in exchange for a monthly amount, families comply with a series of conditions, including keeping their children attending school regularly. The objective of this work is to observe possible consequences of this conditions for school achievement, specifically for the age-grade distortion of students whose families declared they were beneficiaries of the program, in the 2010 Census. The results show that there are important positive differences among the children benefited by PBF in comparison to those that were not, especially among those aged 8 to 11 years.

Keyword:
Programa Bolsa Família; Social inequality; Brazil; Education