After a brief retrospective of the evolution of income transfer programs in Brazil, this article uses information from the 2004 and 2006 official national household survey (PNAD) in order to analyze the recent evolution of the Bolsa Familia program regarding targeting and coverage. Despite the fact that the BF met its goal of assisting 11 million households by the end of 2006, still around 3.4 million eligible households do not receive the transfer benefit. Simulations show that guaranteeing the basic income transfer to all eligible households has a stronger impact on poverty indicators than to grant the new benefit - created in 2008 - to youngsters who live in the already assisted households.
Social policy; Income; Income transfer; Poverty
