Conditional cash transfers and care work: an analysis of Bolsa Familia Program in 2019

Abstract

Conditional cash transfer programs target vulnerable families and are preferentially paid to women. Feminist criticism regarding such programs argues that directing financial transfers to women reinforces social roles based on the Sexual Division of Labor, which places a burden on women regarding domestic and care work. This paper investigates the relationship between female ownership and the time spent doing care work, comparing women and men who receive and not receive benefits from Bolsa Família Program. To do so, available data from Continuous – PNAD from 2019 were analyzed. The results show that female beneficiaries who care for children up to 5 years old spend more hours doing domestic work than all other groups. However, male beneficiaries who care for children in this age group spend less hours in those activities than beneficiaries who do not.

Key words
Cash transfers; Gender inequalities; Housework; Sexual division of labor