This article aims at assessing the impact of the Bolsa Família Program (PBF) on the Brazilian families residing in the Northeast region, regarding its main goals: the immediate relief of poverty/inequality of income and school attendance. For that purpose, we used data from the National Household Survey, for the 2004 and 2006 periods. Seeking to purge possible selection bias pointed out by Heckman et al. (1998), we applied the methodology of Propensity Score Matching (PSM). Furthermore, we calculated the FGT index to check if there are fewer households below the poverty line, as well as if the inequality between the poor decreases. The results indicate a positive effect on the benefited income; however, the impact exerted on the school attendance for benefited families face the eligible ones is higher than the previously reported. It has been noted that the increase of the benefit value exerts a bigger influence if compared to the coverage comprehensiveness.
Impact assessment; public policies; Bolsa Família Program; Northeast Brazil
