Impacto do Programa Bolsa-Família sobre o bem-estar das famílias beneficiadas no Estado do Ceará

Abstract

The study assessed the impact of the Bolsa Familia Program (PBF) on the welfare of families benefited in the state of Ceara in the year 2007. For this purpose, 160 benefited families and 160 non-benefited families (potential beneficiaries) were interviewed. The Student t, H-Kruskall-Wallis tests were used to compare the means and proportions respectively, and linear regression analysis, was used to measure the programme's impact on the beneficiary families in the state of Ceara. The results concerning the residence characteristics confirmed the homogeneity of the groups selected. The PBF has had positive impact on the pillars of the local human capital, explained by the improving indicators of health, education and nutritional status of benefited families. The PBF also stimulated an increase in household wealth of group receiving benefits, revealing the significant impact of the programme on the spending behaviour to purchase durable goods. Thus, it can be concluded that the Family Scholarship Program has an important role on the welfare of families as a short-term policy. However, there was no impact on the generation of employment and income to ensure that these families gradually disassociate from the programme in long run.