The beneficiaries of bolsa familia program and labor market: Empirical findings and the trajectory of the welfare policies in Brazil

This paper aims to analyze the situation of the Bolsa Familia Program’s beneficiaries in urban labor markets in Brazil, from a database of approximately 21 million households registered in "Single Registry of Social Programs" of the Brazilian federal government (“CadUnico”). The Bolsa Familia Program is now one of the main pillars of social policy in Brazil and several studies and evaluations have shown positive impacts on various dimensions, especially in reducing poverty and inequality. On the other hand, although about 70% of adult beneficiaries are included in the labor market, this insertion occurs in an extremely precarious way and it’s poorly paid, contributing decisively to the reproduction of poverty and exclusion, especially in large urban centers.

At first, from multivariate statistical analysis, we intend to present the main determinants of poor integration of beneficiaries into the labor market and some of their characteristics (like age, sex, skin color, education, household composition and others). Later we will seek to identify the trajectory of the Welfare State and the structure of the Brazilian labor market elements that helps us to interpret the current social condition of this large population that has historically been treated in the sociological literature as "marginal" or "excluded." How the Bolsa Familia Program has helped to change this reality considering productive insertion? What were the advances of the social protection system in Brazil and how it extends or limits the chances of social and occupational mobility of those who are in poverty? We believe that this perspective that also incorporates the Welfare State historical and institutional aspects can make important contributions to the study of poverty and its social policy confrontation.