Brazil : Assessment of the Bolsa Escola Programs

Brazil : Assessment of the Bolsa Escola Programs

The report assesses the "Bolsa Escola" programs in Brazil, which are poverty-targeted social assistance programs, that provide cash grants to poor families with school-age children between the ages of seven to fourteen. These programs aim...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	World Bank
Format:	Pre-2003 Economic or Sector Report
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:	EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT TARGETED ASSISTANCE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS POVERTY REDUCTION PRIMARY EDUCATION EDUCATION PROGRAMS CHILD LABOR SAFETY NET POLICIES ACCESS TO EDUCATION SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES LIVING STANDARDS INDICATORS EDUCATIONAL INDICATORS FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY HUMAN CAPITAL ADOLESCENTS BASIC SERVICES BENEFICIARIES CIVIL SOCIETY CONTROL GROUPS CURRENCY UNIT ECONOMIC RECESSION ECONOMIC SHOCKS EDUCATION LEVEL EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT EXTREME POVERTY FAMILIES FINANCIAL CAPACITY FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOOD BASKET FOOD POLICY RESEARCH GENDER DISPARITY GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS GEOGRAPHICAL TARGETING GIRLS HEADCOUNT RATIO HEALTH EFFECTS HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA HOUSING HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INCIDENCE OF POVERTY INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INTERVENTION INTERVENTIONS LABOR MARKET LEARNING LIVING STANDARDS LONG TERM MARKETING MIGRATION MINIMUM INCOME MINIMUM WAGE MOTHERS NATIONAL LEVEL NGO NON-POOR CHILDREN NUTRITION OLDER CHILDREN PER CAPITA INCOME POOR HOUSEHOLDS POVERTY ALLEVIATION POVERTY HEADCOUNT POVERTY LINE POVERTY MAP POVERTY OUTCOMES POVERTY RATES POVERTY STATUS PRIMARY SCHOOL PROGRAM BENEFICIARIES PROGRAM COVERAGE PROGRAM EXPANSION PROGRAM SELECTION PROGRAMS REDUCING POVERTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE SAFETY SAFETY NET SAFETY NETS SCHOOL ATTENDANCE SCHOOL SYSTEM SCHOOLS SHORT TERM SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL PROTECTION SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAMS SOCIAL WORKERS TARGETING URBAN AREAS URBAN POVERTY VULNERABLE GROUPS WAGES WELL-BEING WORKING CHILDREN
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/03/1089453/brazil-assessment-bolsa-escola-programs http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15705

Description
Summary:	The report assesses the "Bolsa Escola" programs in Brazil, which are poverty-targeted social assistance programs, that provide cash grants to poor families with school-age children between the ages of seven to fourteen. These programs aim at increasing educational attainment, to reduce current, and future poverty, as well as child labor, and, implicitly, to act as a partial safety net. The rationale for these programs should be considered in the context of the current picture of poverty in the country, where the strongest correlates of current poverty is low education. The programs under discussion have widespread support, and fit well into Brazil's larger social protection, and poverty reduction strategies, because they explicitly target the poor, with sound criteria for beneficiary selection, based on a score system, comprising living standards indicators. Preliminary evidence suggests the programs have been reasonably successful in targeting, and points to improvements in education, and poverty outcomes, although evidence on child labor reduction, is inconclusive. The need to reach the "non-covered" population is suggested, as well as the level of cash transfers needs to be determined carefully, while the "Bolsa Escola" programs should not be seen by local governments, as substitutes for investments in schools. Probably the biggest consideration in the successful expansion of these programs, is their fiscal affordability, bearing in mind the programs protect the structurally poor during crisis, equipping the next generation with risk reducing human capital.

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