New Bolsa Família welfare program to pay BRL 260 per beneficiary

Launched this Thursday (Mar. 2), the new Bolsa Família income transfer program will pay, on average, BRL 260 per beneficiary, said Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, Wellington Dias, in an interview with A Voz do Brasil, a program broadcast by Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC). The benefit will start being paid on March 20.

"Each beneficiary will receive an average of BRL 260, the minimum value stands at BRL 143. Back then, it was BRL 30 per person," the minister explained. "Our goal is to interrupt a history of poverty and the Bolsa Família is a great anchor," he added.

Bolsa Família is aimed at families in situations of economic and social vulnerability. To be eligible, beneficiaries must meet some criteria, such as having per capita income classified as poverty or extreme poverty, having updated data in the country’s Unified Registry, and not having divergent information between those declared in the registry and in other federal databases.

Own income

In addition to the income transfer, the Brazilian government will promote conditions so that families can earn an income of their own, by means of partnerships for the generation of jobs with a formal contract or training for entrepreneurship. According to the minister, the initial goal is that 1 million people leave the program because they started earning enough income to pay for their essential expenses.

Protection Rule

The program will also have a protection rule for cases in which a family member gets a job, for example. In this case, the family's income can increase by up to half a minimum wage per capita without being immediately removed from the program. Besides this, there is a guaranteed return rule, which establishes that families that voluntarily leave the program or lose income and need to return to Bolsa Família will have priority to rejoin it.

"If you become unemployed, and you meet the requirements, you go back to Bolsa Família. It is a safe way," Wellington Dias affirmed.