| Date: | 1996- |
| Web: | Official website of the programme |
| Description: | It consists in a non-contributory pension which guarantees the right to a minimum wage established in the 1988 Constitution and regulated by the Organic Law of Social Assistance (LOAS). The amount of the transfer is equivalent to a monthly minimum wage per adult |
Characteristics
| Target population: | Adults over 65 or people with disabilities who have low income. That is, individual gross monthly income of up to four times the minimum wage (BRL $ 261.25). |
| Geographic scale: | National |
| Targeting method: | 1) Self-selection: Registration of candidates in the offices of the INSS (National Social Security Institute) 2) Means test 3) Categorical: verification of disabilities |
| Instrument of selection: | Welfare Benefit Request Form |
| Registry of recipients: | Crossing between government databases and Single Register for Social Programs of the Federal Government (CadÚnico) |
| Exit strategies or criteria: | The situation of the recipient is reviewed every 2 years, the pension is not transferable (non-heritable) |
| Comments: | As part of the measures to face the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and social isolation, in March 2020, the anticipated transfer was announced for people with disabilities and elderly users of the Continuous Benefit Programme, without the need for face-to-face medical control (remote controls enabled). Applicants on the waiting list to be included in the program will be able to receive BRL $ 600 in advance, value equivalent to three months. During the period of confrontation of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, the income criteria can be extended up to half the minimum wage (BRL $ 522.5 - USD $ 92 ). This support can not be accumulated with any other area of social security or other scheme, except the medical attendance. Since September 2020, copies of the documents requested by the program began to be accepted. However, the INSS can request the original documents for greater veracity. In addition, as a result of the pandemic, the confirmation of the information will not be in person, but can be through the internet. Furthermore, proof of expenses with medicines, special food, disposable diapers and consumables will not be programmed. These expenses can be directly credited, with the medical prescription as proof and a declaration by the public health network that it does not provide these elements. This will be deducted from the family income. For people with disabilities, medical and social evaluations will be carried out, and may be carried out jointly (by a doctor and the INSS Social Service). The payment will be effective only to the people who maintain the necessary conditions to receive the benefit. In 2016 the Criança Feliz program was launched, its purpose is to promote the integral development of children during early childhood. This is done through home visits to promote family skills and intersectoral initiatives, to try to improve regional policies for social assistance, health, human rights, education, culture and children's rights. The target audicence is composed of pregnant women and children from zero to three years old who are recipient of Bolsa Família and up to six years old for children who have some type of disability and who receive the BPC. Children up to six years of age who are away from family life are also monitored due to protective measures. |
Institutionality
| Legal framework: | Law 8,742/93; Law 14,203/2021 |
| Responsible organization(s): | Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger (MDS) |
| Executing organization(s): | National Social Security Institute (INSS) |
| Source of funding: | National Social Assistance Fund (FNAS) |
1) BPC
| Recipient(s): | All recipient households of the programme |
| Mode of transfer: | Flat transfer |
| Mode of delivery: | … |
| Periodicity of delivery: | Monthly |
| Recipient of the transfer: | Direct participant |
| Maximum per household: | Does not have |
| Conditionalities: | Does not have |
| Sanctions: | Suspension in case of transfer the component to a third party |
| Comments: | If more than one person in the family is entitled to the BPC, the calculation of household income includes the transfer of the original amount. |
| Amount : | Corresponds to the Brazilian real minimum wage for each year (BRL$ 1.045 in 2020); see Data Excel Format |
2) Social Rate of Electric Energy (Tarifa Social de Energía Eléctrica - TSEE)
| Recipient(s): | Households of consumers classified in the low-income residential subclass. |
| Mode of transfer: | According to the characteristics of the family and/or members of the family group. |
| Mode of delivery: | Other (Direct discounts on electric energy bill) |
| Periodicity of delivery: | Monthly |
| Recipient of the transfer: | Direct participant |
| Maximum per household: | … |
| Conditionalities: | … |
| Sanctions: | … |
| Comments: | The benefit is for families registered in the Unified Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government - Cadastro Único, with monthly per capita family income less than or equal to half the national minimum wage; or people aged 65 (sixty-five) or older or people with disabilities, who receive the Continuous Social Assistance Benefit - BPC. Families from the Unified Registry with a monthly income of up to three minimum wages are also eligible for the rate, provided that there is a sick or disabled person in the household who uses appliances that consume electricity. The Social Tariff will be granted automatically, as of January 2022, to eligible families. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to apply to the distributor. |
| Amount : | Exemption from the costs of the Energy Development Account (CDE) and the Incentive Program for Alternative Electricity Sources (Proinfa). In addition, cumulative discounts are applied to the rest of the residential tariff by electricity consumption ranges. |
Cadernos de Estudos Desenvolvimento Social em Debate No 29
| Author: | MDS/SAGI |
| Date: | 2018 |
| Publication info: | (Aprimoramento da gestão do Benefício de Prestação Continuada (BPC): o Grupo de Trabalho Interinstitucional , p.25) Secretaria de Avaliação e Gestão da Informação (SAGI), Brasilia D.F. |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | Study |
What is the impact of non-contributory pensions on poverty? Estimates from Brazil and South Africa
| Author: | Armando Barrientos |
| Date: | 2003 |
| Publication info: | Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) Working Paper No 33 |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | Impact evaluation |
Non-contributory pensions in Brazil: The impact on poverty reduction
| Author: | Schwarzer, H. and Querino, A. |
| Date: | 2002 |
| Publication info: | ESS Paper No. 11, ILO |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | Impact evaluation |
Impact of the Continuous Cash Benefit Programme on Family Welfare
| Author: | Ana Lúcia Kassouf and Pedro Rodrigues de Oliveira |
| Date: | 2013 |
| Publication info: | IPC one pager (No 192) International Poverty Centre |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | Impact Evaluation |
Impact evaluation of the brazilian non-contributory pension program Benefício de Prestação Continuada (BPC) on family welfare
| Author: | Ana Lucía Kassouf and Pedro Rodrigues de Oliveira |
| Date: | 2012 |
| Publication info: | Partnership for economic policy working paper 12-2012 |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | Impact evaluation |
Transferência de renda no Brasil
| Author: | Marcelo Medeiros, Tatiana Britto and Fabio Soares |
| Date: | 2007 |
| Publication info: | Novos Estudos (79) [on line] |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | General information, Targeting, Evaluation |
Cash Transfer Programmes in Brazil: impacts on inequality and poverty
| Author: | Fábio Veras Soares, Sergei Soares, Marcelo Medeiros and Rafael Guerreiro Osório |
| Date: | 2006 |
| Publication info: | IPC Working paper (21), International Poverty Center (IPC) [online] |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | Targeting Evaluation, Impact on poverty |
