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Bolsa Família, the most comprehensive government income-transfer program, establishes as a fundamental criterion that the family’s monthly income per person must not exceed R$ 218 to receive the payment. Therefore, it is necessary to be below this poverty line to be eligible for the benefit.
The new Bolsa Família model was developed with the aim of promoting greater social justice among beneficiaries. This will result in reducing disparities in the amounts transferred to each individual within the family.
Thus, the program prioritizes children, adolescents, pregnant women and early childhood. It also establishes protection rules and incentives for employment and entrepreneurship.
What is Bolsa Família?
Bolsa Família is a conditional direct income-transfer program that benefits families living in poverty and extreme poverty. It was created to guarantee the human right to adequate food, promoting food and nutritional security and contributing to the citizenship of the population most vulnerable to hunger.
It is Brazil's largest income transfer program and has already lifted millions of families out of poverty. It serves more than 12 million families across the country. The benefit amount ranges from R$ 32 to R$ 242, depending on household income per person (capped at R$ 140) and the number and age of the children.
In addition to providing a basic income for families living in poverty, Bolsa Família seeks to integrate public policies, strengthening access to basic rights such as healthcare, education and social assistance. The main rule for qualifying for Bolsa Família is that each person's income in the family must be up to R$ 218 per month.
Families benefiting from Bolsa Família must comply with health and education requirements, such as:
- Attend prenatal care;
- Follow the national vaccination schedule;
- Monitoring children's nutritional status;
- Ensuring a minimum school attendance rate of 60% for children aged four and five and 75% for children and adolescents aged six to seventeen.
Bolsa Família is considered one of the world's leading poverty-fighting programs.
Definition of payments
The complete list of benefits is already available for withdrawal starting with the June installments. Check below the amounts families may receive:
- Each family member, regardless of age, will receive a payment of R$ 142;
- This individual amount will be added together, and if it does not reach the minimum of R$ 600 per family, the Federal Government will provide a supplement;
- The Early Childhood Benefit, implemented since March, guarantees an additional payment of R$ 150 per child from zero to six years old;
- In addition, with the June installments, families will also receive an additional R$ 50 for each pregnant woman and for each child and adolescent aged 7 to 18 who is part of the family composition.
To ensure that payments are correctly deposited into the Caixa Tem account, it is necessary to update the Cadastro Único (CadÚnico) whenever there are changes in the family composition. This way, the benefit can be paid taking into account all the beneficiaries' characteristics.
How to register for Bolsa Família?
To register for Bolsa Família, the family must have updated data from the last 2 years in the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government. The Single Registry is an instrument that identifies and characterizes low-income families, allowing the government to gain a better understanding of the socioeconomic reality of these families.
To enroll, the family should contact the department responsible for the program at the city hall in their municipality or the Social Assistance Reference Center (CRAS). The following documents must be presented to complete the registration:
- ID and CPF of all family members;
- Children’s vaccination records;
- Proof of residence;
- Work card, if anyone in the family is employed.
Registration is a right of low-income families, and the first copy of the birth certificate is free of charge. After registering with CadÚnico, the family must wait for the data to be analyzed and, if deemed eligible, will be included in Bolsa Família.
