Providing Parents with Funds That Allow Them to Send Their Children to School Rather Than to Work

Overview of the Bolsa Escola Program

The Bolsa Escola program in Brazil provides families with a monthly stipend to ensure children attend school instead of working in the streets. The program began in the city of Brasilia, founded on the realization that today’s working children are likely to become poor adults. In 2001, Bolsa Escola expanded to a federal level.

The Department of Education manages Bolsa Escola. Qualifying families receive monthly payments through ATM cards, allowing direct access to funds. To qualify, families must meet several criteria: children must be between six and 15 years old, attend school regularly with no more than two absences per month, and each unemployed adult in the family must register with the National Employment System (SINE) and actively seek employment. Additionally, the family must have lived in Brazil for at least five years. The program offers stipends for a minimum of two years and a maximum of eight. If a child fails to meet the attendance requirement, the stipend is withheld for that month.

Impact and Evolution of the Program

Bolsa Escola has significantly reduced child labor and school dropout rates. To date, it has benefited the families of over 8.2 million children. When it expanded to the federal level, Bolsa Escola became the world’s largest social program. In 2003, the program evolved into Bolsa Familia, launched nationwide by President Lula’s administration. Bolsa Familia now covers all 5,570 municipalities in Brazil, with major impacts on poverty and child nutrition. The program has helped reduce child deaths by 73% and benefits people of all ages. Despite its broad reach, it remains cost-effective, accounting for less than 0.5% of Brazil’s GDP. Many other countries are now studying this model to see how it could be implemented in their own contexts.

Further Reading

For more on Bolsa Familia’s impact and adaptations, check out articles by the BBC:

Family Friendly: Brazil’s Scheme to Tackle Poverty (May 2010)

Not Taken for Granted: Brazil Celebrates Bolsa Familia (Oct 2014)

Brazil Unveils Social Programme for Low-Income Families (May 2012)

Brazil Launches Scheme to Lift Millions Out of Poverty (June 2011)

What we can learn from this Tactic:

Poverty is one of the root causes of child labor. Many families would like to send their children to school but cannot afford to do so because they need the income those children can earn. A program has been created in Brazil to provide economic support to families, thus allowing their children an education. Families are often complicit in the use of child labor — because of need, rather than choice — and this tactic gives them an alternative. Providing ATM cards that look like and can be used like other ATM cards also helps recipients avoid the stigma associated with poverty and public assistance. This approach clearly requires significant financial resources and also demands a great deal of administration and coordination among the various agencies and institutions. Yet, is surprisingly cost effective in reducing poverty.