Bolsonaro changes poverty criteria to include more families in Auxílio Brasil

President Jair Bolsonaro (no party) issued a decree, this Friday (5), readjusting the classification of families in situations of poverty and extreme poverty for beneficiaries of Bolsa Família — which, starting this month, will be called Auxílio Brasil .

The decree alters a previous one from 2018 and starts to consider families in situations of extreme poverty those with monthly per capita income of up to R$ 100 (previously, it was R$ 89); and those with up to R$200 are considered to be in poverty (previously, it was R$178).

The measure, published in an extra edition of the Diário Oficial da União, should increase the number of families served by the government’s new social program, Auxílio Brasil.

According to the General Secretariat of Palácio do Planalto, the amounts will be considered for payment on November 17 of the social program.

The successor to Bolsa Família begins in the wake of the economic crisis, and after more than a year of payment of emergency aid during the pandemic.

The government also confirmed, this Friday night, that the average value of the benefit ticket in November will go from R$189 to R$217.

The readjustment is definitive, and does not depend on the approval of the PEC dos Precatórios, whose text gives the green light for the government to pay a benefit of R$ 400.

Bolsonaro counts on the approval in Congress of the proposal, which changes the calculation of the spending ceiling and allows the payment of the greater Brazil Aid.

Planalto Palace’s forecast is to start paying the benefit with the new amount in December, guaranteeing retroactive to November.

The government’s proposal is that the income transfer program worth R$400 should last until the end of 2022, an election year.

The readjustment paid in November includes the 14.6 million families that already receive Bolsa Família.

The Ministry of Citizenship wants to clear the queue for the benefit, reaching 17 million families, but for that, it needs the approval of the PEC in Congress.

The decree published this Friday night also changes the values ​​of the variable benefit, paid to pregnant women, nursing mothers, children between zero and twelve years old or teenagers up to fifteen years old.

Payment is made in an addition of R$49 per beneficiary, with a maximum limit of R$245 per family.

According to the rules of the previous decree, of 2018, the amount ranged from R$41 to R$205.

In the case of families with young students aged 16 to 17, there is also the variable benefit linked to the teenager. In this case, the aid will jump from R$ 48 to R$ 57 per beneficiary, totaling R$ 114 per family, at most (previously, it was R$ 98).