Table on payment of Bolsa Família is edited and removed from context to favor Bolsonaro

It is misleading that, during the government of Jair Bolsonaro (without a party), the Bolsa Família program started to serve a greater number of families, with a smaller volume of resources than what was committed during the government of Dilma Rousseff (PT).

A Facebook post verified by Projeto Comprova presents a table with the values ​​of the Bolsa Família budget, between 2003 and 2021, in addition to the number of families served and the average benefit, claiming that, in recent years, it was possible to serve more people with a smaller budget.

The spreadsheet, in fact, is incomplete and was taken from a report by Poder360, where it was published with the title “Bolsa Família had the highest real value paid in 2014”. The post omits the main clipping, failing to show the column with the “real average per family”, which corrects the benefit value according to the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), which is the index that measures inflation and variation in prices, products and services consumed by Brazilian families and allows for a more adequate comparison between years.

The publication also states that Renda Brasil will pay R$400 monthly to beneficiaries, with the right to a 13th salary. The new social program, called Auxílio Brasil, provides for a 20% readjustment in the amount paid by Bolsa Família, and, in fact, with some transitional benefits scheduled until December of next year, the income transfer could reach R$400. this is not a definitive value.

However, the federal government still does not have confirmation of payment of the new benefit in November, as it depends on Congress to approve a bill that transfers R$ 9.3 billion from the budget from one program to the other. How the program works is also unclear.

In addition, in the context of the creation of Auxílio Brasil, emergency aid, created to serve the most vulnerable population during the pandemic, was suspended, leaving a group of people without assistance, since not all of them will be entitled to the new benefit.

Sought out, the author of the post did not respond to the request for clarification. Comprova found the content misleading because it uses inaccurate data in the post.

How do we check?

The article analyzed the formatting of the table and noted that the font style and layout looked like the standard adopted by the Poder360 website. In a Google search for the terms “nominal average per family, Bolsa Família, Poder360”, we were directed to the link with the article where the original information appears, entitled “Bolsa Família had its maximum value in 2014, the year of Dilma’s reelection”.

The team then compared the information in the table in the verified post and in the original story and checked the veracity of the post’s author’s claims on Facebook. He also interviewed the economist and professor of public finance at UnB (University of Brasília) Roberto Piscitelli.

In addition, the report sought out the author of the post on Facebook by email and also by instant message available on the company’s page where he presents himself as “principal designer”, but there was no return until the publication of the verification.

Verification

Table out of context

The table in the post was taken from a report on the Poder360 website published on October 22 with the title “Bolsa Família had its maximum value in 2014, the year of Dilma’s reelection”. On Facebook, however, the author omitted the title of the table (“Bolsa Família had the highest real amount paid in 2014”), some observations and, above all, the last column, which shows the “real average per family” of the benefit, for each year.

In the original table, “real average per family” is the benefit value updated by the IPCA (Broad National Consumer Price Index), the indicator that measures inflation in the country. The higher the inflation, the lower the purchasing power of families. The biggest monthly variation in the IPCA was in March 1990, according to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).

In the original publication, this last column is the highlight, as it is in the real average that the amount paid in 2014 stands out in relation to other years. According to data in the table itself, the real average considers the nominal values ​​corrected for inflation, resulting in the amount that would be received if the same average budget commitment and number of beneficiaries were maintained today.

In the post, the author of the verified content alleges that “Bolsa Família in the Lula government was no more than 100 reais” and that “in the Dilma government it was no more than 164 reais”. Despite finding support in the comparison of the nominal value, the statements are not supported by the effective assessment of the amount paid each year for the benefit, since it is necessary to consider the monetary correction.

Thus, considering the real average, the lowest amount paid by the Lula government, per family, was R$ 110.80, in 2006. In the Dilma government, as highlighted in the title of the article, there was payment of up to R$ 245.10 per family – the highest ever recorded, in real values, since the benefit was implemented.

In the legend of the verified publication, the author also says that “the families served increased in this government and it was spent much less than in the year of Dilma’s government”. The statement is also untenable, because the amounts in the “budget” column consider the inflation adjustment by the IPCA and, therefore, the comparison with the amount paid to each family must also take into account the corrected amount.

The table does not specify this correction of the budget values, but Comprova took the opposite mathematical path to calculate the real average benefit per family, and found the amounts highlighted in the first column: for example, in 2014, the average benefit (BRL 245.10) was paid to 14 million families, for a period of 12 months – which results in an expense of R$ 41.1 billion (245.10 x 12 x 14,000,000 = 41,176,800.00).

family allowance

Bolsa Família started to be paid in October 2003, when the program was instituted by former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), and has three main axes: income supplement; access to rights; and articulation with other actions to encourage the development of families. Despite having started in 2003, the surveys of the Ministry of Citizenship began in 2004.

The amount each family receives from Bolsa Família depends on several factors, such as the number of people, the age of each one and conditions such as pregnancy, for example. It also depends on per capita income.

The peak of spending on the Bolsa Família Program was reached in 2013, when it totaled BRL 38.4 billion, according to official data. In 2019, a year before the pandemic, BRL 33.5 billion were spent and, in 2020, only BRL 10.1 billion, since the beneficiaries received part of the amount through emergency aid.

In 2020, the program covered 41 million people, around 13 million families. This year, 14.7 million families benefited from the program. The Bolsa Família was intended for families with an income per person of up to R$89 per month, and also for families with an income per person between R$89.01 and R$178 per month, as long as they had children or teenagers from zero to 17 years old.

The last installment of the Bolsa Família was paid in October to the beneficiaries, even without confirmation of payment of the Auxílio Brasil in November. The federal government still depends on Congress to approve a bill that transfers R$9.3 billion from the budget from one to the other.

The Brazil Aid program

In the verified post, the author states that Renda Brasil will be worth R$400.

The benefit that the author of the post refers to as Renda Brasil, in fact, was named Auxílio Brasil. When the proposal was presented in June of last year, it was Renda Cidadã, and it changed its name twice before reaching its current name.

The forecast is that it will start to be paid in November of this year (the month in which the last installments of the emergency aid created in the pandemic are paid), in a composition of benefits that will reach the amount of R$ 400. Payment is scheduled until December 2022, electoral year and which should have Bolsonaro in the race for re-election.

Interest in the presidential elections is pointed out as a motivation for the proposed changes and there is a legal debate on whether the extra money for aid can even be considered an electoral crime.

The social program, released by the federal government as a replacement for Bolsa Família, brings the novelty in the name, but, in practice, the new income transfer system also requires registration in the CadÚnico (Cadastro Único) — the same one used to define who currently earns the bag.

Thus, those who are already on Bolsa Família should automatically receive the Auxílio Brasil. To fit in as a beneficiary, in addition to enrolling in CadÚnico, you must follow a series of rules, including living in extreme poverty. Families in poverty can also be assisted, as long as they have pregnant women or people under 21 years of age.

But the value of R$400 is not definitive. The current remuneration will be readjusted, estimated at 20%, and to this result will be added transitory benefits up to the limit defined for Auxílio Brasil. Thus, after December 2022, if there are no changes, the beneficiaries of the social program will once again receive the equivalent of what is paid today in Bolsa Família, plus the adjustment.

Faced with a high cost of living, even with readjustments and supplements, the R$ 400 does not buy a basic food basket in the country’s capitals.

Furthermore, the social program does not reach everyone who currently receives emergency aid. The forecast is that more than 22 million Brazilians will be without the benefit as of November. The way in which Auxílio Brasil is being presented is also the target of criticism for the insecurity generated by Bolsa Família beneficiaries.

When consulted on the subject, economist Roberto Piscitelli pointed out that, in principle, Bolsa Família should not be compared with Emergency Aid, as the purposes and circumstances are absolutely different. And the aid has no counterpart.

Piscitelli cites a study by Ipea (Institute for Applied Economic Research), released in 2013, according to which Bolsa Família benefited 13.8 million families. “These numbers, as you can see, are close to the most recent numbers, 8 years later, when it is estimated at something around 14.4 million. Comparing with the increase in population in the period, this increase is below the previous ratio. it could establish, taking into account precisely this variable (population), and far short of the increase in the numbers of unemployment, underemployment and informality”.

The author

The profile that published the spreadsheet is Bruno Guetä, who identifies himself as a designer on Facebook.

At the beginning of the verification, Comprova found Bruno’s profiles also on Linkedin and Twitter, contacted the author by email available on Linkedin and sent an instant message to the company’s page where he says he acts as “principal designer”.

However, after contacting the report, the young man deleted the profiles on LinkedIn and Twitter, keeping only his Facebook account. Despite not having responded to Comprova’s contact, Bruno left the Bolsonaro 2022 group, where he made the verified post.

Until the publication of this matter there was no response.

Why do we investigate?

Suspicious content about public policies of the federal government, such as Bolsa Família, are part of the scope of Comprova, in this fourth phase of the Project — as well as posts dealing with elections or the pandemic.

The verified post had more than 13,700 interactions on Facebook, according to the CrowdTangle platform, and uses false data to create an incorrect impression of what the Bolsonaro government is doing. The extinction of Bolsa Família, in favor of the creation of a new benefit, with characteristics that are still uncertain, is the target of several criticisms.

Comprova has already checked posts that also incorrectly attributed merits to the federal government, such as the fake video claiming that Bolsonaro was donating agricultural machinery to the states, a publication about investments in science and a video about infrastructure works.

Misleading, for Comprova, is content taken from the original context and used in another so that its meaning changes; that it uses inaccurate data or that it induces an interpretation different from its author’s intention; or even one who confuses, with or without the deliberate intention of causing harm.

Comprova performed this verification based on information available on the 9th. November 2021.