Bolsonaro limits entry to new Bolsa Família using poverty line that ignores inflation and UN

President Jair Bolsonaro (no party) raised the income ceiling allowed for admission to the new Bolsa Família to a level that does not replace the inflationary loss of recent years and ignores the international poverty criterion used by bodies such as the UN (United Nations Organization). ).

In practice, the measure limits the program’s audience.

Since 2018, during the Michel Temer (MDB) government, Bolsa Família has considered as poor —therefore eligible for the program— the family with monthly per capita income of up to R$ 178.

Bolsonaro readjusted the amount to R$ 200 on Monday (8) through a decree that regulated the Auxílio Brasil.

The adjustment granted by Bolsonaro is 12.3%, while the inflation accumulated in the period was 20.8% (measured by the INPC, the National Consumer Price Index, the same used to adjust the minimum wage and benefits such as pensions and pensions).

If inflation were considered, the amount should be readjusted to R$215.

Even if inflation was followed to readjust the value from 2018 until today, the values ​​would remain lagged.

Bolsa Família was originally created (in 2004) with an eligibility limit of R$100, and the amount should be raised to R$263.60 in 2021 if inflation were to be considered.

Even in this scenario, international criteria for defining poverty would continue to be stricter in relation to the rules used in Brazil. To correct the discrepancy, a readjustment above inflation would be necessary.

The UN and the World Bank, for example, consider families with a daily income of up to US$1.90 per capita to be in extreme poverty —equivalent to R$313 a month, at the current exchange rate.

This is the criterion used globally by the UN in the commitment to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030, adopted in 2015 by 193 member countries of the entity.

The government made decisions about Auxílio Brasil surrounded by uncertainties about the size of the program and its source of funds, as shown by the sheet.

Fiscal rules such as the spending ceiling (which limits the increase in expenditure), together with other factors —such as the lack of expenditure review by the government and Congress— affected the measure’s reach and led the government to plan to dribble the legislation on public accounts, fueling market fears and pressing interest rates.

The government may be forced by the STF (Supreme Federal Court) to review the numbers.

The DPU (Union Public Defender), which won a favorable court decision in 2021 for the government to correctly regulate the basic income law in the country (sanctioned in 2004), is now asking for changes precisely in the program’s income criteria. The topic can be analyzed later this month.

In the decision in which it determined that the Executive should regulate the basic income, the STF came to recognize the gap observed over the years in the poverty line — but did not require inflationary correction.

Ed Fuloni, coordinator of the DPU’s basic income committee, said the institution has a motion for clarification requesting the requirement. The forecast is that the subject will be judged later this month, until the 22nd.

The DPU calls for the poverty line to be half a monthly minimum wage per capita (currently equivalent to R$550).

As for the extreme poverty line, currently defined by the government at R$100 and which has greater benefits, advocates call for it to be a quarter of a minimum wage per capita (equivalent to R$275).

The suggested values ​​are the result of calculations by a working group that analyzed different Brazilian and international surveys on the subject.

“The fact is that today, what is equivalent to a quarter of the minimum wage for poverty and a half for poverty would also find resonance in World Bank criteria and IPEA studies [Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada]. So this is our request,” said Fuloni.

He recalled that both requirements are applied by the government in other social payments.

One of them is the BPC (Continued Cash Benefit, for people with disabilities and the elderly), granted to those with an income of up to a quarter of the monthly minimum wage per capita. And another is emergency aid, which was granted during the pandemic to those who had an income of half a monthly minimum wage per capita (among other criteria).

Leandro Ferreira, president of the Brazilian Basic Income Network, also defends that the readjustment of the poverty line must be recurrent, respecting inflation, and in a way that does not depend on the will of the government at the time.

For him, today is not even clear the relationship between the value presented by the government and studies on the subject.

“It would be important for the government to demonstrate [de como ele chegou a] that poverty line. It cannot be just an administrative line for the program, it must be an effective poverty line,” he stated.

“Since the poverty line will be the eligibility criterion, considering very low values, a significant number of people who were part of the Bolsa Família will no longer be incorporated. This is a perverse account,” said Ferreira.

When contacted, the Ministry of Citizenship stated in a note that the readjustment of the poverty line was based on the IPCA (Broad National Consumer Price Index) between 2018 and 2021. However, even considering the IPCA, the new poverty line does not cover the inflation accumulated in the period (20.8%).

The folder informed that the lines can be changed in the future if there is more money for the program. “It is worth informing that the lines may be readjusted again from the expansion of the Auxílio Brasil budget”, says the ministry.

The ministry also claims that it had the assistance of international organizations, such as the World Bank and the French Development Agency, for the formulation of the Auxílio Brasil.

“The Federal Government worked to, with the new program, present an effective response to the needs of Brazilians most affected by the socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic, guaranteeing the offer of conditions and opportunities to improve the quality of life of these citizens”, says the ministry.