Support for children needs little justification. They are the most vulnerable population group, they are the future, and they did not choose the circumstances of their birth. Support can be channelled either through direct provision of goods and services, such as education and health care for...

[Introduction] Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes, including the Bolsa Família programme, have been extensively studied over recent years. The books, working papers and articles that have been written on the subject, if placed on top of each other, would pile up very high indeed. What...

This text analyzes the evolution of the cognitive abilities of Brazilian youth as measured by Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa). Our results are quite positive. In spite of an increase of youth eligible for the PISA universe and, therefore, a reduction in selectivity,...

In this text we address measurement, monitoring and cost issues relating to the eradication of extreme poverty in Brazil. We argue that, for the purpose of ending extreme poverty, income poverty is the relevant concept, and that an administrative extreme poverty line, decided upon politically,...

The objective of this text is to compare various approaches to defining poverty lines. The Cost of Basic Needs approach has been the most widely used method in Brazil and Latin America, there are various alternatives. In addition to the Cost of Basic Needs and Food Energy Intake methods, the...

This text examines the present monetary transfer setup for children aged 15 or less in Brazil. This setup is today composed of Bolsa Família's variable benefit, the Salário Família, and the child deduction in our Personal Income Tax. We analyze the value of each of the above benefits, as well...

The following study uses two approaches to judge whether inequality in Brazil is falling fast enough. The first is to compare the variation of the Gini coefficient in Brazil with what was observed in several countries that today belong to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and...

This text proposes a methodology for classifying the demographic bonus in education into relative and absolute components. According to this definition, a relative demographic bonus means that school age-population is increasing more slowly than total population, making more resources available,...

Fortunately, both poverty and extreme poverty have shown a significant decrease in Brazil. According to data from the National Household Sample Survey (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios - PNAD), poverty dropped over 20 per cent between 2004 and 2013, to about 9 per cent of the...

O objetivo deste texto é comparar várias abordagens para definir uma linha de pobreza. Apesar de o Método Calórico Indireto (ou Cost of Basic Needs) ser o mais usado no Brasil para o cálculo de linhas de pobreza, não é o único e há várias abordagens utilizadas em outros países e em...