Brazilian regions where Lula won largely rely on government handouts

In October 2022, the official election results showed that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had won in 13 of the 27 states of the Federation: all the Northeastern states, plus Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, and Minas Gerais.

On Wednesday 12, the website Poder360 informed that the number of Bolsa Família beneficiaries exceeds the number of workers with signed work papers in 13 of the 27 states of the Federation: all of the Northeastern states, as well as Amazonas, Pará, Amapá, and Acre.

Last year, this proportion was 12 states.

Rio Grande do Norte, which was an exception in the Northeast, now also records more beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família than formal jobs.

There are 522,000 people with the benefit against 458,000 with formal jobs.

Maranhão has the highest dependency ratio on the benefit (1.2 million), with two families from Maranhão receiving Bolsa Família for each worker with a formal contract in the state.

Piauí comes second, with 640,000 beneficiaries and 314,000 formal jobs.

Amapá has 127,000 Bolsa Família beneficiaries in third place and 76,000 formal jobs.

Still on the list are: Pará, Paraíba, Acre, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Amazonas, Pernambuco, Ceará, and Rio Grande do Norte.

BOLSA FAMÍLIA: BEFORE AND AFTER COVID

Before the pandemic, eight states had more benefits than formal jobs. In 2020, the number rose to ten.

With the creation of Brazil Aid in 2022, it became 12. Now, the situation has worsened in one more state.

The increase in the number of beneficiaries of the social program is attributed to the expansion of almost 50% in the last year of Jair Bolsonaro’s government.

In the previous three years, there was a growth in the number of those served.

However, in 2022, the government expanded from 14.5 million to 21.6 million beneficiaries.

With Bolsa Família outstripping the number of formal jobs in more states, the dependence on the benefit increases.

With information from Revista Oeste