Brazil: Government aid reaches 23% of the population, but beneficiaries criticize amount

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The main federal government program to transfer income to the poorest, the Auxílio Brasil (“Brazil Aid“), reaches almost a quarter of the population. Still, most beneficiaries consider the amounts received insufficient, according to a survey conducted by Datafolha.

The survey indicates that 23% of Brazilians live in households covered by the program, launched in November last year to replace Bolsa Família (“Family Grant“) and the emergency aid created to help vulnerable families during the pandemic, which stopped being paid in October.

The concentration of beneficiaries is higher among respondents with a monthly family income of up to two minimum wages (R$2,424 – US$508), a universe that includes the population defined as the target of the program, but the survey found people who receive the Brazil Aid also in other segments.

In the stratum with the lowest family income, 35% said they receive the aid. Among those who declare an income of 2 to 5 minimum wages, 10% say they receive benefits, as do 3% of those with earnings of 5 to 10 minimum wages, which may indicate flaws in the implementation of the program.

Auxílio Brasil pays R$400 per month to about 18 million families. Complementary benefits offered to encourage productive inclusion, scientific initiation of students, and sports practice allow higher earnings. In March, the average value of the benefits paid was R$409.80.

According to the criteria established by the law that created the program, families in situations classified as extreme poverty, with monthly per capita family income of up to R$105, or poverty, with earnings of up to R$210 per family member, can register to receive the benefits.

Datafolha conducted 2,556 interviews in 181 municipalities last week, on March 22 and 23. The survey’s margin of error is two percentage points more or less.

The survey shows a higher concentration of program beneficiaries in segments of the labor force that suffered most from the pandemic and the economic crisis – 41% of the unemployed, 33% of the wage earners without a signed contract, and 29% of the self-employed claim to receive the aid.

The survey also shows a higher number of beneficiaries of the Brazil Aid in the Northeast, where 37% of respondents say they belong to families in the program. According to the Ministry of Citizenship, 48% of the families who received payments in March live in the region.

Among the aid beneficiaries, 68% say that the amounts received are insufficient, and only 29% consider them sufficient. Dissatisfaction is greater in the lower-income strata. In families earning up to two minimum wages, 71% say the benefits are insufficient.

Dissatisfaction with the value is more accentuated among the unemployed (72%), self-employed (71%), and housewives (74%), who are away from the labor market. Among the unemployed who are not looking for a job, 84% find the aid insufficient, according to Datafolha.

Although the emergency aid paid in the pandemic has contributed to sustaining the popularity of President Jair Bolsonaro among the poorest people during the health crisis, the same does not seem to occur with Brazil Aid since the evaluation of the government is more negative among program beneficiaries.

According to Datafolha, 25% of Brazilians consider the Bolsonaro government great or good. Among those who receive the aid, only 19% think so. The government’s disapproval rate among beneficiaries of the program, 47%, is equivalent to that found in the total population, 46%.

The Brazil Aid is part of a set of initiatives that Bolsonaro counts on to regain his popularity and get reelected in October. The minimum amount of R$400 paid by the program is only guaranteed until the end of this year. The legislation foresees a reduction in the amounts as of 2023.

With information from Folha