The Impact of the Bolsa Família Programme on Beneficiaries’ Fertility
Abstract:The Bolsa Família programme1 provides a benefit up to maximum of three benefits to every pregnant woman and child up to 15 years of age and another benefit to teenagers between 16 and 17 years old, up to a maximum of two benefits, in families with less than R$140.00 per capita monthly income. This feature of the programme has led some commentators to fear that it could trigger an increase in fertility of the poor. The possible impact on fertility behaviour has drawn very little attention from researchers, despite being one of the most popular criticisms against to Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) programmes. To our knowledge, only two papers investigate this possible relationship in Brazil: Rocha (2010) and Signorini & Queiroz (2011). The empirical evidence from other countries suggests that CCTs have no significant impact on fertility. The evidence holds for other types of programmes, including those that provide only child care, traditional cash transfer programmes, and income tax exemption policies (Stecklov et al., 2007). (…)
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