Abstract:"This Policy Research Brief summarises the main results of nationwide quantitative research on the Bolsa Família programme (PBF) and gender relations. It finds that the PBF has increased targeted women's access to prenatal care, as well as their decision-making autonomy over domestic issues. Moreover, an econometric analysis did not find significant changes in PBF beneficiaries' degree of participation in the labour market, but there are indications that a reduction in the number of hours dedicated to productive work by targeted women is offset by an increase in the number of hours devoted to domestic chores—which does not occur among male beneficiaries. The document concludes that the PBF cannot evade the criticism that it uses women instrumentally, but to interpret it as a merely maternalistic programme unconcerned with the choices of adult women seems reductionist. First, because the PBF can help women realise their reproductive rights and reduce their need to submit to very precarious labour relations. Second, because the programme's data on beneficiaries contributes to the implementation of other public policies that can and should consider mechanisms to broaden the choices available to targeted women". (…)

Keywords:Bolsa Família, gender relations, national, survey, results
Publication Date:
Type/Issue:Policy Research Brief/55
ISSN:2358-1379

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