The federal government intends to launch in March the new format of Bolsa Família, which will replace Auxílio Brasil, and is analyzing the possibility of paying an additional amount to families assisted by the income transfer program that have children between 7 and 18 years of age.
The management of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) defends this type of bonus because it understands that the amount of the benefit must be paid according to the family composition, which is currently not considered a criterion for granting the aid.
For the Chief Executive’s team, it is not fair, for example, that parents with many children receive the same R$ 600 that are transferred to beneficiaries who live alone.
It was with this argument that Lula promised, throughout last year’s election campaign, to pay a bonus of R$ 150 per child up to 6 years of age from families assisted by the social program.
The additional value for children between 7 and 18 years old, however, has not yet been defined. The Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger analyzes the families registered in the Auxílio Brasil program in order to have an idea of how many children and adolescents can be covered and to know what the budgetary impact of the measure should be.
From the verification, the folder will also establish if the benefit will be paid to each child within that age group or if there will be a limit to be transferred to the families.
This diagnosis by the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger will also allow a fine-tooth comb on the people registered in the Auxílio Brasil, which today serves 21.8 million families.
The folder will review at least 5 million benefits and should reduce payments to single-person families. According to the federal government, the registration of beneficiaries who claim to live alone increased by 224% between December 2019 and December 2022.
The ministry will also verify 2.5 million beneficiaries who show signs of income irregularity and do not meet the program’s criteria.
Last Friday (24), the Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, Wellington Dias, stated that 1.5 million families in an irregular situation will no longer be served by the program in March. With the exclusion of these beneficiaries, the government hopes to have resources to grant the additional benefit to families with children between 7 and 18 years old.