The intention is that the contemplated families do not spend more than two years without updating the transfers, avoiding the erosion of purchasing power
The MP (provisional measure) that created the new Bolsa Famíla provides for a two-year interval for the government to readjust the values of benefits and the poverty line that determines who is eligible for the program.
The intention, according to the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, is that the families contemplated do not spend more than two years without updating the transfers, avoiding the corrosion of their purchasing power by inflation.
Ministry technicians, however, recognize the existence of a legal controversy surrounding how the device was written.
The excerpt from the MP says that the values “may be corrected at each interval of at least twenty-four months, in the manner established in regulation”.
The wording leaves room for the interpretation that the readjustment will need to respect a minimum interval of 24 months – that is, there would be no new update before two years have passed since the last readjustment.
According to the technicians, the idea is exactly the opposite: that the values of the Bolsa do not remain frozen for more than 24 months, which would be the maximum period of the new readjustment.
They do not rule out the need to adjust the device during the processing of the MP in the National Congress.
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The readjustments of the Bolsa Família and the Auxílio Brasil were never mandatory, nor did they follow a specific correction index – as in the case of the minimum wage, updated annually by inflation, at least. Changes in benefit values were decided according to the availability of resources in the Budget and the political will of the government.
In the new design, Bolsa will pay R$ 142 per person, with a guarantee of at least R$ 600 per family.
In addition, there will be an additional R$ 150 per child from 0 to 6 years old and R$ 50 per child or teenager from 7 to 18 years old. The government will also pay an extra R$50 to each pregnant woman.
Families with an income of up to R$ 218 per person will be eligible.
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