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Brazil's Bolsa Familia: Does it work for adolescents and do they work less for it?

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  • Reynolds, Sarah Anne

Abstract

In 2008, Brazil's conditional cash transfer program Bolsa Familia expanded to cover poor adolescents’ school attendance up to age 17; prior the maximum age was 15. In the first year of implementation, I find an increase in attendance among the 16-year-olds of 6 percentage points, with urban boys responsible for most of this, raising their attendance rates by 16 percentage points. I find no change in attendance for the 17-year-olds who had a gap year in treatment: though they had previously had received Bolsa Familia until age 15, they were not eligible as 16-year-olds in 2007 and once again became eligible in 2008. My findings suggest this expansion of Bolsa Familia was sufficient to maintain youth in school who were already attending, but not powerful enough to reclaim drop-outs. Additionally, I find little evidence that Bolsa Familia impacts the adolescents’ time devoted to work and chores.

Suggested Citation

  • Reynolds, Sarah Anne, 2015. "Brazil's Bolsa Familia: Does it work for adolescents and do they work less for it?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 23-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:46:y:2015:i:c:p:23-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.02.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Felipe Barrera-Osorio & Marianne Bertrand & Leigh L. Linden & Francisco Perez-Calle, 2011. "Improving the Design of Conditional Transfer Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Education Experiment in Colombia," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 167-195, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Olson, Zachary & Clark, Rachel Gardner & Reynolds, Sarah Anne, 2019. "Can a conditional cash transfer reduce teen fertility? The case of Brazil’s Bolsa Familia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 128-144.
    2. Jaime A. Meza‐Cordero, 2023. "Conditional cash transfers tools to combat child labor: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Costa Rica," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 220-246, February.
    3. Santos, Felícia Mariana & Corseuil, Carlos Henrique Leite, 2022. "The effect of Bolsa Familia Program on mitigating adolescent school dropouts due to maternity: An area analysis," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Ciula, Raffaele, 2022. "The effects of Bolsa Familia on human development: systematic review approach," MPRA Paper 116768, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic development; Conditional cash transfer; Brazil; Youth labor;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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