The challenge
Extreme poverty and inequality were high, and existing benefits were fragmented.
The case
Launched in 2003 by Brazil's federal government, Bolsa Família merged several fragmented benefits into one monthly payment to poor families, usually paid to mothers through an electronic card. Payments were conditional on children attending school and keeping up vaccinations and health check-ups. By 2013 it reached nearly 14 million households, or 50 million people, around a quarter of the population, at a cost of about half a percent of GDP. Studies credit it with a meaningful share of Brazil's fall in extreme poverty and inequality in the 2000s, along with gains in school attendance.
Why it worked
Consolidating programs into a single registry and payment system made it cheap to run and hard to divert. Its low cost relative to its reach made it politically durable, and it became a model for other countries.
Sources
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