Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses the issues related to the complementarity between different social protection schemes, and the relevance of socio-economic policies, by briefly presenting existing frameworks and evidence; the paper subsequently focuses on the case of Brasil and its Brasil Sem Miséria plan.

Paper long abstract:

Social protection schemes, and especially cash transfer programs, have proven to be effective in reducing poverty and inequality in both the short and long run. This has been accomplished by enhancing human and physical capital investments of households, as well as increasing their productivity and employability. To enhance their effects on this range of outcomes, single social protection schemes may need to be part of a holistic social protection system, but also complemented by other socio-economic policies as part of a broad development strategy. Despite the relevance of this issue, there is a lack of evidence on the interaction between these programs. This is the case as many of these programs have been run in isolation or because evaluation methodologies limit the possibility of analysing the interaction between different policies. The paper briefly discusses the available evidence and the underlining theories and frameworks. It then focuses on the case of Brasil and its Brasil Sem Miséria strategy launched in 2011. This is a relevant example as it unifies social assistance programs (such as Bolsa Família) with productive inclusion, especially in relation to labour markets, and access to goods and services. The analysis will look at how this holistic approach changed the Bolsa Família program and its impact. And it will compare these recent developments to the changes originated by the creation of Bolsa Família in 2003, which unified existing social assistance programs. Finally, the paper will also briefly compare the case of Brasil with other relevant country cases.