Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

The BFP seeks to help (a) reduce current poverty and inequality, by providing a minimum level of income for extremely poor families (defined as families with per capita monthly incomes below US$17; the program also targets moderately poor households with per capita monthly incomes below US$46 and higher than US$17); and (b) break the intergenerational transmission of poverty by conditioning these transfers on beneficiary compliance with human capital requirements (school attendance, vaccines, pre-natal visits).

Health interventions are targeted at children under six years of age and pregnant women. The program also seeks to help empower BFP beneficiaries by linking them to other complementary services. As the largest conditional cash transfer in the developing world, the BFP has attracted significant attention both in Brazil and beyond. The program is a national program with a target of 11 million beneficiaries from a baseline of approximately 3 million.

Poor households receive a base cash transfer ($20) per month regardless of family size and composition. A variable cash incentive of up to three transfers ranging from US$5-US$15 is paid depending upon whether education, health, and nutrition conditions are met.