Brazil’s Family Allowance: Expanding the State’s Role in Helping Families

What is it about?

This chapter looks at how social assistance grew in Brazil through what the author calls a “constitutional catching-up” process. This means that the country used its democratic Constitution — which expanded basic rights for all citizens after democratization — to push for new laws and stronger court actions. In Brazil, these constitutional rights helped the state take a more active role in creating social programs. The chapter explains that, even in a context where governments were not very committed to social policies, including social rights in the 1988 Constitution gave the state reasons and tools to build welfare programs. It shows how this process of law-making and judicial action led to the creation of Bolsa Família, Brazil’s family allowance program. Overall, the chapter helps us understand how countries in the Global South can expand their welfare systems by using constitutional rights to drive social change.

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Photo by Smitty on Unsplash

Photo by Smitty on Unsplash

Why is it important?

It is important because it shows how a country can use its Constitution to turn social rights into real government programs that reduce poverty and inequality. The Brazilian case helps explain how laws and court decisions can make the state take responsibility for helping vulnerable people. It also offers lessons for other countries in the Global South on how to use democratic and legal tools to build stronger social protection systems.

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