ABSTRACT
Historically, the beginnings of the establishment of a social protection system in Brazil go back to the 1930s. This was a time of significant social and economic transformations, when the development of the country was marked by the transition from an agro-exporting model of development to an urban-industrial one. This chapter describes the Bolsa Famlia and characterizes it in the context of the reality of Brazil's social protection system and the social work perspectives. It discusses the program's capacity to target the poor families in Brazil and to indicate its impacts on the reduction of poverty and inequality among the Brazilian population. The chapter is based on a study developed with the support of Fundao Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nvel Superior (CAPES) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfico e Tecnolgico (CNPq), which are Brazilian government agencies that promote the training of human resources and research.
