Impacts of Bolsa Familia Program on the diversification of food consumption in Brazil

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the effect of the Bolsa Familia Program (PBF) on the level of diversification of food consumption among beneficiary families residing in urban areas of Brazil, also considering nutritional properties of the consumption basket. The empirical strategy is based on propensity score matching approach and on microdata from the Household Budget Survey (POF) 2008-2009. Through these information are measured average treatment effects on two measures of diversification of food consumption: the Berry index and the healthy diversification index. The results indicate that the PBF influences positively the level of diversification of food intake, but this effect does not appear significant when considering the indicator that captures information about the quality of items consumed. Therefore, increments the program's income for treated families do not generate improvements in a diet with healthier items.