Bolsa família program and socio-spatial segregation: geoprocessing as a supporting tool for diagnosing socioeconomic vulnerable areas.

Abstract

Since the 1990s, Brazil has undergone changes in social public policies and Bolsa Família (Family Grant) is considered a model income-transfer programme in the country. However, there are no records of an analysis of the programme from the perspective of socio-spatial segregation, a characteristic feature in Third World countries that is associated to income insufficiency. With the help of data geoprocessing and the correspondence analysis technique, this study evaluated the spatial distribution of Bolsa Família beneficiary families in relation to the average income of the population in a municipality of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The findings showed a socio-spatial segregation picture portrayed by a greater concentration of the beneficiary population in peripheral and lower income regions, which confirms the exclusionary behaviour- based on the peripheralisation of poverty - of the urbanisation process in Brazil and reinforces the need for integrating public policies with Bolsa Família, especially at municipality level.