Symbolic and Gender Boundaries among the Bolsa Familia Beneficiaries

Abstract

The present article intends to ascertain to what extent the "Bolsa Família" allowance program modifies gender, power and interest relations to beneficiary couplesa topic that has aroused very little interest in public and academic debate. This paper also attempts to identify and understand moral and symbolic effects that the policy can produce on family and gender relations; the criteria of justice put forward by the couples for "deserving" the Bolsa Família benefit; and the rationale that underlies this notion of merit. Interviews were conducted with 30 couples in a district in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro.