Abstract
This article analyzes where Brazilians stand in relation to the Bolsa Família Program (BFP) and its beneficiaries. The data are from a national public opinion survey commissioned by The Secretariat for Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic (Secom/PR). The results of a multinomial logistic regression regarding the chances that people will support the BFP have shown that support grows among those with more positive evaluations of the federal government and higher levels of information about the program, as well as among those connected to or in contact with beneficiaries; support wanes depending on schooling and family income, not to mention the individualism of the interviewees. Ambivalences appear when the analyses turn to opinions on the management of Bolsa Família and its beneficiaries. OLS regressions, estimated to assess the opinions on the positive impacts of the BFP and the alleged lack of regulation of and control over the program and its beneficiaries, have shown that more knowledge about the program does not diminish negative views of the beneficiaries or management and oversight of the program. Surprisingly, these critical views are present even among those groups of people most likely to receive Bolsa Família resources, such as the less educated, people of color, and residents of the Northeast.
Bolsa Família; public opinion; individualism; economic self-interest; racial attitudes