Social Mobility of the First Generation of Bolsa Família Beneficiaries: Trajectories and Dynamics in the Pandemic

Author: Imds

Edition: 1st

Published in: December 2025

The report “Social Mobility of the First Generation of Bolsa Família Beneficiaries: Trajectories and Dynamics in the Pandemic” examines the path of young people who grew up in families served by the Bolsa Família Program and reached adulthood during one of the most challenging periods in recent history: the Covid-19 pandemic.

The research, developed under the Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Institute for Mobility and Social Development (IMDS) and the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger (MDS), combines administrative data from the Unified Registry for Social Programs and other official sources to investigate whether the educational opportunities and insertion in the labor market of these young people have resulted in concrete advances in social mobility.

In addition to drawing an overview of the socioeconomic conditions of this generation, the study seeks to understand how factors such as schooling, family structure, territory, and economic context have shaped their paths over the years and, especially, how the pandemic has influenced these trajectories. The results help to measure the progress made since the creation of the program and to identify the persistent challenges to transform short-term gains into sustainable inclusion.

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