The objective of the present dissertation is to investigate the economic characteristics of
families benefiting from the program Bolsa Família (PBF) residents of an amazon
riverside community and the perception of the mothers from these families about the
program. For this reason it was made multiple case studies of four riverside families
inhabitants of an island belonging to the city of Belém, capital of the state of Pará.
Demographic and socioeconomic data were collected, besides retrospective and actual
testimonials about the values related to the benefit of PBF and the future expectations of
these families, as well as their consumption habits and their relation with the received
resource. The main results point the importance of the PBF income in the family total
budget. In general, the money obtained through the extraction of açaí is destined to
supplement the expenses with alimentation and acquisition of furniture and home
appliances and the money from the benefit is destined to goods that are enjoyed mainly by
the children and their mothers like clothes, school expenses, and personal items. However,
given the extreme diet vulnerability situation, the benefit was also spent with the purchase
of food for the entire group and the acquisition of furniture and home appliances. The
structural and socioeconomic characteristics are presented, among which are highlighted:
the division of work, the savings, the use of credit cards, the existence of debts in
commercial establishments, the importance of electric energy and the participation in the
benefit of INCRA. In what concerns the perception of the mothers beneficiaries about the
PBF, six themes were organized: the general perception about the PBF, the empowerment
of the beneficiaries, the conditionalities of education and health and the changes in the
perception of the husband‟s income, the frequency of expenses and in the supply of
necessities. Altogether, the participants perceive the benefit as a positive aggregate in their
family budget and fulfill the necessary conditionalities for their participation in the
program. But, for a real break in the cycle of poverty, it is necessary the availability of
quality public services, which create healthy and autonomous citizens.
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