Family context and fulfillment of school attendance condition in the Bolsa Família Program in Ceará

ABSTRACT In Brazil, low income families with children are entitled to receive a government stipend called Bolsa Família (Family Stipend), but they only receive it on condition that daily school attendance by the children is at least 85%. The objective of this research is to identify which characteristics of the families in question have a significant effect on the probability of the school attendance condition being met. A database suitable for quantitative analysis was prepared, based on data from 341 semi-structured interviews carried out in the State of Ceará in 2016. Our results indicate that the fulfillment of the school attendance condition depends mainly on the readiness of these children's mothers to help them with homework, which, in turn, depends on the mothers' education and their involvement in school activities.