Charting new directions: - Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft

Charting new directions: Brazil’s role in a multi-polar world 47The constructionof a strategicsocial policy 1Jorge Abrahão de CastroThroughout history, societies have constructed aseries of multi-purpose mechanisms to protect andsupport the social life of their members. Protectioncomes in the form of social security policies designedto reduce and mitigate the risks and vulnerabilities towhich people are exposed, while support comes inthe form of policies intended to ensure that citizenshave broader access to opportunities and resources.However, contrary to popular perception, socialpolicy is not only an altruistic and charitable pursuit tohelp those in need. As the experience of the recentpast in Brazil demonstrates, social policy can also bea key factor for economic growth. Indeed, it can be astrategic element in national development.Public spending and its social impactThe level of spending on social policy in Brazil haschanged significantly over the last two decades. From1993 onwards, with the implementation of policies putforth in Brazil’s constitution, social spending startedto grow in a sustained manner. The analysis of thedata presented in Chart 1 signals a trend of growth insocial public spending of 2.7 percentage points (p.p.)of GDP in 11 years, representing growth of over 10%.More importantly, this spending growth is not justtaking place at the federal level, with growth of 0.2p.p. in state social spending and 0.4 p.p. in municipalsocial spending reflecting a key trend.Analysing the volume of funds (see Chart 2), wecan see that federal social policy has been centredon the following areas: the national social securitysystem, pensions and benefits of civil servants,health, social assistance, education, labour andincome. At the same time, the nature and prioritiesof public spending changed, with policy areas suchas social security increasing their share.Brazil’s social policies underwent a majordiversification and expansion, with changes in thescope of the Social Security System, Social Assistanceand Defence of the Worker, for example (see Chart2). As a result, social assistance, labour and incomeincreased their shares in overall social spending.In the case of social assistance, the assistentialistmodel was replaced by a model of rights with anincreasingly comprehensive coverage of the Brazilianpopulation. Social assistance was recently expandedwith the creation of Bolsa Familia, a conditional cashtransfer programme, and the implementation of theUnified Social Assistance System (SUAS). In the areaof labour and income, a public employment systemwas created, expanded and consolidated. There hasbeen major progress and expanded social protectionin Brazil, driving stronger investments in this sector.On the other hand, spending on public educationand health policies remained more or less static. Interms of their share of GDP up to 2005, these areasfailed to increase their share of the pie. Althoughin absolute terms these areas now receive muchmore investment, spending merely tracked GDPgrowth and was not earmarked as a governmentpriority. Similarly, spending on housing and sanitationdeclined, which is visible in the condition of thissector today.Although significant challenges remain, overallincreased public spending on social policy had anenormously beneficial impact on the quality of life of1 This text is a product of the studies, research and discussions carried out in recent years with technical experts/researchers from the Board of SocialStudies and Policy (Disoc) of Ipea. The basis and main reference of this text was: Políticas Sociais – Acompanhamento e análise no 17; and Perpectivada Política Social no Brasil (Social Policies – Monitoring and analysis 17; and Outlook for Social Policy in Brazil).The Construction of a Strategic Social Policy | Jorge Abrahão de Castro