Social Welfare and Change Programs

Brazil has long had welfare and pension systems but they do little for poorer workers and largely benefit state functionaries. Brazil also has some of the most progressive social legislation of any developing country—such as paid maternity leave—but as with other legislation, it is more often honored in the breach.

One very successful social program that received national attention is Viva a Criança (Long Live Children), which was begun by the governor of the state of Ceará in the impoverished Northeast. A campaign of preventive health education, the program cut infant mortality in Ceará by one-third in only four years.