Understanding the Impact of Poverty Relief Human Trafficking Vulnerability for Adults and Children

The Human Trafficking Data Lab is studying the role of Brazil’s flagship anti-poverty program in protecting beneficiaries from exploitative labor, including both child labor and adult labor trafficking. 

Poverty creates vulnerability to labor exploitation, including labor trafficking and child labor, but little is known about how anti-poverty programs mitigate this vulnerability (to our knowledge, none on labor trafficking). This study uses linked administrative microdata on over 30 million household applications to study how Bolsa Família, the world's largest conditional cash transfer program influences these risks. In general, although we find that large scale anti-poverty programs like Bolsa Familia can protect against child labor, addressing labor trafficking may also require complementary action against criminal employers and other actors.

Location: Brazil (nationwide)

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