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Official data on formal employment, CadÚnico, and Bolsa Família show changes in the profile of assisted families, with millions of households leaving the program after income increase and strong presence of CadÚnico registrants among workers hired with formal contracts.
More than 5.1 million families stopped relying on Bolsa Família between March 2023 and April 2026 after an increase in income or the end of the period allowed by the Protection Rule, according to the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger.
In the same period, data from Caged crossed with the Cadastro Único indicate that 80% of the formal jobs created in the first quarter of 2026 were filled by people registered in CadÚnico.
Released by the MDS on May 27, 2026, and updated on June 4, 2026, the survey presents information about the presence of beneficiaries and registrants in social programs in the formal labor market.
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The numbers also show that part of this group appears among the newly hired with formal contracts, in a period in which the federal government relates the income increase to access to formal employment.
Minister Wellington Dias stated that the data reinforce the presence of this group in formal employment.
“The numbers confirm the statistics related to the presence of beneficiaries in the formal market and refute unfounded claims that families do not want to find jobs, confirming findings of previous studies on the subject,” said the minister, according to the MDS.
Formal employment changes the profile of leaving Bolsa Família
The departure of families from Bolsa Família due to income increase does not represent, in isolation, the end of poverty in the country, but indicates a measurable change in the profile of part of the beneficiaries served by the social policy.
According to the MDS, the 5.1 million households left the benefit since the program’s resumption in March 2023 until April 2026.
The change appears mainly in the relationship between the program and the labor market, as the current design provides for a transition phase for families that exceed the entry line into the benefit.
In this model, the disconnection does not occur immediately when there is an income increase, as long as the family is within the criteria established for temporary stay in the program.
Wellington Dias associated this movement with the new model of Bolsa Família.
“From 2023 onwards, with this new employment and work-stimulating model, more than 5 million families have risen out of poverty. They left the Bolsa Família because they rose out of poverty, meaning they started having a job,” stated the minister.
The statement addresses an aspect of public policy: income transfer functions as a monthly payment and also as a protection mechanism while the family reorganizes income, work routine, and expenses.
By maintaining support during the transition, the program seeks to reduce the risk of sudden income loss in households that have just entered or returned to the formal market.
How the Protection Rule Works
The Protection Rule allows families with increased income not to be immediately removed from Bolsa Família, as long as they remain within the limits defined by the program’s regulations.
Under current rules, when family income exceeds R$ 218 per person but does not surpass R$ 706 per capita, the family can remain in the program for up to 12 months, receiving 50% of the benefit amount.
According to the MDS, the mechanism was created to prevent a recent hiring, still subject to instability, from causing an abrupt loss of social protection.
The ministry states that overcoming poverty does not automatically occur with obtaining a job, as the family may need time to stabilize income, routine, and expenses.
The rule was also designed to reduce the so-called exit and return effect to the program, a situation where a temporary income increase leads to disconnection before the new economic condition is consolidated.
Without a transition phase, families that raise income for a limited period could lose the benefit, face subsequent income decline, and need to quickly return to social assistance.
In May 2026, Bolsa Família served 19.08 million families across the country, reaching 49.57 million people, with an average benefit of R$ 678.01 per household.
In that month, 2.26 million families were covered by the Protection Rule, according to information released by the MDS.
São Paulo Leads Exits Due to Income Increase
State data shows that São Paulo recorded the highest number of families that left Bolsa Família due to income increase in the analyzed period, with 745.6 thousand cases.
Following are the Federal District, with 546 thousand, Bahia, with 487.6 thousand, Minas Gerais, with 430.2 thousand, and Rio de Janeiro, with 393.7 thousand.
The distribution includes federative units with significant economic weight and states with historically more vulnerable social indicators, according to the regional reading of the program’s data.
Among the largest absolute numbers, the presence of Bahia indicates that the income increase recorded by the MDS also occurred outside the centers of higher average income in the country.
The analysis of this data, however, depends on the size of the population served in each federation unit.
More populous states tend to concentrate more beneficiaries and, consequently, may record a higher absolute volume of disconnections or exits due to income increase.
To measure the proportional intensity of the movement, it would be necessary to compare the disconnections with the total number of families served by Bolsa Família in each state.
Income of the poorest grew above average
The advancement of labor income also appears in a survey by FGV Social, based on the Continuous Pnad.
According to the data cited by the MDS, the labor income of lower-income individuals grew 10.7%, above the increase recorded among the richest 10%, which was 6.7%.
In the same survey, labor income rose, on average, 7.1% in the year.
FGV Social attributes the result to the combination of formal job creation and the Bolsa Família Protection Rule.
The relationship presented by the study indicates that part of the income improvement does not only result from the benefit paid by the program but also from the inclusion of registrants in the formal labor market.
This data helps explain why the transition policy has come to occupy space in the program’s design.
With the improvement of labor income, the family can gradually leave the beneficiary condition, without losing protection immediately before consolidating the new income.
Bolsa Família continues to play a central role in social protection
Even with the exit of 5.1 million families due to income increase or completion of the Protection Rule, Bolsa Família remains among the main federal social policies in terms of the number of people served.
In May 2026, the program reached 49.57 million people, with a monthly investment of R$ 12.9 billion, according to the MDS.
The program also maintains additional benefits according to family composition.
In May, the First Childhood Benefit allocated R$ 150 to children up to seven years old, while other additions covered pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, and adolescents, according to the rules informed by the ministry.
The permanence of millions of families in the program shows, according to official data, that the recent income improvement does not eliminate the demand for social protection.
At the same time, the exit of some beneficiaries due to income increase indicates that the public policy has started to operate with a transition stage for families that improve their economic condition.
The combination of formal employment, Cadastro Único, and Protection Rule has made monitoring family income a relevant point to assess the reach of Bolsa Família.
The data available until 2026 shows that a significant portion of those registered in the CadÚnico occupy newly created formal positions, while millions of families leave the benefit after increasing their income.
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