Impacts of the implementation of Stimulus Check for the Black Population
Rev. Cadernos de Campo, Araraquara, v. 23, n. 23, e023003, 2023. e-ISSN: 2359-2419
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47284/cdc.v23i00.18236 10
implementation of Stimulus Check here but will highlight the critical points of its performance
aligned with this article's objective.
In the case of the Stimulus Check, the Ministry of Citizenship (MC) played a central
role in the implementation of the policy, being responsible for "managing the SC for all
beneficiaries" (CARDOSO, 2020, p. 1054, our translation). The Ministry of Economy (ME), at
the time, collaborated "jointly with the Ministry of Citizenship in defining the criteria for
identifying the beneficiaries of the SC" (CARDOSO, 2020, p. 1054). Additionally, the Caixa
Econômica Federal (CEF) was used by the Federal Government to make the payments, and
payroll sheets were approved to enable the operationalization of the Stimulus Check
(CARDOSO, 2020; SANTOS; SILVA, 2022).
The target audience of the SC consisted of low-income families, Bolsa Família
beneficiaries, individuals already registered in the Cadastro Único (CadÚnico), individual
microentrepreneurs (MEIs), informal workers, and those who became unemployed due to the
pandemic. To qualify for the aid, these individuals needed to meet the following conditions:
(i) be over 18 (eighteen) years old; (ii) not have an active formal employment;
(iii) not be the recipient of a social security or welfare benefit, or receive
unemployment insurance or federal income transfer program, except for the
Bolsa Família program as provided in paragraphs 1 and 2; (iv) have a monthly
per capita family income of up to 1/2 (half) of the minimum wage or a total
monthly family income of up to 3 (three) minimum wages; (v) not have
received taxable income above R$ 28,559.70 (twenty-eight thousand, five
hundred and fifty-nine reais and seventy cents) in the year 2018; and (vi) be
engaged in one of the following activities: a) individual microentrepreneur
(MEI); b) individual contributor to the General Social Security System who
contributes under the terms of the central provision or item I of paragraph 2
of Article 21 of Law n.º 8,212, of July 24, 1991; or c) informal worker,
whether employed, self-employed, or unemployed, of any nature, including
inactive intermittent workers, registered in the Cadastro Único for Federal
Social Programs (CadÚnico) until March 20, 2020, or who, according to self-
declaration, meets the requirement of item IV (BRASIL, 2020a, online, our
translation).
An analysis of the law reveals inclusive criteria, such as being an individual
microentrepreneur (MEI), an individual contributor to the Social Security System, and an
informal worker, as well as exclusionary criteria, such as age, income, active formal
employment, and ownership of social security benefits, unemployment insurance, or federal
income transfer programs, except for the Bolsa Família Program (PBF). These conditionalities,
advocated by Rego and Pinzani (2013), although not the central point of criticism of the income