jobs. In addition, most Venezuelans work in the informal sector, which before the pandemic has no access to job protections and unemployment insurance. In line with Mazza (2020), Venezuelans in Brazil appear to be disproportionately working in tourism, retail and personal care, the informal sectors that are heavily impacted by the pandemic.

<!-- Start of picture text --> 48350<br>78281.2 76538.34 74498.1 77291<br>30517<br>26734.565 27408.134 28090.177 18347<br>16470<br>591 2774 12172 5712 4893<br>840 396 665 1335<br>Time<br>Time<br>Brazilian Families Brazilian Persons<br>Venezuelan Families Venezuelans Persons Venezuelan Families Venezuelans Persons<br>(a) Cadastro Unico Registration (b) Bolsa Familia Access<br>80000 80000 50000<br>40000<br>60000 60000<br>30000<br>40000 40000<br>Venezuela<br>Brazilians(000)<br>20000<br>PBF Beneficiancies<br>20000 20000<br>10000<br>0<br>0<br>2017m1 2017m2 2017m3 2017m4 2017m5 2017m6 2017m7 2017m8 2017m9 2017m10 2017m11 2017m12 2018m1 2018m2 2018m3 2018m4 2018m5 2018m6 2018m7 2018m8 2018m9 2018m10 2018m11 2018m12 2019m1 2019m2 2019m3 2019m4 2019m5 2019m6 2019m7 2019m8 2019m9 2019m10 2019m11 2019m12 2020m1 2020m2 2020m3 2020m4 2020m5 2020m6 2020m7 2020m8 2020m9<br>2017m1 2017m2 2017m3 2017m4 2017m5 2017m6 2017m7 2017m8 2017m9 2017m10 2017m11 2017m12 2018m1 2018m2 2018m3 2018m4 2018m5 2018m6 2018m7 2018m8 2018m9 2018m10 2018m11 2018m12 2019m1 2019m2 2019m3 2019m4 2019m5 2019m6 2019m7 2019m8 2019m9 2019m10 2019m11 2019m12 2020m1 2020m2 2020m3 2020m4 2020m5 2020m6 2020m7 2020m8 2020m9 2020m10 2020m11 2020m12 2021m1<br><!-- End of picture text --> Figure 10: E↵ect of Covid-19 pandemic on access to _Bolsa Familia_ In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the federal government, initiated two main policies to alleviate the impact of the pandemic. They expanded the PBF to include eligible families and granted a financial benefit of R$ 600 (USD 117), _Auxilio Emergencial_ , to those, whose occupations were seriously a↵ected by the crisis, including informal workers, individual microentrepreneurs, self-employed and unemployed. Eligibility depends on having a per capita household income of less than R$ 522.5 (USD 101) monthly or a total household income of R$ 3,135 (USD 609). As long as one is registered in the Single Registry or receives _Bolsa Familia_ benefit, the receipt of _Auxilio Emergencial_ is automatic, but one can also register for the benefit online. Rough estimates suggest that about 277,197 Venezuelans benefited from the program between April and November 2020. Figure 10 shows that Venezuelan PBF beneficiaries increased from about 15,000 in February 2020 to little more than 48,000 in April 2020 and have remained all most constant till January 2021. World Bank (2020) points out that although these measures may ameliorate the impact of the pandemic, fiscal constraints and high inequality may prevent Brazil from negating all the adverse e↵ects of the crisis in the short-run.

Although Brazil is the only country in the LAC region to provide social benefits during the pandemic without regard to legal status, the benefits are administered through local governments, which are overloaded with new clients and their demands. Institutional capacity is the most limited in Roraima, which is the main gateway for Venezuelan refugees and migrants and with most Venezuelans having no access to digital platform, registering online in _Cadastro Unico_<sup>_ ́_</sup> becomes a challenge, which is reflected in the gradual increase of Venezuelans registered in Figure 10. Experiences in the pandemic point to the importance of a↵ordable and accessible internet, and digital literacy, which will not only benefit Venezuelans but also Brazilians.

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