OBJECTIVE To analyze the effectiveness of the Chilean System of Childhood Welfare in
transferring benefits to socially vulnerable families.METHODS A cross-sectional study with a sample of 132 families from the Metropolitan
Region, Chile, stratified according to degree of social vulnerability,
between September 2011 and January 2012. Semi-structured interviews were
conducted with mothers of the studied families in public health facilities
or their households. The variables studied were family structure,
psychosocial risk in the family context and integrated benefits from the
welfare system in families that fulfill the necessary requirements for
transfer of benefits. Descriptive statistics to measure location and
dispersion were calculated. A binary logistic regression, which accounts for
the sample size of the study, was carried out.RESULTS The groups were homogenous regarding family size, the presence of biological
father in the household, the number of relatives living in the same
dwelling, income generation capacity and the rate of dependency and
psychosocial risk (p ≥ 0.05). The transfer of benefits was low in all three
groups of the sample (≤ 23.0%). The benefit with the best coverage in the
system was the Single Family Subsidy, whose transfer was associated with the
size of the family, the presence of relatives in the dwelling, the absence
of the father in the household, a high rate of dependency and a high income
generation capacity (p ≤ 0.10).CONCLUSIONS The effectiveness of benefit transfer was poor, especially in families that
were extremely socially vulnerable. Further explanatory studies of benefit
transfers to the vulnerable population, of differing intensity and duration,
are required in order to reduce health disparities and inequalities.