01.03.04. Poverty and inequality | Brazil

01.03.04. Poverty and inequality | Brazil

30 Mar 2022

The country has experienced an increase in the number of people living in extreme poverty (from 6.6% in 2016 to 7.4% in 2017; that is from 13.5 million to 15.2 million people). There was also an increase in the proportion of people living below the poverty line (income of up to $5.50 a day). In 2017, this number stood at 26.5%, compared to 25.7% the year before. Such rates represent a change from 52.8 million to 54.8 million people. Most of people affected —over 25 million — live in the North Eastern region of the country (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, 2018c). The GINI index in Brazil was reported at 51.3 in 2015 (Trading Economics, 2019). With regards to gender equality, national figures (2016) reveal gender inequality across the country. For example, women devote about 73% more hours to domestic and/or household chores than men (18.1 hours versus 10.5 hours). The greatest inequality in the distribution of hours dedicated to these activities is in the Northeast Region, where women dedicate about 80% more hours than men, reaching 19 more hours a week. Black or mixed-race women are the ones that dedicate themselves the most to the care of people and/or household chores, with a record of 18.6 hours per week in 2016. Such figures vary little for men when considering ethnicity or region of residence (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, 2018b, 2019b).

References:

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. (2018b). Estatísticas de Gênero Indicadores sociais das mulheres no Brasil.

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. (2018c). Síntese dos Indicadores Sociais, uma análise das condições de vida da populção brasileira.

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. (2019b). Gender Statistics—Social indicators of women in Brazil. IBGE.

Trading Economics. (2019). Brazil—Gini Index. https://tradingeconomics.com/brazil/gini-index-wb-data.html