Even with a decrease in poverty, inequality in Brazil 'is still brutal,' says expert

In Brazil, the income of the richest 10% is more than 14 times higher than the income of the poorest 40%, according to data from IBGE's Continuous National Household Sample Survey (also known as PNAD), released last Friday (19). The survey focused on 2023, and this difference is the smallest ever recorded in the country. Even so, it highlights inequality, showing that the average monthly income of the Brazilian population with the highest household income per person was BRL7,580 (US$1,472) while those with the lowest income received just BRL527 (US$102) a month.

In an interview with Central do Brasil on Tuesday (23), Maitê Gauto, from the Oxfam advisory group on presence review, said that the decrease in this gap is a good sign when looking at the country's broader scenario, especially considering the crisis that emerged due to the pandemic. However, other data show that the gap is still huge, such as the fact that "the richest 1% have an income almost 40 times higher than the income of the poorest 40%."

The survey shows an increase in the number of families receiving income transfer programs, such as Bolsa Família, which explains the rise in the income of the poorest part of the population. However, Gauto highlights that other factors need to be taken into account before determining that the situation will continue to be positive.

"We need to look at this figure [and understand] how much people are actually receiving [of income] and how much this impacts on quality of life, considering inflation, rising costs and everything we've accumulated during the pandemic period, and the resilience of families regarding other possible impacts of an economic crisis, or even the climate crisis," she points out.

Gauto also warns that the data indicates a poverty reduction, not a reduction in inequality. "When we have a scenario where the total of households receiving a cash transfer program rose, and yet the difference between the richest 10% or 1% is 14 times and almost 40 times, we are still facing brutal inequality."

Thus, in addition to guaranteeing macroeconomic measures to generate jobs and social policies aimed at the most vulnerable families, Brazil needs to go further: "The creation of taxes on wealth and extreme wealth in the country is the most efficient and fair measure to reduce poverty and inequality here," she concludes.

The full interview is available in the most recent edition (Tuesday, 23) of Brasil de Fato's show Central do Brasil, on BdF's YouTube channel.

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