Rio de Janeiro – The difference between the 20% richest and the 20% poorest in Brazil is still large, but there has been a considerable drop over the last ten years. Between 2001 and 2011, per capita family revenues dropped from 63.7% of total wealth in the country to 57.7%. In the same period, the 20% poorest share of the population presented growth in per capita family income, from 2.6% of total wealth in the country in 2001 to 3.5% in 2011.
The figures are included in the 2012 edition of the social index synthesis research (Síntese de Indicadores Sociais), disclosed on Wednesday (28) by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE). To Leonardo Athias, the researcher of the Social Index Division of the Institute, the reduction of inequality in the period may be attributed to the income distribution in the country, with growth of the minimum wage, expansion of Family Purse and educational gains, which allow workers to target jobs higher up the echelons.
“We had a double phenomenon. A reduction of inequality, on the one hand, due to income policies, appreciation of the minimum wage and social programmes, turned to the base of the income pyramid, as well as educational gains; making the population a little more homogenous, it may target jobs higher up the pyramid.”
*Translated by Mark Ament
