EXPLORATORY NOTE ON CONSUMPTION AND SOCIOECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION IN BRAZIL BASED ON EVIDENCES FROM THE FAMILY EXPENDITURE SURVEY

Guilherme França Dos Santos Paiva,Denise Britz Do Nascimento Silva,Carmem Aparecida Feijó

doi:10.1590/198055272021

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present study aims at analysing different stratification criteria used in Brazil by market research companies and academia, taking into account family profiles based on socioeconomic and demographic variables. It presents different strata profiles generated by two nationally well-known stratification criteria based on survey data from the two last editions of the Brazilian Family Expenditure Survey (2002/2003 and 2008/2009)and it also provides evidence on patterns of change over time. The evidence corroborates that an economic improvement took place from 2003 to 2009 for those individuals classified in the lower socioeconomic stratum, together with an increase of total and per capita average income, and an increase of expenses. On the other hand, a visible reduction of savings for families in all economic strata and higher levels of household indebtedness was also noticed.

Highlights

Over the last two decades, better levels of family income and well-being have been regis‐ tered in the Brazilian economy as the result of a well succeeded plan to stabilize prices, coupled with a set of government actions including income transfer programs, credit access to low income population, real gains in the minimum wage1, overdraft facilities, among other measures
As a result of our empirical work, we reveal differences between household profile variables related to the two types of stratification criteria that we believe are relevant to research fields that make use of socioeconomic stratification to identify differences in living standards
Brazilian GDP growth in the first decade of the 2000s was driven by consumption of the families, since low inflation, well‐focused social programs and a policy of real in‐ creases for the minimum wage has improved income distribution, expanding domes‐ tic market for consumer goods

Summary

Introduction

Over the last two decades, better levels of family income and well-being have been regis‐ tered in the Brazilian economy as the result of a well succeeded plan to stabilize prices, coupled with a set of government actions including income transfer programs, credit access to low income population, real gains in the minimum wage, overdraft facilities, among other measures. Over the last 10 years, poverty has been reduced, indicating that a significant portion of the population has managed to move out of poverty to constitute an emerging group that has been identified by many as the new Brazilian middle class (NERI, 2010; FERREIRA et al, 2012). Despite acknowledging that the consumption per capita has been increasing over the years, many authors reject the idea that there is a new middle class in the country. Scalon and Salata (2012), based on a sociological approach, argue that movements in the class structure might not have been significant enough to support the idea of a rising new social class, or even that the traditional middle class has expanded The increase of per capita consumption points to a market phenomenon instead of a real transformation of socioeconomic nature or a change in the dynamics of the Brazilian society. Scalon and Salata (2012), based on a sociological approach, argue that movements in the class structure might not have been significant enough to support the idea of a rising new social class, or even that the traditional middle class has expanded

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Conclusion