Inequality In Brazil Research Articles

Analysis of the spatial distribution of cases of Zika virus infection and congenital Zika virus syndrome in a state in the southeastern region of Brazil: Sociodemographic factors and implications for public health.

ObjectiveTo perform spatial distribution analysis of reported cases of Zika virus and congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, by neighborhood, and relate the results to sociodemographic indicators and implications for the health process.MethodsAn ecological study using data from the 2016 National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, epidemiological records, and information on neighborhoods of families confirmed with CZS from qualitative field research.ResultsSociodemographic indicators were analyzed in three distinct groups: general population with Zika virus, pregnant women with Zika virus, and cases of CZS visited. For the three groups, average literacy rates were 71.1%, 71.0%, and 68.3%; the average income per minimum wage was 1.4, 1.1, and 1.4; sanitary sewage coverage was 75.6%, 76.1%, and 71.4%; garbage coverage was 90.8%, 91.2%, and 89.2%; and water supply was 93.8%, 94.1% and 93.8%, respectively. Socioeconomic indicators showed no significant differences between groups, although they were above the national average. A nonsignificant variation of 68.3%–71.1% was seen in the average literacy level above 15 years of age.ConclusionSocioeconomic and demographic indicators of cases of Zika virus infection and CZS may indicate that the outbreak had different impacts according to class, social group, or gender, reflecting the persistence and social geography of inequality in Brazil.

Revisitando a dignidade da pessoa humana em tempos de desconstrução de direitos sociais fundamentais (educação e trabalho): contributo de Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola

Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola desenvolveu a ideia de que o homem pode ascender na cadeia das criaturas pelo exercício de suas capacidades intelectuais o que seria a garantia de dignidade da existência humana na vida terrestre, contribuindo para a compreensão da dignidade da pessoa humana nos pactos internacionais, bem como na Constituição brasileira de 1988. O respeito à dignidade da pessoa humana permite a concretização dos direitos fundamentais sociais dos cidadãos, mas, na atualidade brasileira, tem-se visível afronta à sua fundamentalidade, em especial na área da educação e do trabalho. Houve a aprovação da ‘reforma’ trabalhista (Lei nº 13.467/2017) que esgarçou o sistema juslaboral de proteção e a adoção na educação superior pública da figura do docente voluntário. Tais situações promovem profundo retrocesso social no Estado Democrático de Direito mediante a desconstrução de direitos sociais fundamentais dos cidadãos brasileiros

Novas Medidas de Educação e de Desigualdade Educacional para a Primeira Metade do Século XX no Brasil

Resumo Este artigo descreve a trajetória do nível e da desigualdade educacional no Brasil desde a primeira metade do século XX. Combinamos diversas fontes de dados históricos, tais como os relatórios do Ministério de Negócios do Império, os Anuários Estatísticos do Brasil e os Censos Demográficos para construir novas medidas de escolaridade e calcular índices de Gini educacional entre 1900 e 2000 para cada região e para o Brasil como um todo. Nossos resultados mostram que entre 1900 e 1930, a proporção de pessoas com ensino primário completo na população permaneceu em torno de 5%, ao passo que a parcela com ensino secundário completo esteve sempre abaixo de 1% e que somente 0,3% tinham ensino superior completo. Assim, a desigualdade educacional permaneceu constante até 1920, declinou lentamente entre 1920 e 1950 e mais rapidamente somente a partir de então.

Impact of incarceration on tuberculosis incidence and its interaction with income distribution inequality in Brazil.

Deteriorated conditions in the non-prison population can lead to an approximation of its tuberculosis (TB) risk to that in the prison population. We evaluated the association between incarceration and TB incidence rate and its interaction with population income distribution inequality in Brazilian municipalities (2013-2015). We included 954 municipalities with at least one prison. Interaction between the Gini coefficient and prison exposure was analysed in a multiple regression model. We estimated the fraction of TB in the population attributable fraction (PAF) to exposure to prisons according the Gini coefficient. Compared with the non-prison population, the prisoners had 22.07 times (95% confidence interval [CI] 20.38 to 23.89) the risk of TB in municipalities where the Gini coefficient was <0.60 and 14.96 times (95% CI 11.00 to 18.92) the risk where the Gini coefficient was ≥0.60. A negative interaction in the multiplicative scale was explained by a higher TB incidence in the non-prison population in municipalities with a Gini coefficient ≥0.60. The PAF ranged from 50.06% to 5.19% in municipalities with Gini coefficients <0.40 and ≥0.60, respectively. Interventions to reduce prison exposure would have an ostensible impact in population TB incidence rates mainly in settings with lower Gini coefficients. In those with extreme inequality in income distribution, strategies focused on mitigating the effects of socio-economic factors should also be prioritized.

The efficiency of Bolsa Familia Program to advance toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): A human development indicator to Brazil

•Using DEA to evaluate efficiency of Bolsa Familia Program toward realization of MDGs.•Efficiency of public policy can provide indicator for governmental decision-making.•Social efficiency indicates conversion of economic growth into human development.•Only 3 states (DF, SC and RS) were efficient and occupied the first positions of HDI.•BF alone is not enough to change the reality of poverty and inequalities in Brazil.

As cotas raciais como política de ação afirmativa para a equidade de acesso ao ensino superior

O Objetivo do presente estudo é analisar o impacto das cotas raciais como ações afirmativas para o acesso da população negra ao ensino superior. Trata-se de um artigo de análise, e para atender ao objetivo fez-se necessário tecer breves conceitos acerca da desigualdade racial no Brasil; entender conceitualmente ações afirmativas e as cotas raciais; examinar sua sustentação legal. É um estudo bibliográfico e qualitativo que partiu da premissa da luta de classes instituída na sociedade ao longo da história, bem como da desigualdade racial e violência contra negros no Brasil. O estudo constatou que o sistema de cotas representou um divisor de águas quanto a democratização do acesso da população negra ao Ensino Superior, ainda que com argumentações contrárias e alegações de que as cotas discriminam e incutem a ideia de que os negros seriam incompetentes. Constatou também o número elevado de alunos que se evadem da Universidade, e a urgência de políticas de ações afirmativas que visem a permanência desses alunos nas Universidades.

Malnutrition in all its forms and social inequalities in Brazil.

To describe malnutrition (undernutrition and excess weight) by income, education and race/ethnicity in the Brazilian population. Cross-sectional study. Brazil. Children aged <5 years (n 14 580), adolescents aged 11-19 years (n 31 892) and adults aged 20-49 years (n 84 660). Among children, prevalence of excess weight, wasting and stunting was 16·9, 2·8 and 6·0 %, respectively. Differences related to income, education and race/ethnicity were verified, except for prevalence of wasting by education level. Girls and boys presented 18·4 and 20·5 % of excess weight, 2·8 and 3·7 % of underweight and 5·5 and 7·3 % of stunting, respectively. Prevalence of excess weight was lower among poorer, lower-educated (only for boys) and white adolescents, while stunting was lower among higher-income, higher-educated and white adolescents. Over three-quarters of women and almost half of men presented excess weight. Among adults, 3·9 % of women and 1·7 % of men were underweight, and 5·7 % of women and 0·2 % of men presented short stature. Prevalence of excess weight for women was higher among lower education and black, while for men it was higher among higher income and education and white. Short stature was more prevalent among black and mixed-race, low-educated and low-income women. Underweight prevalence was higher among low-educated, black and mixed-race women. In Brazil, the prevalence of excess weight was at least threefold higher than that of undernutrition for children and adolescents and at least sevenfold higher for adults. Social inequalities were observed in the distribution of malnutrition across the lifespan and by gender.

O fenômeno do superendividamento do consumidor no contexto de desigualdade social no Brasil

O presente artigo, pelo método dedutivo, por meio de pesquisa teórico- bibliográfica nacional e estrangeira, objetiva compreender as principais causas e consequências do superendividamento dentro do contexto de desigualdade social no Brasil, de modo a compreender que o mesmo não incorre em um problema unicamente da classe baixa, mas de toda a sociedade. Nesse sentido, objetiva-se também a compreensão dos aspectos comportamentais dos indivíduos e o afastamento da responsabilidade exclusiva do ente sobre a condição de superendividamento. Em conclusão, o trabalho propõe alterativas, como o aprimoramento dos deveres informacionais do fornecedor, o controle da oferta do crédito e a promoção de educação financeira ao consumidor.

The Role of the Minimum Wage on the Declining Wage Inequality in Latin America: Evidence from Brazil.

Over the past two decades, the downward trend of income inequality in Brazil has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the real value of the minimum wage. There is no empirical consensus on whether the minimum wage has an equalizing effect on income distribution because of its ambiguous effects on employment. I document the effectiveness of the minimum wage on compressing wage inequality throughout the wage distribution and its effects on employment by using Brazilian regional data over the post-inflationary period (1995-2015). A counterfactual exercise shows that half of the decline in lower-tail inequality is attributable to the increase in the real minimum wage whereas the effects of the minimum wage on upper-tail inequality are negligible. Furthermore, the increase in the minimum wage has small contemporaneous adverse effects on formal employment which appear to vanish after three quarters.JEL classification: E24Keywords: wage inequality, employment, minimum wage.

The Left and Income Inequality in Brazil

The Left and Income Inequality in Brazil

Mapping Stratification: The Industry-Occupation Space Reveals the Network Structure of Inequality

Social stratification is determined not only by income, education, race, and gender, but also by an individual’s job characteristics and their position in the industrial structure. Utilizing a dataset of 76.6 million Brazilian workers and methods from network science, we map the Brazilian Industry-Occupation Space (BIOS). The BIOS measures the extent to which 600 occupations co-appear in 585 industries, resulting in a complex network that shows how industrial-occupational communities provide important information on the network segmentation of society. Gender, race, education, and income are concentrated unevenly across the core-periphery structure of the BIOS. Moreover, we identify 28 industrial occupational communities from the BIOS network structure and report their contribution to total income inequality in Brazil. Finally, we quantify the relative poverty within these communities. In sum, the BIOS reveals how the coupling of industries and occupations contributes to mapping social stratification and the network structure of inequality.

Growth with reduction in poverty and inequality: did Brazil show the way?

A comprehensive decomposition approach is applied to identify the factors that generated a remarkable change in income distribution, whereby in the a span of a decade, Brazilian inequality fell by one-fifth, and the incidence of poverty declined by two-thirds. It is argued that important elements related to these developments had been in place for some time. These elements included macroeconomic stability, long-standing increases in educational attainment, and favorable demographics in the form of a declining dependency ratio that proved to be both poverty- and inequality-reducing. Robust economic growth during the 2000s and the early 2010s resulted in across-the-board income gains that were widely shared, owing to mechanisms that favored advances at the lower end of the distribution of earnings. Demographics, as well as changes in educational attainment, labor force participation, and lower-skill prices explain most of the significant drop in the headcount ratio, with education and the interaction between economic growth and a rising wage floor accounting for the bulk of the change. The same factors explain up to 85% of the decline in income dispersion that was especially driven by markedly compressed earnings differentials. Human capital accumulation and strong labor market institutions thus stand out as key mechanisms linking economic growth to income distribution.

Persistence and determinants of income inequality: The Brazilian case

AbstractLatin America, which is a region known for its high and persistent income inequality levels, experienced a significant decline in income inequality since the second half of the 1990s. Brazil is a particularly interesting case in Latin America. While the country presented notable economic growth and improvements in income distribution in the early 2000s, Brazil continues to experience high levels of income inequality in comparison with other Latin American or advanced economies. This research contributes to the literature by examining the key drivers of income distribution and the degree of persistence of income inequality among Brazilian states. This research also improves upon previous works by using more recent and comprehensive data and addressing concerns regarding heterogeneity and endogeneity by using the system GMM estimation method. Our findings show that income inequality is highly persistent across Brazilian states and that government policies including income transfer programs made important contributions to reduce income inequality in Brazil. This study also shows that the decline in labor income ratios between different ethnic groups and the increase of the share of formal jobs in the labor market contributed to reduce income inequality.

The development potential index of creative economy for Brazilian federal state capitals

The article deals with the measurement of the potential dynamism of creative economy in the 26 capitals of Brazilian states and the Federal District. The central aim is to estimate the potential of creative economy in the selected cities through the creation and application of the Development Potential Index of Creative Economy, which is an index composed of secondary data. The methodological procedures consisted of three steps, the first one dedicated to the theoretical revision of some indexes previously constructed and applied to the understanding of the dynamism of the creative economy in several countries. In the second step, we selected the indicators for the analysis of Brazilian reality, which were aggregated into three dimensions: talent; attractiveness and connectivity; cultural environment and creative entrepreneurship. In the third step, we calculated the DPICE based on two techniques: one that assigned equal weights to the three dimensions and the other one that established different weights, using endogenous weights. The results confirm the regional inequality in Brazil, for the state capitals with greater development potential are located in the southeastern and southern regions of Brazil, and show ways for public policies to strengthen the development of creative economy in those cities.

Risk of Retrogression in Social Rights and Reduction of Brazilian Public Policies

Introduction:Brazil has 200 million descendants of African, Portuguese, Indigenous, German, Italian, and other peoples who have built their identities. The Federal Constitution was rewritten in 1988 to include a Social Protection System. Between 2000 and 2016, the federal government was governed by the Workers’ Party. This party invested in the creation of inclusive public policies and affirmative actions built through collective processes of citizenship that guaranteed better living conditions for the population. In one decade, it went from being underdeveloped to developing. In 2016, the elected president of the Workers’ Party was withdrawn from power through impeachment. In the next election, right-wing conservatives excluded speech, attacked minorities (e.g. LGBT population), and defended the traditional family.Aim:To understand the retreat of Brazilian public policies in a country that set public social policies, compensatory policies, and affirmative actions guaranteeing citizenship of men and women.Methods:Qualitative research with analysis and reflection on the regression of universalist public policies and affirmative policies with the creation of quotas.Results:The creation of affirmative actions was guaranteed. Vacancies in public tenders for the black population led to the establishment of 50% quotas for blacks in universities, and the creation of a universal health system, or universal expanded health indicators. The federal government created a group of SUS analysis by reducing actions.Discussion:Social inequality in Brazil is one of the worst in the world. 16 million people live below the poverty line (OXFAM, 2017). In recent decades, the population that was expanding and strengthening access to services, health, education, and social assistance network has seen a reduction of public policies. The importance of research that points to this reduction of rights is fundamental for documenting what has already been achieved.

Mortality associated with alternative primary healthcare policies: a nationwide microsimulation modelling study in Brazil

BackgroundBrazil’s Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) is one of the largest and most robustly evaluated primary healthcare programmes of the world, but it could be affected by fiscal austerity measures and by the possible end of the Mais Médicos programme (MMP)—a major intervention to increase primary care doctors in underserved areas. We forecast the impact of alternative scenarios of ESF coverage changes on under-70 mortality from ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) until 2030, the date for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).MethodA synthetic cohort of 5507 Brazilian municipalities was created for the period 2017–2030. A municipal-level microsimulation model was developed and validated using longitudinal data and estimates from a previous retrospective study evaluating the effects of municipal ESF coverage on mortality rates. Reductions in ESF coverage, and its effects on ACSC mortality, were forecast based on two probable austerity scenarios, compared with the maintenance of the current coverage or the expansion to 100%. Fixed effects longitudinal regression models were employed to account for secular trends, demographic and socioeconomic changes, healthcare-related variables, and programme duration effects.ResultsUnder austerity scenarios of decreasing ESF coverage with and without the MMP termination, mean ACSC mortality rates would be 8.60% (95% CI 7.03–10.21%; 48,546 excess premature/under-70 deaths along 2017–2030) and 5.80% (95% CI 4.23–7.35%; 27,685 excess premature deaths) higher respectively in 2030 compared to maintaining the current ESF coverage.Comparing decreasing ESF coverage and MMP termination with achieving 100% ESF coverage (Universal Health Coverage scenario) in 2030, mortality rates would be 11.12% higher (95% CI 9.47–12.76%; 83,937 premature deaths). Reductions in ESF coverage would have stronger effects on mortality from infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies and would disproportionately impact poorer municipalities, with the concentration index for ACSC mortality 11.77% higher (95% CI 0.31–22.32%) and also ending historical declines in racial health inequalities between white and black/pardo Brazilians.ConclusionsReductions in primary healthcare coverage due to austerity measures are likely to be responsible for many avoidable deaths and may preclude achievement of SDGs for health and inequality in Brazil and in other low- and middle-income countries.

Transnational migration and educational opportunities: A case study of migration from Brazil to Germany

Based on a case study, this article discusses connections between educational inequality in Brazil, transnational migration and educational upward mobility. It analyses a young woman's migration from a favela in Brazil to Germany with a focus on the educational aspirations that motivated it, that is, as a case of educational migration. It describes the social trajectories of this young woman and her family and interprets them in the context of recent socio-economic developments in Brazil, thus showing how educational inequality can drive migration. The significance of networks, as well as of migration and educational regimes that shape this trajectory, are taken into account. The analysis aims to show how migrants from disadvantaged social backgrounds actively take part in the transnationalization of education.

Effects of the high-inequality of income on the breast cancer mortality in Brazil

As well as breast cancer mortality, the income inequality in Brazil is different between Federative units, including between units of the same region. To assess the effects of the high-inequality of income on breast cancer mortality in Brazilian Federative Units, in the 2010 year. This is an ecologic study. Deaths from breast cancer in Brazilian women according to Federative units were obtained from the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System. Mortality by breast cancer was estimated per 100,000 women and age-standardized by the direct method according to World Health Organization population. Income inequality was measured by the Gini index obtained from the United Nations Development Programme. The High-inequality of income was classified by the third tercile of the distribution from the Gini index of the Federative units. Univariate analysis was performed according to data normality. Linear regressions were performed by the stepwise backward method. The confidence level was 5%. Stata® (Stata Corp, LC) 11.0. was used. The High-inequality of income was associated with worse social and demographic indicators. The age-standardized breast cancer mortality was larger in the high-inequality of income Federative units. In the adjusted analysis, these Federative units presented a mean of 2 more deaths (ranging from the 0.4 to 3.7 deaths, r² = 0.79; p = 0.018) by breast cancer per 100,000 women when compared to the Federative units without high-inequality of income. In the Brazilian Federative units, the high-inequality of income was associated with age-standardized breast cancer mortality more.

Regional development policies and the challenge to reduce spatial inequalities in Brazil

ABSTRACTThis paper argues that current discussions in Brazil about national regional development policies should be abandoned for now and attention directed towards the regional development agenda at other scales and through other institutional arrangements. More specifically, it offers an understanding of the apparent ‘impossibility’ of creating a national regional policy. After opting for a critical neo-Gramscian conception of the term ‘governance’, the paper argues that a critical appreciation of the conditions needed to concretize this conception of governance leads to the conclusion that the ‘feasibility’ of governance, which requires the ‘real’ inclusion of underprivileged social forces, may depend on the scale at which governance is pursued and on a ‘dialectical overcoming’ of local power to rescue regional agendas.

DESIGUALDADE, EXCLUSÃO E VIOLÊNCIA URBANA EM NARRATIVAS HIPERCONTEMPORÂNEAS

A cidade e o urbano, pensados, vivenciados e experienciados como lugares-tempos expandidos e instáveis, apresentam-se como uma tessitura física, social, econômica, política e cultural fragmentária, mas que ostenta a indiscutível densidade e vive em turbulenta e constante metamorfose (Crang e Thrift, 2000). O artigo se propõe analisar as interações com o espaço urbano e seus processos de expansão nas grandes cidades brasileiras. Busca-se discutir as representações da cultura urbana, pensando-se nas relações com as alegres ruas do Centro da modernizada cidade brasileira das décadas de 40, 50, 60, 70 do século xx. Refl ete-se também sobre os contatos com a cidade (hiper)contemporânea – multifacetada, dispersa, desigual, contraditória. Explanam-se leituras da cidade de Porto Alegre atual, por intermédio, sobretudo, das reconfi gurações dos espaços urbanos, pensando-se, inclusive, na presença da favela, Outro tomado como símbolo da desigualdade brasileira. Observam-se as representações da violência, do anonimato, da estratifi cação social, aspectos que comparecem nas narrativas “Verão” e “A aventura prático-intelectual do Sr. Alexandre Costa”, produções integrantes da antologia Os lados do círculo (2005), de Amílcar Bettega Barbosa. Ambos os contos tematizam a violência urbana hipercontemporânea: o homicídio de pessoas moradoras de rua por um serial killer, no texto “A aventura prático-intelectual do Sr. Alexandre Costa” e o assassinato do empresário Wagner Henrique, resultado de embates entre ele e a população da favela da Vila Cruzeiro, na narrativa “Verão”.