Twenty-one Percent of Poorest Families in Brazil Have No Income in Pandemic

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Covid-19 pandemic has reduced the income of Brazilian families even further. In addition, many of them were unable to access the R$600 (US$120) emergency aid from the federal government. As a result, 21 percent of the poorest families have no income at all, according to an unprecedented survey conducted by the company Bússola Social.

The survey shows that 12.5 percent of families live on less than R$500 per month and 31.5 percent with a monthly income between R$500 and R$1,000. Still according to the data, at least one member in 71 percent of families has lost their job during the coronavirus pandemic.

This data resulted in the Diagnóstico Familiar (Family Diagnosis), a large free platform that provides real-time information for the management of social projects by Non-Governmental Organizations, companies, and public authorities. Over 20,000 families throughout Brazil, who are served by social projects, answered questionnaires on income, food, and social distancing during the pandemic.

“It is very difficult for families to secure their livelihoods with the economic crisis, and the situation has worsened with the pandemic. The platform’s main goal is to help and understand what is happening in Brazil so that institutions may plan their actions,” explains Áureo Giunco Júnior, co-founder of Bússola Social and founder of Diagnóstico Familiar.

Without an income source, families do not have access to basic food and depend on donations. For 14.1 percent the only way to access food is through the help of other people.

In addition to the squeeze on income, inflation is exerting even more pressure on those who earn less. In the year, the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) Indicator of Inflation per Income Range for very poor families has accumulated an increase of 1.5 percent. For the wealthiest, there is a 0.07 percent contraction in the indicator.

“There should be an emergency income distribution for people to have access to food. It means ensuring minimum assistance and basic rights. The government also needs to plan how the economic rebound will occur, but also how the people who lost their jobs will be placed back in the job market,” says Giunco.

Emergency Aid

Introduced in April to contain the impact of the pandemic on the poorest population and casual workers, the emergency aid began to be paid in monthly installments of between R$600 and R$1,200 (in the case of single mothers) to each beneficiary.

Initially designed to run for three months, the benefit was extended to a total of five installments. In early September, the government began to pay another extension of the benefit, but this time at a lower amount of R$300, which runs until the end of the year.

The federal government has already disbursed over R$197 billion in emergency aid to 67.2 million of the program’s beneficiaries throughout Brazil. About 45 percent of these people live in the North and Northeast regions of the country.

Source: Exame

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