Brazil, which has been one of the worst affected countries by the Covid-19 emergency, has responded with an ambitious social welfare programme, which has seen poverty and inequality fall to almost historic lows.
According to Bloomberg, about 30% of the population, or 66 million people, have been receiving 600 reais a month (about R1 850) through the ‘coronavoucher’. This is reportedly Brazil’s most ambitious social programme, made even more noteworthy because of President Jair Bolsonaro’s initial hostility to welfare.
According to the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think tank and educational institute, only 3.3% of Brazilians are now living on less than US$1.9 a day, compared to 8% last year. The proportion of people living under the Brazilian poverty line has also declined from 25.6% to 21.7%. Both reflect 16-year lows.
Inequality has also declined, and Brazil’s Gini co-efficient (a measure of inequality with zero reflecting perfect equality and 1 reflecting perfect inequality) dropped below 0.5 for the first time since records began.
However, the payments are not sustainable and Brazil is set to record its biggest ever primary deficit, a measure of a government’s borrowing requirements.
At the same time, these payments have seen Bolsonaro’s popularity increase among poorer Brazilians. The controversial Bolsonaro, who is seen by many as a Latin American Trump for his bombastic tone and controversial statements, is up for re-election in 2022.
Image: Jair Bolsonaro, Wikimedia Commons