Poverty and extreme poverty hit record highs in Brazil under Bolsonaro's government.
The increase in poverty was caused both by the new coronavirus pandemic and by the neglect of the far-right government towards the Brazilian people.
247 - The Central Union of Workers of Brazil (CTB) published an article on its website about the “sinister legacy” that Jair Bolsonaro will leave behind, highlighting “the increase in poverty in the country, which in 2021 affected 62,5 million Brazilians (29,4% of the population). Of these, 17,9 million Brazilians (8,4%) were in extreme poverty last year, suffering from hunger and all sorts of hardships.”
“Poverty and extreme poverty hit record levels in the country in 2021, according to information released this Friday (2) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). In both cases, the levels are the highest in the IBGE series that began in 2012.”
According to class-conscious union leaders, the increase in poverty was caused both by the new coronavirus pandemic and by the far-right government's disregard for the Brazilian people.
“This deepening of poverty and extreme poverty is related to the impacts of the Covid pandemic and its effects on the labor market,” said João Hallak, manager of the social indicators research at IBGE. “The situation of workers in the labor market was very difficult in 2021, and this is reflected in the social indicators.”
The IBGE's parameters are based on the poverty criteria adopted by the World Bank, which sets the poverty line at incomes equivalent to 486 reais per capita per month. The extreme poverty line is equivalent to 168 reais per capita per month.
"It is essential to track and have information about poverty so that the country can monitor, evaluate, and invest in better actions and policies to meet the very real needs of the Brazilian population," IBGE coordinator Cristiane Moutinho told reporters.
In 2021, the proportion of children under 14 years of age living below the poverty line reached 46,2%, the highest percentage in the series, which began in 2012. In 2020, it had reached the lowest level in the series (38,6%).
"The proportion of Black and mixed-race people below the poverty line (37,7%) is practically double the proportion of white people (18,6%). The percentage of poor young people aged 15 to 29 (33,2%) is triple that of the elderly (10,4%)," said IBGE.
Last year, the Northeast and North regions had the highest proportions of people living in poverty in their populations, at 48,7% and 44,9% respectively.
Last year, per capita household income reached its lowest level in the historical series, which began in 2012: 1.353 reais.
"The recovery of the labor market in 2021 was not enough to reverse the losses of 2020. This, along with the reduction in the value of the Emergency Aid, may help explain this result," explained IBGE analyst André Simões.
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