Nine in Every Ten Brazilians Believe They Are Among the Poorest in the Country

12/06/2017 - 09h20

On a scale from 0 to 100, where the extremes represent the poorest and the wealthiest in Brazil, where would you put yourself?

Nine in every ten Brazilians (88%) believe they are up to point 50, that is, in the half representing low incomes.

This is the result of a survey conducted by Datafolha, in partnership with the NGO Oxfam Brasil, which interviewed 2,025 persons to measure their perception on inequality in the 10th most unequal country in the world.

According to Rafael Georges, campaign coordinator for Oxfam, the main conclusion of the study is that there is a reasonable notion of inequality in Brazil, but also that it is underestimated.

"People feel it, but cannot calculate its size," he said.

He is referring to two trends found by the survey. On the one hand, there is a certain awareness of Brazilian reality: 91% agree that few people earn a lot and a lot of people earn very little.

On the other hand, it is hard to understand income distribution in the country.

Even among those who make more money - at least R$ 4,700 (US$ 1,450) a month, – 68% think they are at the half with the lowest incomes, when, in fact, they are among the wealthiest.

According to Georges, this makes it more difficult to reduce inequality.

"In order to change, people need to be aware of where they are, otherwise there is this idea that government has to serve them the same way it serves the poorest."

Translated by ANA BEATRIZ DEMARIA

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	Tuca Vieira/Folhapress
	Brazil is among the most unequal countries in the world