Black men receive half the remuneration of white men in Brazil’s advertising industry – study

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The black population is a minority in all positions in Brazil’s advertising industry, and receives lower salaries. The first edition of the study “Racial Sustainability: Data and statistics on the black population in Brazil” includes a specific content for the advertising and propaganda sector.

“We started with this sector for two reasons: the Labor Public Prosecutor is developing a project to change the current scenario, and because this sector is responsible for the creation and reproduction of several racial and gender stereotypes,” says Michael França, a researcher at the Insper Racial Studies Center and co-author of the study.

The initiative gives information about socio-economic inequalities between whites and blacks in a sectorial form, considering three indicators of socio-economic inequality: differentials in the number of employees, wage differentials, and the racial balance index (RSI).

These indicators were calculated using the Annual Social Information Report (RAIS), published by the Ministry of Economy.

In addition, the data show that the advertising sector employed people in 1,363 cities in the 27 Brazilian states and comprised 12,883 companies, which employed 145,945 employees in 2017, when the latest data was available.

Among the main results of the survey is that the black population is in the minority in all positions in the advertising industry in Brazil.

However, there has been an increase of about 10 percentage points among employees who are not part of top management or strategic positions in the industry in recent years. In management and strategic positions, this increase was smaller, at about 5 percentage points.

When looking at the average compensation of the black population and the average compensation of the white population, it can be seen that the more prestigious and leadership positions are associated with an even greater salary differential.

For example, black people in management positions receive, on average, 54.3% of the salary of a white person. In lower positions, this figure reaches 68.7%.

“There is a marked racial, occupational imbalance in Brazil. Positions of greater prestige and income have a lower proportion of blacks and women. In recent years there has been a modest improvement in the percentage of blacks in the most prestigious occupations and a significant advance in the least prestigious. There is also a difference in salaries between the groups. When we compare with white men, the percentage of remuneration for black men and black and white women drops considerably over time,” says França.

Further on remuneration, on average a black woman receives less than half (45%) of the remuneration of a white man.

Black men are also disadvantaged, receiving on average 54% of the pay of a white man. Finally, a white woman also has a lower remuneration, on average, receiving about 81% of what a white man receives.

Between 2006 and 2010, there was a reduction in wage inequality for both black men and black women. Since then, however, inequality has increased, peaking in the latest year available, 2017.

This increase has further affected black women, who in 2006 had an average pay of 53.7% of the average pay of a white man, and in 2017 this figure reached a low of 45.1%.

The economic crisis also highlights the disparity. “In the periods of highest growth, such as the period 2006-2010, there was a reduction in the differentials of wages of black women and men compared to the wages of white men in the sector. Already in the period 2014-2017, marked by the economic crisis, this wage inequality was accentuated,” says Rafael Tavares, from the University of São Paulo and co-author of the research.

The complete research can be checked on the initiative’s website. Soon other sectors will be mapped. “The data and statistics help in the decision-making processes and contribute to generate a more qualified debate. There is still a lot to be done on these agendas,” adds França.

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