Brazil’s emergency aid: Three out of four recipients used it to buy food

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the month of April, 68% of Brazilians lost income due to the increase in cases, deaths and hospitalizations by Covid-19. It was also last month that the federal government released the first installment of the emergency aid to 45 million Brazilians.

Among those who reclaimed the benefit this year, 71% said the money was used to buy groceries, and 26% to pay off debts.

The data is based on the latest EXAME/IDEIA survey. The survey interviewed 1,230 people between May 4th and 5th. The error margin is three percentage points plus or minus.

The situation is worse for young people, aged 18 to 24. In this segment of the population, 74% used the emergency aid to buy food. Among people in classes D and E, 77% of Brazilians who received the money went to the supermarkets.

“These numbers corroborate the importance of the aid to keep people at home, with the minimum of survival conditions. The majority expect the aid to end only in December. Only 18% think that the aid will end in July, as planned by the government. So, there is a potential loss of popularity if people’s expectations are not met,” says Maurício Moura, founder of IDEIA.

The worsening of the pandemic has also impacted savings in consumer habits. The survey shows that 77% of Brazilians have changed their behavior in recent weeks. And for 35%, no longer going to shopping malls and stores was the main change. Another 14% reported that they stopped going to restaurants.

Bolsonaro’s disapproval remains high

The payment of the emergency aid usually has an effect of improving the image of President Jair Bolsonaro’s work. But unlike in 2020, when the benefit grant was quickly captured by his performance ratings, the trend has not been repeated this year.

Disapproval remains high at 52%, the second worst since the start of the government. Approval stands at 24%, and those who neither approve nor disapprove of the government total 22%. In relation to the previous two weeks, the percentages vary within the error margin.