In Brazil, white men in the richest 1% have more income than all black women in the country -study

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In a study that evaluates the income of Brazilians from a racial and gender perspective, researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) identified one more statistic among those that expose the inequality picture in the country: 705 thousand white men who belong to the wealthiest 1% of the population hold 15.3% of the national income.

The percentage is more significant than all the black adult Brazilian women together, who make up 14.3% of the income.

The data are exposed in the survey entitled ‘How much is left to black women?’ An analysis of income distribution in Brazil, carried out by the Inequality Macroeconomics Research Center (Made), linked to the School of Economics, Business Administration, Accounting and Actuarial Science at USP.

The study was developed by researchers Ana Bottega, Isabela Bouza, Matias Cardomingo, Luiza Nassif Pires, and Fernanda Peron Pereira.

To make the analysis, the group associated information from the Individual Income Tax (IRPF), from the Household Budget Survey of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (POF-IBGE), and the National Accounts System, also of IBGE.

The survey shows that the average monthly income of white men who make up the wealthiest 1% of the population is R$ 114,944.50, while among black women, the indicator registers a revenue of R$ 1,691.45.

This last group represents 26% of the adult population of Brazil. White men among the wealthiest occupy 0.56% of the national contingent.

The income concentration identified by the researchers is also expressed in other numbers. The study shows, for example, that the wealthiest 10% of the population, in general, are responsible for 54% of the national income. In comparison, the wealthiest 1% of the Brazilian social pyramid takes 24.6% of the total revenue.

The group of the wealthiest 0.1% in the country, on the other hand, represents 12.2%, corresponding to almost one-eighth of the income.

In the study, the researchers point out that adopting an anti-racist agenda has been demanded as a priority in the design of public policies in Brazil and the world.

They point out that this trend “reflects movements in civil society, political organizations, and the public machine aimed at discussing and overcoming founding racism.”

“As part of this movement, new data allows us to calibrate and understand the relevance of building an antiracist institutionality, which takes these elements into consideration from collection to spending,” they close, mentioning the importance of Made’s survey.