Minimum wage to support a family in Brazil should be R$5,900 (US$1,100) – Dieese

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The minimum wage sufficient to support a family of four, with two adults and two children, in November should be R$5,969.17 (US$1,100), which corresponds to 5.42 times the national minimum wage of R$1,100, according to the Intersindical Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (Dieese) a research institute run by Brazil’s labor unions.

In the same period last year, the estimated amount needed was R$5,289.53, about 13% lower.

The calculation is based on the value of the most expensive basic food basket in the country. This time, it considered the one from Florianópolis, calculated at R$710.53.

A worker earning the national minimum wage commits, on average, 58.95% of the wage to buy the basic foodstuffs for an adult.

In Rio de Janeiro, with the basket costing R$665.60, a person needs to work 133 hours and seven minutes per month to afford he baskt. Other state capitals that also lead the high price ranking are São Paulo (R$692.27), Porto Alegre (R$685.32), Vitória (R$668.17).

The price of a kilogram of powdered coffee went up in all state capitals, reflecting the concern with the impact of frost on the 2022/2023 harvest, both in the future market and in retail.

Other foods that also became more expensive in November were sugar, soybean oil, beans, rice, whole milk, and prime beef.