Poverty upsurge in 2015 and the rising trend in regional and age inequality among the poor in Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this article is threefold. Firstly, to present income-based poverty and extreme poverty indicators for 2015, when the macroeconomic crisis led to a generalized deterioration affecting all areas and regions. The second aim is to discuss long-term evolution, emphasizing the period since 2004, when sustained improvement of income indicators as well as convergence of regional and area results began. Considering the period from 2004 to 2014/2015, the third aim is to show that the reduction in poverty and extreme poverty was parallel to increased inequality in poverty regarding two critical aspects: the regional aspect, since inequality among the five regions became higher, thus reinforcing the dichotomy between the North/Northeast versus the Centre-South; the age aspect, because the recent improvements since 2004 have not sufficiently benefited children as to reverse their disadvantaged position, so much so that in 2015 children still had a share in poverty that was twice their share in the total population. The last section concerns policy measures that may reduce the impact of the crisis on the poor.