The Elusive New Middle Class in Brazil
Against the background of the generalized reduction of poverty in the world, and particularly in Brazil, this article intends to gauge the socio-economic profile of Brazilian households that emerged from poverty and have been identified as integrating a "new middle class". Using indicators...
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Published in | Brazilian political science review Vol. 9; no. 3; pp. 21 - 41 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English Portuguese |
Published |
Rio de Janeiro
Associacao Brasileira de Ciencia Politica
01.12.2015
Associação Brasileira de Ciência Política Brazilian Political Science Association |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Against the background of the generalized reduction of poverty in the world, and particularly in Brazil, this article intends to gauge the socio-economic profile of Brazilian households that emerged from poverty and have been identified as integrating a "new middle class". Using indicators of standards of living from the 2008-2009 Survey on Family Budgets (POF/IBGE), we found out that, in contrast to what has been assumed on the basis of average income criteria, this social stratum is markedly heterogeneous, most of it being similar in their consumption patterns to the economically vulnerable or outright poor strata. So, we conclude that, from a sociological perspective that demands additional conditions besides income levels to identify social classes, it is a category mistake to call this social stratum a new middle class. We conjecture that this may be consequential in terms of policy priorities and choices. |
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ISSN: | 1981-3821 1981-3821 |
DOI: | 10.1590/1981-38212015000300018 |