Distribution of income and poverty among families in Brazil, 1980-1983

Abstract

Using yearly data on the distribution of income among families, in Brazil, the
paper shows that in the period 1980-83 the inequality of that distribution is stable but that
the absolute poverty did increase, as a consequence of the economic crisis. The analysis is
carried out for Brazil and for four regions: Northeast, Southeast, South, and Middle-West.
It is shown that the decrease of average family income was greater in the most industrialized
regions.

JEL Classification: J31; O15.