Poverty lines in the Brasil Sem Miséria Plan: a review and proposed alternatives in poverty measurement according to the methodology of Sonia Rocha

Abstract

This paper criticizes the methodology of poverty measurement used by the Brazilian federal government in its Brasil Sem Miséria Program (PBSM). By means of a compilation and analysis of secondary data collected from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), we conducted a comparison between this methodology and the one used by economist Sonia Rocha. Her methodology establishes poverty lines which are regionalized and indexed to the consumer basket values found in different regions of the country. The results of both methodologies are compared, showing that PBSM lines are incapable of detecting 12.9 million Brazilians living in poverty. In our conclusions, we present suggestions to improve the government’s poverty measurement methodology, i.e., the regionalization of poverty lines and that they become indexed to regional consumer basket prices.