This text investigates, for 2004 and 2009, the characteristics and living conditions of four demographic categories defined by household per capita income values. These are the extreme poor (those whose per capita incomes were less than R$ 67 in 2009), the poor (between R$ 67 and R$ 134), the...

In recent years, Brazil has seen an increase in formal employment, the raising of the minimum wage, a recovery in the purchasing power of the average wage, a drop in open unemployment and curbs on unprotected subcontracting. Average household incomes have risen and poverty has declined. How was...