Pandemic payouts cut poverty in Brazil
Covid-19 has paradoxically driven down poverty and inequality, at least in the short term
06 September 2020 - 00:03
Brazil, which has suffered one of the world’s worst pandemic tolls, has responded to the crisis by distributing so much cash directly to citizens that poverty and inequality are approaching national historic lows.
About 66-million people, 30% of the population, have been receiving 600 reais (about R1,850) a month, making it the most ambitious social programme ever undertaken in Brazil, a shocking shift under President Jair Bolsonaro, who railed against welfare, dismissed the virus — and now finds himself newly popular...
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