Abstract
This chapter reflects on the COVID-19 health emergency and inequalities in Brazil. It relies on secondary sources to describe disparities in health, education, and social assistance. Studies in health and education inequalities suggest great variation in the impact of the pandemic among different jurisdictions and socioeconomic groups. Brazil’s strongest response was in social assistance policy, which relied on a conditional cash transfer structure to expand benefits to vulnerable populations. Yet, its design and monitoring systems were inadequate, which had consequences for many families receiving benefits.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrucio, F., Grin, E., Franzese, C., Segatto, C., & Couto, C. (2020). Combating COVID-19 under Bolsonaro’s federalism: a case of intergovernmental incoordination. Revista de Administração Pública, 54, 663–677.
Barberia, L., Cantarelli, L., & Schmalz, P. (2020). Uma avaliação dos programas de educação pública remota dos estados e capitais brasileiros durante a pandemia do COVID-19. http://fgvclear.org/site/wp-content/uploads/remote-learning-in-the-covid-19-pandemic-v-1-0-portuguese-diagramado-1.pdf
Bastos, L. (2020, May 5). Cuidados com analises de dados da Covid-19. StatPop—Popularização da Estatística. http://www.statpop.com.br/2020/05/cuidados-com-analises-de-dados-da.html?fbclid=IwAR29Nq8ezWEzU8rbLotaygR_zK3ty6FzYKeGLVm_5HDHhQ1l8nbSq-g9_js
Bastos, L. S. L., Aguilar, S., Rache, B., Maçaira, P., Baião, F., Cerbino-Neto, J., Rocha, R., Hamacher, S., Ranzani, O. T., & Bozza, F. A. (2022). Primary healthcare protects vulnerable populations from inequity in COVID-19 vaccination: An ecological analysis of nationwide data from Brazil. The Lancet Regional Health—Americas, 100335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2022.100335
Bichir, R., Junior, S., & Pereira, G. (2020). Sistemas Nacionais de Políticas Públicas e seus efeitos na implementação: O caso do Sistema único de Assistência Social (Suas). Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 35(102), 1–23.
Cardozo Sarli, A., & Elora Fernandes, E. (2021). How the digital divide hinders children’s right to education: Online learning in Brazil. https://core-evidence.eu/posts/how-the-digital-divide-hinders-children-s-right-to-education-online-learning-in-brazil
Castro, M., Kim, S., Barberia, L., Ribeiro, A. F., Gurzenda, S., Ribeiro, K. B., Abbott, E., Blossom, J., Rache, B., & Singer, B. (2021). Spatiotemporal pattern of COVID-19 spread in Brazil. Science, eabh1558.
CGI.br. (2021). Survey on the use of information and communication technologies in Brazilian schools: ICT in Education 2020 (COVID-19 edition—Adapted methodology). . https://cetic.br/pt/publicacao/pesquisa-sobre-o-uso-das-tecnologias-de-informacao-e-comunicacao-nasescolas-brasileiras-tic-educacao-2020/
Deweck, E., Oliveira, A., & Rossi, P. (2018). Austeridade e Retrocesso: Impactos Sociais da Política Fiscal No Brasil. Brasil Debate e Fundação Friedrich Ebert.
Domingues, C., Teixeira, A., & Carvalho, S. (2012). National immunization program: vaccination, compliance and pharmacovigilance. Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, 54, 22–27. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-46652012000700009&nrm=iso
Farrar, J., & Ahuja, A. (2022). Spike: The Virus vs. The People—the Inside Story. Profile Books.
Fernandes, A., & Watanabe, M. (2022, Oct 19, 2022). Família de uma pessoa prolifera no cadastro do Auxílio Brasil. Valor Economico. https://valor.globo.com/brasil/noticia/2022/10/19/familia-de-uma-pessoa-prolifera-no-cadastro-do-auxilio-brasil.ghtml
Fonseca, E., Nattrass, N., Arantes, L., & Bastos, F. (2021). COVID-19 in Brazil: Presidential denialism and the subnational government’s response. In S. Greer, E. King, A. Peralta-Santos, & E. Fonseca (Eds.), Coronavirus Politics: The Comparative Politics and Policy of COVID-19 (pp. 494–510). University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.36418.81609
Fonseca, E., Nattrass, N., Lazaro, L. L. B., & Bastos, F. I. (2021). Political discourse, denialism and leadership failure in Brazil’s response to COVID-19. Global Public Health, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1945123
G1. (2022). Mapa da vacinação contra Covid-19 no Brasil. G1. https://especiais.g1.globo.com/bemestar/vacina/2021/mapa-brasil-vacina-covid/
Greer, S., Jarman, H., Falkenbach, M., Fonseca, E., Raj, M., & King, E. (2021). Social policy as an integral component of pandemic response: Learning from COVID-19 in Brazil, Germany, India and the United States. Global Public Health, 1–14.
Greer, S., King, E., Fonseca, E., & Peralta-Santos, A. (Eds.). (2021). Coronavirus Politics: The Comparative Politics and Policy of COVID-19. University of Michigan Press.
Ichihara, M. Y. T., Fiaccone, R. L., da Costa, L. C. C., de Medeiros, A. G. P., Pinto Junior, E. P., da Silva Souza, R. F., Barreto, M. L., Ara, A., Goes, E., Pescarini, J., Barreto, M. E., & Gregorio, J. (2022). Using linked administrative data to build a Social Disparities Index for Covid-19 to evaluate the effects of inequalities on pandemic in Brazil. International Journal of Population Data Science, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.23889/ijpds.v7i3.2088
Iftimie, S., López-Azcona, A., Vallverdú, I., Hernàndez-Flix, S., de Febrer, G., Parra, S., Hernández-Aguilera, A., Riu, F., Joven, J., Camps, J., & Castro, A. (2020). First and second waves of coronavirus disease-19: A comparative study in hospitalized patients in Reus, Spain. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.10.20246959
INEP. (2022). Resultados Saeb. https://www.gov.br/inep/pt-br/areas-de-atuacao/avaliacao-e-exames-educacionais/saeb/resultados
Interfarma. (2017). How vaccines has changed a country.
Itaú Social, Fundação Lemann, & Inter-American Development Bank. (2022). Educação não presencial na perspectiva dos estudantes e suas famílias. https://www.itausocial.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Pesquisa_8-Onda_Datafolha.pdf
Lazzari, E., Paschoalotto, M., Massuda, A., Rocha, R., & Castro, M. (2022). Emergency Income Assistance and COVID-19 Pandemic Effects on Labor Market and Poverty in Brazil (unpublished manuscript).
Lima, M., & Prates, I. (2019). Racial Inequalities in Brazil: A Persistent Challenge. In M. Arretche (Ed.), Paths of Inequality in Brazil: A Half-Century of Changes (pp. 113–134). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78184-6_6
Lima-Silva, F., Sandim, T., Magri, G., & Lotta, G. (2020). Street-level in the pandemic: The perception of frontline social care workers on policy implementation. Revista de Administração Pública, 54(5), 1458–1471.
Marinho, M., Torrens, A., Teixeira, R., Brant, L., Malta, D., Nascimento, B., Ribeiro, A., Delaney, R., de Paula, P., Setel, P., Sampaio, J., & Nogales-Vasconcelos, A. (2022). Racial disparity in excess mortality in Brazil during COVID-19 times. European Journal of Public Health, 32(1), 24–26. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckab097
Martins-Filho, P., Araújo, B., Sposato, K., Araújo, A., Quintans-Júnior, L., & Santos, V. (2021). Racial Disparities in COVID-19-related Deaths in Brazil: Black Lives Matter? Journal of Epidemiology, 31(3), 239-240. https://doi.org/10.2188/jea.JE20200589
Neri, M. (2021). Desigualdade de Impactos Trabalhistas na Pandemia. https://www.cps.fgv.br/cps/bd/docs/Desigualdade_de_Impactos_Trabalhistas_na_Pandemia_Marcelo-Neri_FGV-Social.pdf
Neri, M., & Osório, M. (2020). Tempo para a Escola na Pandemia. https://www.cps.fgv.br/cps/TempoParaEscola/
OECD. (2015). Education Policy Outlook: Brazil. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. https://www.oecd.org/education/Brazil-country-profile.pdf
Peres, I., Bastos, L., Gelli, J., Marchesi, J., Dantas, L., Antunes, B., Maçaira, P., Baião, F., Hamacher, S., & Bozza, F. (2021). Sociodemographic factors associated with COVID-19 in-hospital mortality in Brazil. Public Health, 192, 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.01.005
Piovesan, E., & Siqueira, C. (2020, March 23). Relator anuncia acordo para auxílio emergencial de R$ 600. Agência Câmara de Notícias.
Rasella, D., Aquino, R., Santos, C. A. T., Paes-Sousa, R., & Barreto, M. L. (2013). Effect of a conditional cash transfer programme on childhood mortality: a nationwide analysis of Brazilian municipalities. The Lancet, 382(9886), 57–64.
Rocha, R., Atun, R., Massuda, A., Rache, B., Spinola, P., Nunes, L., Lago, M., & Castro, M. (2021). Effect of socioeconomic inequalities and vulnerabilities on health-system preparedness and response to COVID-19 in Brazil: a comprehensive analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 9(6), e782–e792. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00081-4
Segatto, C. I., Santos, F. B. P. d., Bichir, R. M., & Morandi, E. L. (2022). Inequalities and the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: analyzing un-coordinated responses in social assistance and education. Policy and Society, 41(2), 306–320. https://doi.org/10.1093/polsoc/puac005
Shei, A., Costa, F., Reis, M., & Ko, A. (2014). The impact of Brazil’s Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer program on children’s health care utilization and health outcomes. BMC international health and human rights, 14, 10–10.
Telles, E. (2006). Race in Another America: The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil. Princeton University Press.
Travassos, C., Oliveira, E., & Viacava, F. (2006). Desigualdades geográficas e sociais no acesso aos serviços de saúde no Brasil: 1998 e 2003. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 11(4), 975–986.
Undime. (2021). Pesquisa Undime educação na pandemia 2021. http://undime.org.br/uploads/documentos/phpm9S3un_60f89dc0d15c5.pdf
World Bank. (2016). Productivity: a Key Issue for Fighting Poverty in Brazil. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/08/24/brazil-increase-productivity-share-prosperity
World Bank. (2020a). COVID-19 in Brazil: Impacts and Policy Responses.
World Bank. (2020b). Global Economic Perspectives: June 2020b.
World Bank. (2021a). Auxílio Emergencial: Lessons from the Brazilian experience responding to COVID-19. World Bank.
World Bank. (2021b). Challenges and potentialities for implementing social protection responses to emergency through decentralized administration: Lessons from Brazil’sAuxílio Emergencial. World Bank.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
da Fonseca, E.M., Segatto, C.I., Bastos, F.I. (2023). COVID-19 Inequalities in Brazil: Health, Education, and Social Assistance Policies. In: Johnson-Lans, S. (eds) The Coronavirus Pandemic and Inequality. Global Perspectives on Wealth and Distribution. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22219-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22219-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-22218-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-22219-1
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)