Brazil’s economy is changing, and its people are changing with it.
Over the past decade, more than 40 million Brazilian citizens have entered the middle
class.
This emerging class, known as “Class C”, currently makes up more than half of the population,
and wields significant power.
So, what is Brazil’s Class C?
And how is it changing Brazil?
Well, Brazil’s socioeconomic classes are rigidly structured based on monthly income.
The classes are ranked from A to E, and were originally used as descriptors for marketing
research.
The wealthiest group, Class A, earns more than $3,365 [USD] per month, while the poorest,
Class E, earns less than $336.50.
And in between, you’ve got Class C making between $700 to $1,700 per month.
That may not seem like middle class material in the United States or Europe, but in Brazil
it’s pretty substantial.
Brazil’s income inequality has been staggeringly high.
We’re talking apartheid-like conditions where the poor living in favelas and the wealthy
in the city.
The new “middle class” status has given Brazil’s previously poor residents considerably
more say as consumers and citizens.
Advertisers have taken notice of the C class’ new spending power and are heavily targeting
them.
In recent years, they’ve focused less on celebrity or luxury, and more on hard work
and life lessons.
The emerging middle class is also outspending their wealthier counterparts through sheer
size alone.
One mall in Rio De Janeiro has attributed half of its sales to Class C shoppers.
Across the board; housing, cars, electronics and clothes are financially dominated by Brazil’s
growing middle class.
But, not everyone is excited about the new spenders.
Some of the country’s wealthier residents have blasted the influx of this new middle
class into previously exclusive activities, like tourism.
Brazil’s economic upturn has been largely credited to ex-President Lula da Silva.
His social welfare programs and fiscally responsible spending turned Brazil into the 8th largest
economy in the world.
Between 2003 and 2014, the lower D and E classes shrunk by nearly 50 million to about half
their original size.
And the new policies widely increased standards of living and disposable income for the lower
classes.
The changing face of Brazil’s economy could be a huge step in easing long standing social
tensions between classes.
Over on AJ+, we investigated the dreadful conditions in Brazil’s favelas in more detail,
take a look at our video here.
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