{"id":60404,"date":"2020-07-03T12:50:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T15:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=60404"},"modified":"2020-07-22T14:15:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T17:15:52","slug":"data-favela-study-80-of-favela-families-living-on-less-than-half-of-their-pre-pandemic-income","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=60404","title":{"rendered":"Data Favela Study: 80% of Favela Families Are Living on Less than Half of Their Pre-Pandemic Income"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is our latest article on Covid-19 as it impacts Rio de Janeiro\u2019s favelas<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

A new study from the Data Favela<\/a> research institute, a partnership between the Central \u00danica das Favelas<\/a> (CUFA) and the Instituto Locomotiva<\/a>, traced the coronavirus<\/a> pandemic\u2019s widespread and negative economic impact on favelas<\/a> throughout Brazil, compounding problems that have already arisen from high infection rates.<\/p>\n

Four out of five favela families (80%) across the country are living on less than half the income they received prior to the pandemic<\/a>, the study found. Of those 80%, more than a third reported losing all of their family income, while only 9% of the total experienced no change in income or only a minor drop.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
In favelas, 80% of families are surviving on less than half of their income from before the pandemic. 4% of families’ income did not decrease, 5% of families’ income decreased a little (still have more than half of their income), 11% of families’ income diminished by half, 45% of families’ income diminished by more than half, and 35% of families lost all of their income.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During an online panel discussion about the study\u2019s findings, Raull Santiago<\/a>, co-founder of Coletivo Papo Reto<\/a>, a human rights and communications collective in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a> and Penha<\/a> favelas in Rio’s North Zone<\/a>, said the pandemic was simply \u201cexposing the historical process of exclusion<\/a>\u201d in the favelas. 76% of study respondents said they had already gone at least one day without the ability to pay for food. Two out of every three said they could only financially last one week without working. 29% said they could not last a single day.<\/p>\n

The study was realized through 3,321 digital interviews, conducted between June 19 and 22 with residents of 239 different favelas in all 26 Brazilian states. Interviewees were chosen from a preselected sample pool in order to provide a diversity of region, age, and occupation.<\/p>\n

The study frames its findings within the structural context of Brazilian favelas, marked by<\/a> large families, high rates of cohabitation, dependence on the public health system<\/a>, low levels of savings, and subpar levels of educational attainment<\/a>, all of which serve to deepen the crisis.<\/p>\n

The Challenges of Remote Learning<\/h3>\n

On top of income loss, school closings as a result of the pandemic have upped the pressure<\/a> on favela families. 87% of families whose children stopped attending school have seen their household expenses increase as a result\u2014previously, they counted on schools providing food and caring for children while parents worked. Likewise, 81% of these families reported that, as a result of having the children at home, it was more difficult to go out and work.<\/p>\n

Favela families also reported widespread concern about the quality of education children are receiving with schools closed<\/a>. Of parents with school-aged children, 84% do not believe that the home environment has been adequate for their learning and studying. \u201cI have struggled a lot with this,\u201d said rapper Gisele Gomes, 43, raised in the North Zone\u2019s Br\u00e1s de Pina<\/a> neighborhood and better known by her artistic name Nega Gizza. With her kids at home, \u201cI try to be a teacher, which I\u2019m not, and it isn\u2019t working.\u201d This pressure is faced by mothers across Brazil.<\/p>\n

Lack of access to computers and Internet<\/a> plays a large role in these challenges. \u201cIt\u2019s an illusion to think that remote learning will be effective with the majority of Brazilian families in the public school system,\u201d commented sociologist Neca Set\u00fabal. \u201cWe need high-quality Internet for everyone. It\u2019s a right<\/a>, and the pandemic shows us this very clearly.\u201d Around 30% of Brazilian homes<\/a> do not have access to the Internet, according to the Regional Studies Center for the Development of an Information Society (Centro Regional de Estudos para o Desenvolvimento da Sociedade da Informa\u00e7\u00e3o, CETIC).<\/p>\n

Marlova Noleto, director of UNESCO<\/a> in Brazil, lamented that, inevitably, \u201ceducational inequalities will become even deeper\u201d as a result of the crisis.<\/p>\n

Perceptions of Coronavirus and the Challenges of Preventive Measures<\/h3>\n

The study found that perceptions of the pandemic among favela residents vary widely. While 52% believe that Brazil is currently in the middle of the pandemic, 33% believe that the pandemic is either in its final stage, has already ended, or never existed.<\/p>\n

\"Perceptions<\/a>
Perceptions of the pandemic’s evolution among favela residents: 15% believe it is in the beginning, 52% in the middle, 18% at the end, 10% that it has already ended, and 5% that it never existed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, there is much more agreement about the worry and stress that the pandemic has brought: 89% expressed concern about the health of older relatives and 88% worry about their own financial wellbeing.<\/p>\n

80% of respondents reported that they are trying to follow physical isolation guidelines, with 39% saying that, although they try, they are not always able. Of those not following preventive measures, 72% attribute this to financial necessity. At the same time, 45% believe the measures are unnecessary, and 9%t admit to political factors in their lack of compliance. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has encouraged his supporters to interpret the coronavirus as a \u201clittle flu\u201d and criticized social distancing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Importance of Donations and Community Support<\/h3>\n

An outpouring of mutual aid in favelas in recent months prompted Renato Meirelles, founder of Instituto Locomotiva, to declare, \u201cIt isn\u2019t the favela that has to learn from the asfalto<\/em><\/a> (formal city); it\u2019s the asfalto<\/em> that has to learn from the 14 million favelados<\/em><\/a> (favela residents) in Brazil.\u201d While 49% of Brazilians have made some kind of donation during the pandemic, this number rises to 63% among favela residents, indicating greater solidarity and generosity among those who have less.<\/p>\n

Nine out of every ten favela residents have received some form of donation, with 91% of those having received food. 69% of these donations originated from NGOs or businesses, 52% came from neighbors, friends, or relatives, and just 36% came from the government.<\/p>\n

Although seven in ten families have signed up for emergency income support from the federal government, approved by Brazil\u2019s Congress in April, 41% of these families have yet to receive any benefit.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe State\u2019s absence<\/a> essentially sums up what public policy means in relation to favelas and peripheries,\u201d pointed out Raull Santiago.<\/p>\n

Of those who have received this assistance, 96% used it for food and 62% used it to help out friends and relatives.<\/p>\n

The Data Favela report also highlighted the work of M\u00e3es da Favela<\/a>, a program that distributes food and income support to favela mothers. Of the families who received this assistance, eight out of ten said they would have been unable to feed themselves, buy hygiene and cleaning products, or pay basic bills without the donation.<\/p>\n

Set\u00fabal praised the program\u2019s focus on empowerment of mothers, lauding its achievements and saying \u201cfemale leadership has a more systematic outlook\u201d in addressing fundamental issues. \u201cI have seen several instances in which women are taking responsibility for the caretaking of their regions, their neighborhoods. And the strength of many women, heads of their households, being able to think beyond their own families, they have taken care of their communities with their solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celso Athayde, CUFA\u2019s founder, closed the study\u2019s rollout event with an inspiring message: \u201cFavelas aren\u2019t a place of need, but rather of resilience and great strength<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

View the Data Favela report here<\/a>.<\/h3>\n

Watch the Panel Discussion on YouTube here<\/a>:<\/h3>\n