The Brazilian economic crisis and its impact on the lives of women

Abstract

Undoubtedly the 1980s was not the best decade for Brazil. The economy underwent a deep recession with high levels of inflation and serious consequences for wages, employment and the daily life of the population. The country retained one of the largest external debts of any Third-World country, with deeply harmful social costs for all the population (increased poverty, dangerous health conditions, swelling shanty towns, and the growth of prostitution, illiteracy and urban and rural violence). In consequence, the conditions for the reproduction of the workforce have deteriorated and undergone major changes. Falls in wage levels have reduced the quality of life for the population requiring them to seek out new survival strategies. If it is clear that the Brazilian external debt, with its associated consequences of internal indebtedness, penalizes men and women, it is equally clear that it is women who are most affected by the lack of adequate public services and by the general crisis of reproduction. This being the case, this essay seeks to describe some of the changes which have occurred in the work and living conditions of women, particularly in the urban sector, and to outline some of the strategies invented by women to confront the current social situation.