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Race, Gender, and Work in São Paulo, Brazil, 1960–2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2022

Peggy A. Lovell
Peggy A. Lovell*
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
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Abstract

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This study relies on Brazilian census data from 1960–2000 to analyze long-term trends in racial and gender wage disparities in the urban labor market of São Paulo, one of Latin America's most dynamic economies. Afro-Brazilians and women have made remarkable progress over the past four decades in securing hard-won legal rights and in gaining access to the highest levels of schooling, entrance into higher paying occupations, and narrowing the intraethnic gender wage gap. Despite such progress, Afro-Brazilians and women are paid less than similarly qualified white men, and wage discrimination is increasing. Placing the interplay of race and gender at the center of this analysis shows how the workplace barriers people confront on the basis of skin color and sex play a fundamental role in shaping social and economic inequality in contemporary Brazil.

Resumo

Resumo

O presente estudo se baseia nos recenseamentos brasileiros do período 1960–2000 para analisar a tendência de disparidade salarial por raça e gênero no mercado de trabalho de São Paulo, uma das economias mais dinâmicas da América Latina. Afro-brasileiros e mulheres alcançaram notável progresso nas últimas quatro décadas ao lograr importantes direitos legais e ao conseguir acesso a elevados níveis de escolaridade, porta de entrada para melhores salários e para a diminuição da diferença salarial entre indivíduos da mesma raça e gênero. Apesar deste progresso, afro-brasileiros e mulheres ganham menos do que homens brancos com qualificação similar e a discriminação salarial está crescendo. Dispor as relações de raça e género no centro desta análise mostra como os obstáculos enfrentados pelos trabalhadores por causa da cor da pele e do sexo desempenham um papel fundamental na formação da desigualdade social e económica no Brasil contemporâneo.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , October 2006 , pp. 63 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by the University of Texas Press

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