Salário e consumo dos trabalhadores: de FHC ao Brasil atual

Abstract

This work aims to evaluate the importance of the minimum wage, being an instrument used in most capitalist countries. To evaluate the importance of the minimum wage for promoting a more egalitarian society and showing that, contrary to what is defended by some school of economic thought such as neoliberalism, its valorization is not only compatible with economic growth, but can also constitute a fundamental part of a growth model such as the one adopted in the period of 2004 to 2010. Initially, the role played by the minimum wage in Brazil is observed within the different political-economic contexts. Since its creation by the Getúlio Vargas government in 1940. Despite its still relatively reduced scope, it is shown that, until the 1964 coup, the minimum wage was consolidated in order to meet its basic function of protecting the income of the worker's families. Since the coup, it’s shown that it went through long periods of devaluation and of high concentration of income. Only since 1995 did it begin a recovery path and started increasing its purchasing power. Still, the buying power is currently lower than at the time of its creation. The second chapter presents a synthesis of the historical trajectory of the minimum wage policy in Brazil from the post-1964 coup until the FHC government. The third chapter presents the trajectory of valorization from 1995 to 2008, analyzing the dynamics of valorization in the labor market and the issue of the income distribution. The period of political and economic crisis, the change of government and the neoliberal policies coming into force from 2015 to 2020 will also be addressed