Datafolha: 23% of people say they have insufficient food – 03/04/2023 – Market

In March, the percentage of families with insufficient food at home reached the lowest level in the Datafolha Survey series, which started in May 2021. Even so, almost a quarter of respondents say that the amount of food at home was less than enough for us.

The lack of food on the table was a reality felt by 23% of respondents – oscillating negatively in comparison with the previous survey, from October 2022, when this percentage was 24%.

The peak of the series occurred in July 2022, when 33% said they had less food at home than the family needed.

Datafolha interviewed 2,028 people aged 16 or over in 126 cities, from Wednesday (29) to Thursday (30).

For respondents who say they receive Bolsa Família, the margin of error is more or less 4 points; for those who do not receive the benefit, the margin is 3 points.

Among those interviewed, 62% said they had enough food (56% in October) and only 15% considered that amount more than enough (5 months ago, it was 20%).

The fight against hunger is one of the government’s main goals — and one of its main weapons is the fight against inflation. In February, the country’s official inflation accelerated to 0.84%, with 0.16% in the food and beverage group.

Despite some increases in the prices of important items on the menu of Brazilians, such as long-life milk (4.62%), eggs (2.25%) and rice (1.91%), the month also recorded a drop of foods that had become more expensive last year, such as meat (-1.22%) —with the most intense fall in 15 months—, potatoes (-11.57%) and tomatoes (-9.81 %).

One of the main symbols of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) campaign, sirloin steak was the meat cut surveyed with the biggest drop (-2.63%) in February.

For the year 2023, there is an expectation of a drop in food prices, which should ease the domestic budget, especially for lower-income families.

According to Datafolha, the lack of food in sufficient quantity occurs more among women (27%), residents of the Northeast region (30%), those who voted for President Lula (27%) and Bolsa Família beneficiaries (23% ).

The survey also shows that 26% said they received the benefit in March, while 7% received Gas Aid from the federal government.

The income transfer program, a trademark of PT governments and which had been renamed Auxílio Brasil by former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), was relaunched as Bolsa Família by the government in early March with extra benefits for families with children.

At the relaunch ceremony, President Lula highlighted the importance of Bolsa Família, reaffirming that the return of the program and the recovery of the Cadastro Único were campaign commitments.

The president also promised to fight irregularities, such as the artificial increase in single-person families that occurred during the last year of the Bolsonaro government, to make the program reach those who need it.

Also at the end of March, the Minister of Development and Citizenship, Wellington Dias, proposed to businessmen at Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo) that they start using CadÚnico as a tool to recruit labor for their companies, allowing workers emancipate themselves from Bolsa Família.

According to Datafolha, program beneficiaries are more optimistic about the future of the economy under Lula’s government than those who do not receive the benefit.

32% of those benefiting from Bolsa Família said that the country’s economic situation has improved in recent months and 60% say they believe it will improve in the near future.

Among those who do not receive the benefit, these percentages are 20% and 41%, respectively.

On practical issues of the economy, those who receive Bolsa Família believe less in an increase in inflation than those who do not. There are 46% who say they believe that it will increase in the coming months (among those who are not beneficiaries, it is 57%).

A smaller percentage, 21%, of Bolsa Família beneficiaries, says they believe in a loss of salary purchasing power in the coming months, compared to 35% of the others.