The shrinking State: exploring the links between public spending and class, race and gender vulnerability in Brazil

The objective of this article is to understand the class, race and gender profile of persons who would be most affected if the Brazilian State were to stop providing health and education services. The article begins with a review of class, race and gender inequalities in Brazil, and then examines the role of the State in that regard. The second section presents an analysis of public education and health expenditures through a discussion of the class, race and gender profiles of users and a simulation of the elimination of public health and education spending. The third section contains concluding remarks. The article proposes that the elimination of public services would plunge poorer, Black2 and female populations (categories which often overlap) into severe financial hardship and negatively affect their well-being and could deepen poverty or lead to extreme poverty.