A Classe Média brasileira no século XXI e sua relação com o Programa Minha Casa, Minha Vida (PMCMV): reflexões a partir de Uberlândia (MG)

Abstract

This research aims to understand the changes that occurred in the Brazilian middle class in the first decade of this Century, and its effects on the offer of its main possession desire: a house, especially the ones offered by the Brazilian Government “Minha Casa, Minha Vida Program” (PMCMV). The hypothesis raised was that, there is a close relation between the level of income of the Brazilian Middle Class and the levels of income contemplated by the PMCMV which made it possible to consider that the program benefited the lower income classes, but also a large part of the Brazilian Middle Class. Aiming to produce an analytical research, a historical survey of the formation of the Brazilian Middle Class was held and we analyzed all housing programs implemented and carried out in Brazil. Regarding to the composition of the middle class, we analyzed changes in economic classes between the years 2000 and 2010 and the main determinants of these changes led to an increase in the number of people who came to compose Brazilian Middle Class. In this study, the qualitative method of research, associated to the Theoretical and Documentary Research, was used. The bibliographical survey was undertaken with reference works, theses, dissertations and scientific articles, aiming at the conceptual deepening of the theme. Besides the bibliographical research, documentary research was carried out on statistical data susceptible of an analytical deepening. The survey of secondary statistical data, mainly coming from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the João Pinheiro Foundation (FJP), was essential for the quantitative analysis of economic classes, the housing deficit and monthly expenses of the Brazilian families and Uberlândia-MG. Concerning to the results of the PMCMV program in Uberlândia-MG, area of study of this theses, the sources used were the Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF), theses, dissertations, scientific articles, construction companies, researchers and professionals in the housing sector. From these surveys, we observed that there was an increase in the number of people who joined the Middle Class due to the emergence of a new working class called the “New Working Class” which, together with a “traditional Middle Class”, meant that the middle class would cover approximately half of the Brazilian population. It was also verified that the PMCMV attended, in different proportions, the interests of several agents involved as the Government, the companies of the civil construction sector and of the part of the population inserted in the context of the housing deficit. This research identified that there is a close relationship between the income level of the middle class and the income bands of the PMCMV. The program included economic classes with lower income, however, the Middle Class was the biggest beneficiary, although it didn’t present the biggest housing deficit. Finally, it was noticed that, in Uberlândia-MG, programs such as the PMCMV promote a peripheral inclusion according to a hierarchical scale whose determinant is the income and, the lower it is, the greater the periphery and the distance of the dwellings in relation to the center of the city.