Social class and gender inequality in Brazil

Abstract

This article investigates the hypothesis that gender inequality in income in Brazil is influenced by the social class context. Class order and occupational segregation act as relevant factors in gender inequality. The effect of social class on the gender wage gap, although less pronounced as compared to interactions between class and race, plays an important "moderating" role on gender disparity, particularly by accentuating the gap in the case of capitalists, managers, and holders of professional qualifications (as assets) and attenuating them in the case of ordinary workers. The study identifies sharp inequality in gender treatment that appears to supersede the inequality in access to valuable contexts and resources, representing a direct effect of gender.