DEVELOPMENT INDEX OF THE BRAZILIAN RURAL HOUSEHOLDS

Abstract

When considering the well-being as an undoubtedly multidimensional phenomenon, this paper presents the measurement of the Family Development Index (IDF in Brazilian acronyms) at the level of Brazilian rural households for the year 2013. In addition to the six dimensions of living conditions that composes the IDF, indicators related to Food Security of rural households are also analyzed. The construction of the index was done through the microdata from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) of 2013. This research indicated an average level of human and social development for rural households. Furthermore, IDF is higher how much higher the household income per capita stratum, as well as the vulnerable households, that is, those under the responsibility of women, blacks or agricultural workers, had lower IDFs that the verified for their respective counterfactual groups. Rural households whose sustainability pertains to black women in particular had the lowest level of development. Moreover, results showed that the development levels of the North and Northeast regions were relatively lower when compared to the levels observed for Brazil and for the other regions.