reference group, and (g) excluding rent expenditures (explicit as well as implicit) from the estimation. Estimates for the food poverty line coming out of these different specifications range from R$250 to R$280. Estimates for the (lower) total poverty line range from R$440 to R$500. This highlights that our preferred estimate constitutes a rather lower bound for the poverty line, with the choice of a relatively low minimum calorie requirement and assuming that the cost per calorie of FAFH is the same as food purchased for consumption at home.

In comparison with earlier work, mainly based on POF 2003, our poverty lines are generally similar in real values, although methodologies differ, and consumption patterns have likely changed over time. Converted to January 2018 prices and considering São Paulo (mostly metropolitan) lines in the case of regional lines, previous estimates range from R$485 to R$532 (Rocha, 2007; Silveira et al., 2007). Ferreira et al. (2003) used POF 1996 and estimated a lower poverty line of R$477 in January 2018 metropolitan São Paulo prices. Only World Bank (2007) estimated a considerably lower poverty line of R$272 in January 2018 metropolitan São Paulo prices.

Comparing our results with the World Bank poverty lines used for global poverty monitoring, by expressing them in 2011 purchasing power parities (PPP), we find that the total poverty line of R$455 is equivalent to approximately US$6.10 a day, and hence in the range of upper-middle income countries.<sup>17</sup> Moreover, it is very much in line with the societal poverty line one would obtain for Brazil using POF 2017/18 data.<sup>18</sup> The food poverty line of monthly R$258 is equivalent to a daily US$3.46 in 2011 PPP, above the international poverty line of US$1.90 per person per day.

The value of the total poverty line found here is also close to the income threshold used to define eligibility to register in the Cadastro Único (R$477, or half a minimum wage in 2018). Thus, our results could be interpreted as providing empirically backed evidence of the relevance of such a value as a way to identify the destitute and vulnerable populations in Brazil.

In the absence of an official poverty line that takes into account the local Brazilian context, this work has estimated a poverty line based on the most recent data available. The results can help inform the policy dialogue around the recent Supreme Court order to set up a basic income scheme for the poor,<sup>19</sup> starting in 2022. The ability to appropriately identify the poor population will be key in this endeavor.

As for the contribution of this work for poverty monitoring in Brazil, more research is needed. In Brazil, poverty monitoring is not based on POF. Instead, another survey – the Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios Contínua (PNADC), which collects information on income instead of consumption – is used. Regular poverty monitoring conducted by IBGE is hence done using an income aggregate. Developing approaches to use the poverty line estimated here for regular poverty monitoring with the income aggregate based on PNADC is beyond the scope of this paper; however, related work has shown that very

> 17 The US$5.50 international poverty line for upper-middle income countries is the median of poverty lines in countries with this level of national income.

> 18 The societal poverty line defines someone as suffering from societal poverty if they live on less than $1 plus half of what the median person in their country consumes (see Jolliffe and Prydz, 2017). With median consumption per capita per person per day from POF 2017/18 expressed in 2011 PPP US$ being 10.18, the societal poverty line would be US$6.09 in 2011 PPP per person per day for Brazil.

> 19 The ruling was done in April 26th, 2021. The _voto_ of Minister Mendes can be found here:

> <u>https://static.poder360.com.br/2021/04/voto-gilmar-mendes-valor-renda-basica-26-abr-2021.pdf</u>

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