Calculation of the basic basket in the municipality of Araras – SP

Abstract

The term basic basket is given to the set of staple foods in sufficient quantities to feed a family, established along with Decree Law nº 399 of April 30, 1938, which regulates the minimum wage in Brazil. Over the years, public agencies and educational institutions began collecting data to perform the basic food basket calculation in several municipalities in Brazil. Examples are DIEESE in several state capitals, the PROCON/SP foundation in São Paulo, the basic basket cost index (ICB-FEALQ/ESALQ) in Piracicaba (São Paulo state), the basic products basket cost calculation by CEPEAC in Passo Fundo (Rio Grande do Sul state), among other programs. This shows its importance and the contribution of economic research centers that allow us to understand product prices and their impacts on daily life, demonstrating the cost of living in a specific locality and assisting in the formulation of public policies. In light of this, the Federal University of São Carlos has, since 2017, undertaken analysis of the basic basket cost in Araras, São Paulo state (ICB-CCA/UFSCAR), determining the relation between this cost and the minimum wage of the low-income population. With support from the Pro-Rectory for Extension (PROEX) and based on the methodology developed by the PROCON/SP foundation in partnership with DIEESE, data were collected on 40 products divided into the following categories: food (including agricultural items), domestic cleaning, and personal hygiene. The data were obtained at six supermarkets in central Araras, three times a week, during the period from September to December of 2017 and 2018. The main findings were greater representativeness of food, with 81.91% on average, followed by personal hygiene and domestic cleaning, with 10.3% and 7.77%, respectively. The ratio between the calculated price of the basic basket and the minimum wage was 69.76% in 2017 and 70.02% in 2018, with food contributing 57.03% in the first year and 57.48% in the second year of the research. In the food category, onions and potatoes were the items that varied the most in both years, which could be explained by climatic issues, difficulties in harvesting, and also market issues such as product supply or production costs. It could be concluded that the cost of the basic basket represented the greater part of the minimum wage of the population of Araras. Future studies should be undertaken to expand this research, given its social relevance to the municipality and its potential as a way to support managers in the elaboration of public policies, since the data obtained allow evaluation of the evolution of prices.