Although the monthly minimum wage in Brazil has steadily increased over the past five years, so has inflation, and the residents of Rio who work the common minimum-wage labor jobs continue to battle poverty day-in and day-out. As you can see in the graph below, the poverty line (the estimated minimum level of income needed to secure the necessities of life) for a family of five in Brazil has consistently hovered around the monthly minimum-wage rate. This trend is probably the largest reason for why even those residents of Rio who aren’t homeless and do have jobs rarely decide to start their own business, despite the fact that it would be more profitable for them.

              As these mothers and fathers of households work long hours at minimum-wage, they get stuck in a cycle. Everyday they struggle to make ends meet, working tirelessly to make sure their kids have food in their stomach’s and clothes on their back. As they continue to combat this poverty line, they have little time or energy to execute a plan to start their own business. Departing from their current job to create their own business would lead to at least a week or two, if not months-long absence of cash-flow while they get their business up and running, something they just wouldn’t be able to afford. Think about Rex Walls in the Glass Castle - although he entertained the idea of starting many of his own small businesses with inventions or other ideas, he was never able to go through with them, a product of his lack of time, energy, and resources. For those minimum-wage workers in Brazil, this fight against the poverty line is a huge handcuff in their quest to become entrepreneurs.