Racial Inequality, Regional Wealth, and Environmental Crisis: Homelessness In Southern Brazil

Background and Purpose

Southern Brazil presents an apparent contradiction. Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul rank among the country's wealthiest states and have the lowest proportions of Black and Brown residents of any Brazilian region. Yet people experiencing homelessness (PEH) in the South are disproportionately Black and Brown, and the gap between their share of the general population and their share of the homeless population is sharper here than in regions where racial inequality is more visible in aggregate statistics. This study examines that paradox using administrative and census data, analyzing gender distribution, racial disparities, and Bolsa Família Program (PBF) coverage among PEH across the three Southern states, with additional attention to post-disaster data from Rio Grande do Sul following the severe flooding of 2024.

Methods

We analyzed secondary data from the Observatório do CadÚnico (December 2025), extracted and compiled by the Center for Public Policy Analysis and Evaluation (NAAPP) at the University of Brasília, covering PEH registered in Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul. Given the South's distinct demographic context, with the lowest proportions of Black and Brown residents in the country, data from the 2022 Brazilian Demographic Census were used to calculate the gap between the racial composition of the general population and that of the homeless population in each state. Post-disaster registration data from Porto Alegre were also examined to assess the short-term impact of the 2024 floods on homelessness.

Results

Gender patterns are consistent across the three states, with men comprising approximately 90% of registered PEH in Paraná, 88.6% in Rio Grande do Sul, and 88.5% in Santa Catarina.

The racial findings are more striking when read against the regional demographic context. Black and Brown individuals represent 34.3% of the general population in Paraná, 23.3% in Santa Catarina, and 21.2% in Rio Grande do Sul. Among PEH, these proportions rise to 46.9%, 40.4%, and 40.1%, respectively. In states where Black and Brown residents are a small minority, they represent a markedly larger share of those experiencing homelessness. Regional prosperity does not buffer against racially concentrated vulnerability.

In Porto Alegre, the 2024 floods were followed by a 14% increase in PEH, pointing to the compounding effect of environmental crisis on populations already excluded from housing stability.

Conclusions and Implications

Homelessness in the South is not a residual problem left over from underdevelopment. It is a product of racial inequality that operates independently of regional wealth. Where Black and Brown populations are numerically smaller, their overrepresentation among PEH risks going unnoticed precisely because absolute numbers are lower even as the proportional gap is wide.

The 2024 flooding adds urgency to this picture. Climate-related displacement does not create vulnerability from scratch; it accelerates and exposes what was already there. Social work practice and policy in the South need frameworks that treat racial inequality and environmental risk as connected challenges, combining race-conscious housing strategies with disaster preparedness systems sensitive to pre-existing vulnerability.