CNI: Brazilians expect improvement in health, education and employment in the next government

Some Brazilians still don’t know who they are going to vote for, but they already know what the next ruler needs to prioritize to improve the country’s situation. Health, education and job creation are, in the voter’s view, the priorities for the country in the next four years.

According to the public opinion round of the Agenda de Prioridades survey, by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), these areas should be, respectively, the main public policies of the elected government for 43%, 34% and 21% of Brazilians. The survey heard 2,030 Brazilians over 16 years old, between August 16 and 21, in the 27 units of the Federation.

Another question asked to respondents was about the areas that have improved the most in the last four years. For 42% of respondents, the answer was “no area”. Then come education and health, both with 7%, job creation (6%), social programs (5%), infrastructure/works (5%) and security (4%).

According to the president of the CNI, Robson Braga de Andrade, Brazil needs to go even further in order to return to sustainable growth, raise the average income of the population and place itself among the most developed countries.

“Improving the quality of formal education and expanding the offer of vocational education is essential for young people to prepare themselves adequately to meet the new demands of the job market and to be able to face the growing challenges of the knowledge age”, he says.

Priority in the economy

When talking specifically about the economy, the priority of Brazilians in the next two years is the generation of jobs, pointed out by 44% of the interviewees – added to the first and second choices.

Reducing taxes and reducing social inequality/poverty follow (with 26% of responses each), along with fighting inflation (24%), followed by controlling public spending (14%) and reducing the rate of interest (13%).

Respondents also point out the main paths for job creation. The reduction of payroll taxes appears in 39% of the responses, together with the strengthening of professional training programs pointed out by 38% of the population – both percentages are the sum of the first and second options.

Next is the release of credit for companies to invest and/or expand their production capacity, with 33% of responses and the implementation of new improvements in labor legislation, mentioned by 22% of respondents.

“To overcome the high unemployment rates, which imply a real social scourge, which affects almost 10 million workers, Brazil needs to grow again more consistently and overcome some structural obstacles. Among them are the precarious qualification of the workforce, the high level of informality in the companies, the low quality of education and reduced productivity”, says Robson Andrade.

The survey shows that Brazilians are optimistic about the future of the economy, but have a negative assessment of the current situation. Almost half of the population (49%) evaluates the current situation of the Brazilian economy as bad or very bad, while 15% consider it excellent or good. But the expectation of better days reaches 59% of respondents, who believe that the situation of the economy will improve a lot or a little in the next two years. On the other hand, 17% believe that the future will get a little or a lot worse.

Health

Public health was considered the main priority of the president-elect for 43% of Brazilians. This concern with the topic is also reflected in the analysis of the areas that have worsened the most. One in three people chose their health among the two areas that have deteriorated the most in the last four years. It was the most remembered area.

To improve the sector, the population puts among the highest priorities hiring more doctors and nurses (31%), building new hospitals and health posts (21%), improving the conditions of hospitals and health posts (21%) and improving doctors and nurses (19%).

Education

The research also shows that in education, Brazilians want the government to prioritize the professional development of teachers and the structures of teaching centers. One in four people think that one of the priorities is to improve training (26%) and increase teachers’ salaries (23%). In addition, it is necessary to improve the conditions of educational establishments (17%) and build more schools and day care centers (13%).

For three out of four Brazilians, spending on education is insufficient. Even so, 72% of Brazilians believe that the quality of service should be better with the resources currently invested.