Income inequality, which has been relatively high, has been on a steady downward trend since the late 1990s, as evidenced by the decline of a common measure of inequality', the Gini coefficient (Figure 1). Between 1997 and 2011, inequality' of disposable income has fallen by over 12%, and it is currently at its lowest level since data became available in 1960. These dynamics are particularly impressive in international context since tw'O thirds of the countries in the world experienced an increase in income inequality despite solid growth between 1990 and 2005 (United Nations, 2012, OECD, 201 Id). Most of the reduction in inequality' results from income gains of Brazil’s poorest.