Socio-economic impacts of Brazilian sugarcane industry

•We present statistics on number of workers, education, wages in the three sectors.•We compared the socio-economic indicators of the sugarcane workers with their offspring.•Sugarcane sector better off in the performance of the indicators than the agriculture.•Job choices and work conditions of the offspring are better than their parents.

This paper analyzes the socio-economic impacts of the Brazilian sugar cane industry, examining the characteristics of the workforce, pay and working conditions. It also examines the role of the family on socio-economic indicators, comparing the indicators for first generation sugar cane workers with those for the second generation of workers, as well as comparing these indicators with those for workers in the agricultural sector as a whole. We draw on data from Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (RAIS) and also from Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD, or National Household Sample Survey). The findings show that together, the three key sectors that comprise the sugarcane industry in the country (sugar cane cultivation, sugar production and ethanol production) employed about one million workers in 2012. The results also show that family background plays a role on the choices made by second generation workers relative to work and thus impacting on the socio-economic indicators for the sectors. The comparison between indicators for the sugar cane sector and the overall agricultural sector showed differences, with the sugar cane sector being better off than the agricultural sector. Finally, the assessment of indicators for the second generation shows that they have face better choices and conditions than first-generation workers.