A single mother in Minas Gerais struggles despite Lula-era social programs

In a modest 40-square-metre apartment in Ribeirao das Neves, civil engineer Cibele Santiago struggles to balance a low municipal wage with extra freelance work to provide for her child. Raised in a favela, she now lives in a unit built under the Minha Casa, Minha Vida housing scheme, a legacy of the left-wing government that lifted many out of poverty. Santiago laments that her university degree has not yielded a stable livelihood, describing nights of exhaustion and tears.

While she once supported President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the ballot box, she now doubts that his government is sufficiently focused on long-term opportunities for citizens in her situation. Her story highlights the gap between past social gains and present economic challenges for Brazil’s emerging middle class.