Anker Research Institute launches groundbreaking living wage and living income estimates.

 Anker Research Institute launches its first Sub-National Living Wage and Living Income Estimates for more than 80 regions in Brazil.  

What are Sub-National Estimates? 

Sub-National Estimates are living wage and living income estimates for different regions across a full country. They are part of the ARI Sub-National Estimates Program and the values for Brazil are the first set of estimates for an entire country based on transparent new methodology and reputable data sources. They are fully comparable by design with all other ARI estimates worldwide. The Program, led by ARI Innovation Lead and Senior Researcher, Ian Prates, is also being developed for other countries, such as Mexico, Ecuador, India, Ghana and Costa Rica. 

“Anker Research Institute is now in a position to estimate living wages and living incomes that are comparable within as well as between countries – and we think that this is of great importance for the living wage and living income movements.”  

Why are Sub-National Estimates so groundbreaking: Message from Richard and Martha Anker 

“Living wages and incomes vary significantly by location, especially between rural and urban areas, and between big and small cities. It is crucial to have estimates for multiple locations in a country, particularly for a large and diverse country like Brazil. Ensuring that all location-specific estimates are consistent and comparable is a methodological challenge. The Anker Sub-National Estimates address this issue by using a combination of Anker living wage and income Benchmark estimates and reputable secondary data, typically from government sources. This approach ensures that all estimates are consistent with each other and with the Anker Methodology Benchmark estimates and Reference Values for all countries. Consequently, the Anker Research Institute can now provide living wage and income estimates that are comparable both within and between countries, which is vital for the living wage and income movements. This consistency is crucial for providing stakeholders with robust and comparable information to take coordinated actions to close the gaps to living wages and incomes. This approach contrasts with other global estimates for the Global South, which often rely on web-based data from unknown respondents or quick primary data collection methods”. 

How is this done? 

 ARI uses the original Anker Benchmark living wage and living income estimate or estimates available for a country as the anchor/starting point. Then, a rigorous statistical analysis of government secondary data on differences in household expenditures by region and location for the country is done for the highest level of geographic disaggregation the national data allows for statistical representativeness. Living costs for the typical size family are estimated based on standards for household diet and housing. Food costs are estimated for a low-cost palatable nutritious model diet; housing costs are estimated for a healthy housing standard; and all non-food non-housing costs are estimated for households clearly above poverty but not well off. To this, 5% is added for emergencies and unforeseen events. 

How do these estimates relate to ARI’s other estimates? 

 The Anker Methodology is now widely accepted as the gold standard for measuring living wages and living incomes. As of June 2024, Anker living wage and living income Benchmark studies and reports have been completed for 60 locations in 45 countries. 

  While the global coverage of Benchmark studies is large, within country coverage is generally limited For this reason, the Anker National Reference Values Methodology was developed to estimate country-wide rural and urban living income and living wage values using secondary data for countries where no Anker Methodology Benchmark has been carried out. To date, Anker National Reference Value estimates and reports have been published for 40 additional countries.  

However, Anker Benchmark estimates and National Reference Values do not address within-country differences in living wages and living incomes.  The Sub-National Estimate fills in this gap by providing estimations for all locations in a whole country, at an appropriate level of territorial disaggregation. 

More information can be found here: https://www.ankerresearchinstitute.org 

For more information on ARI Sub-National Estimates contact Inquiries@ankerresearchinstitute.org