Politics · Brazil · 6 hrs ago
Ending the 6x1 work schedule and tax-free basic food top voters' priorities
A Quaest poll asked Brazilians which of 15 campaign promises they most want Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to deliver in his new term.
Ending the six-day work schedule led with 17%, while 16% chose removing taxes on basic foods; the poll’s margin of error means the two are statistically tied.
The basic food tax exemption is due to start on January 1, 2027, under Brazil’s tax reform.
A Senate-approved proposal would reduce the standard workweek from 44 to 40 hours, guarantee two days off and keep pay unchanged, with a transition period.
Among respondents who were more worried than optimistic about the country’s future, 27% named economic issues, public spending, debt and interest rates as their main concern, ahead of public safety and violence at 17%.
Lula’s new term begins with 48% approval and 44% disapproval, while Finance Minister Dario Durigan said the government would present fiscal adjustment measures in the second half of November.
A Quaest poll found that ending the six-day-on, one-day-off work schedule and eliminating taxes on basic food are voters’ top priorities for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s fourth term.
Seventeen percent named shorter working hours as their top priority, while 16% chose tax-free basic food; the poll’s margin of error was two percentage points.
Raising the minimum wage ranked next at 11%, followed by an anti-femicide pact at 10% and expanding the Farmácia Popular programme at 8%.
The tax exemption for basic food is due to take effect on January 1, 2027, under Brazil’s tax reform.
- Who
- Brazilian voters surveyed by Quaest.
- What
- They ranked ending the 6x1 work schedule and tax-free basic food as their leading priorities for Lula’s fourth term.
- When
- The poll was released on November 8, 2026.
- Where
- Brazil.
- Why
- The poll asked respondents to choose the most important of 15 campaign commitments made by Lula.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional amendment proposal to reduce the weekly work schedule from 44 to 40 hours, with two required days off, no pay cut and a transition rule.
The Senate approved a proposal to expand the federal government’s role in public security.
Quaest released the poll on voters’ priorities for Lula’s fourth term.
The basic food basket is due to become tax-free under Brazil’s tax reform.
- Shorter working hours
- 17% chose reducing working hours as their top priority
- Tax-free basic food
- 16% chose tax relief on basic foods
- Margin of error
- 2 percentage points
- Minimum wage
- 11% ranked its improvement as a priority
- Basic food tax exemption
- Set to take effect January 1, 2027