Maria Clara Pedroza Santos

Maria Clara Pedroza Santos

Biography

Maria Clara Pedroza Santos is a rising junior at the University of New Mexico, majoring in Economics and minoring in Latin American Studies. Originally from Brazil, she researches labor dynamics and informality in marginalized communities. Through the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP), she is currently investigating gendered labor inequality. She previously completed the El Puente Research Fellowship, where she examined informal markets in a Latin American context, and is now an Arts & Sciences Support forUndergraduate Research Experience (ASSURE) fellow. In Fall 2025, as part of her ASSURE fellowship, Maria will conduct fieldwork in Brazil supported by the Julian DuncanAward andUNM’s Study Abroad Grant. She plans to pursue a PhD in Political Economy and become a professor, using research and teaching to shape more inclusive labor frameworks. Combining lived experience, cross-cultural insight, and strong analytical skills, she aims to contribute to more equitable approaches in academia and public policy.

Abstract

What Counts as Progress? Disentangling Race, Class and Gender in the Aftermath of Brazil’s Domestic Worker Reform

In 2013, Brazil amended its constitution through PEC das Domésticas, a reform that aimed to expand labor protections and formalization to domestic workers. Despite over a decade of implementation, the policy’s effectiveness remains contested, especially regarding its racialized impacts. Existing literature frequently treats domestic workers as a homogeneous group, neglecting how race mediates differential outcomes. This mixed-methods study draws on racialized reproductive labor theory and utilizes PNAD Traditional and Continuous microdata to perform two parallel time-series analyses disaggregated by race: (1) formal employment trajectories measured by possession of carteira assinada, and (2) proportions of mensalistas (monthly-employed) versus diaristas (daily-employed). The central hypothesis posits that increased compliance costs prompted employers to shift women of color from mensalista to diarista positions, increasing informality despite apparent formalization gains. Regression analyses reveal a decline in formalization among white women post-reform and marginal improvements for Black and Brown women, who remain disproportionately represented in informal daily work. Qualitative data from interviews and policy documents corroborate these trends, exposing persistent precarity and entrenched racial hierarchies. Findings demonstrate that legal formalization alone is insufficient to dismantle structural inequalities; genuine progress requires integrated policies combining targeted enforcement, socioeconomic support, and institutional reforms to ensure equity for Brazil’s most marginalized domestic workers.