Tupperware has been encouraging women to sell its plastic kitchenware and seize economic power in the household since the ‘50s. And with gender equality almost achieved in the Western world, the brand has now set its sights on developing countries. But does empowerment still sell?

Brazil is going through its worst recession in more than two decades, and it’s not just having an effect on the country’s spending habits. Many are being forced into less skilled occupations – with lower wages – and women in particular are being pushed back into jobs they thought they’d left behind.

Brazilians are obsessed with cleanliness, but they're not so big on doing the dirty work themselves – Brazil has more domestic workers than anywhere else in the world. Once an unregulated industry, a new law has given its 7.2 million workers rights. And services are popping up to help organise the help.

Bolsa Família is a social welfare program, through which the Brazilian government is pulling millions out of poverty. What's radical about the scheme – aside from the obvious – is that it's primarily given to the woman of the house, since "women are more reliable than men."