On a downward trend since 1997, the average real income of the employed population remained constant at R$733 and the concentration of remuneration continued in decline...

On a downward trend since 1997, the average real income of the employed population remained constant at R$733 and the concentration of remuneration continued in decline: the half of the employed population receiving the lowest salaries had real gain of 3.2%, whereas the other half had loss of 0.6%. The level of occupation – percentage of employed persons among people 10 years old or over – was the highest since 1996. These are some of the data presented by IBGE’s National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), through which almost 400 thousand persons were interviewed and over 139 thousand households were visited all over Brazil. For the first time PNAD also investigated the rural areas of Rondônia, Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, Pará and Amapá. Besides results with the complete coverage of the survey in 2004, this release contains data harmonized with the geographic coverage of previous years, in order to make time series analysis possible.

PNAD also evidenced that working women have a higher level of education than men and that less than 3% of persons between 7 and 14 years were not studying in 2004. Besides, 5,3 million children and teenagers between 5 and 17 years of age were working.

Between 2003 and 2004, there was increase of over 50% in the number of households which had only a mobile phone line and of 11% in those with computers connected to the Internet. In 2004, persons 60 years old or over already made up almost 10% of the population of the country, and 46.5% of workers received social security assistance. Nevertheless, only 18% of the employed population were union members. Here are the main data on PNAD 2004.

Level of occupation was the highest since 1996

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, in 2004, the level of occupation (percentage of employed persons at active age) reached 56.3% and was the highest since 1996 (55.1%). However, this indicator has not yet reached the level of the first half of the 1990’s (Table 15). The level of occupation of women reached 45.5% and was the highest since 1992.

 

 

 

In 2004, the employed population increased by 3.3% (over 2,7 million people) in relation to 2003. This increase was over twice as that occurred from 2002 to 2003 (1.5%), but lower than from 2001 to 2002 (3.8%, the highest percentage of employed population growth since the beginning of the 1990’s).

Level of occupation of women was the highest since 1992

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, from 2003 to 2004, women (1,5 million women) contributed more to the increase in the number of employed persons than men (1,1 million men). The level of participation of women in the job market has been gradually higher.

Employment increased in all groups of non-agricultural activities

 

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, from 2003 to 2004 the employed population grew in all the groups of non-agricultural activities and the highest growth rates were those of Other collective, social and personal services (16.6%) and Manufacturing industry (6.8%). Construction had the lowest rate (1.5%).

In this period, in manufacturing industry, the most significant increase was in the category employees with a formal contract (11.6%), occurring predominantly in enterprises of major importance. The increase in the category workers without a formal contract was also relevant (4.8%)

In construction, there was also significant increase in the number of workers with a formal contract (12.7%), the activity of major construction companies. The group of workers without a formal contract , over 70% of which were employed by enterprises with up to 5 employed persons, also increased. The number of own-account workers was reduced by 4.6%. Once they made up 42.8% of all persons employed in construction, the reduction had a great impact on the results of this segment.

Among the military and civil servants, participation by municipality increased from 24% to 42.5%, from 1992 to 2004.

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, from 1992 to 2004, among the workers which formed the category of military and civil servants, the participation of municipalities increased from 24.0% to 42.5%. In the same period, the participation of the state fell from 53.5% to 42.1%, and of the federal government from 22.5% to 15.4%.

Between 2003 and 2004, the number of workers with a formal contract (6.6%), of military and civil servants (4.4%) and of other workers without a formal contract (6.0%) also increased.

Little relevance of agricultural activities

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, the participation of employed persons in agricultural activities (19.9%) decreased in relation to 1992 (when it was 28.4%).

From 2003 to 2004 the percentage of persons with a formal contract performing activities related to agriculture increased from 30.0% to 32.2%, reaching the highest level since 1992.

The number employed persons in non-agricultural activities grew by 4.3% from 2003 to 2004. In this period, this group had increase in all the three categories of employment: workers with a formal contract (6.3%), military and civil servants (4.5%) and workers without a formal contract (7.8%).

Women made up about 42% of the employed population

About two thirds of the employed women were concentrated in four groups of activity (domestic services; education, health and social services; agriculture; commerce and repair). The four biggest groups (agriculture; commerce and repair; industry; construction) had almost 70% of men. The table below shows these striking differences, by sex.

In 2004, 42.4%% of employed women and 18.4% of employed men worked less than 40 hours per week.

 

Income remained constant and moving towards deconcentration

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, in 2004, the average real income of workers remained the same (R$733), interrupting the downward trend started in 1997. The real loss of 18.8% in relation to 1996 was maintained. In that year remuneration figures had reached their peak (R$903) since the beginning of the 1990’s.

In the distribution of remuneration, from 2003 to 2004, 50% of the employed persons receiving the lowest salaries had real gain of 3.2%, whereas the 50% receiving the highest salaries had real loss (though insignificant) of 0.6%.

As a consequence of these changes, the concentration of remuneration decreased, as well as the  Gini [1] index. The latter reached in 2004 its lowest result since 1981(0.547). The indicator had been 0.600 in 1993 and 0.567 in 1999. The deconcentration also occurred in income from all sources and from households.

Average monthly income was highest in the Southeast

In 2004, the Northeast registered the lowest average monthly income of workers in the country (R$ 450). In second place was the North region (R$ 601). In relation to the average income of the Southeast (R$ 848), which was the highest, the Northeast accounted for 53.1%, the North for 70.9%, the South, for 97.3% and the Central West for 99.4%.

With reference to the employed population, 27.6% earned up to 1 minimum salary. In the Northeast, this indicator reached 46.0%, surpassing that of the remaining regions: 30.9% in the North; 23.1% in the Central West; 20.1% in the Southeast and 17.9% in the South. On the other hand, 0.9% of the employed population in the country in 2004 earned more than 20 minimum salaries. The indicator ranged from 0.4% in the Northeast to 1.6% in the Central West.

The average monthly income of households (which aggregates all the sources of income of their residents) was R$1,393 in 2004. The Southeast region had the highest figure (R$1,620) and the Northeast (R$ 870) and the North regions (R$ 1,085), the lowest, representing, 53.7% and 67.0% of the Southeast total.

In terms of the monthly income of households, the proportion of households with to 1 minimum salary per month was 11.5% in 2004; those receiving over 20 minimum salaries made up 3.7%. The highest percentages in the group receiving highest salaries were registered in the Central West (5.1%) and in the Southeast (4.6%). Concerning those with income of up to 1 minimum salary, the biggest percentage of households was in the Northeast (23.1%). The Gini index of distribution of household income was 0.535.

 

Women were paid less than men

In 2004, the average income of working women made up 69.3% of the total received by men. There was practiclly no change in relation to 1999, when the figure was 69.1%.

The difference between the remunerations of men and women lied in the position in the occupation. Among the employed persons,  the monthly average income of working women represented 89.2% of that of men. Among the employers, the percentage was 72.5%, in the group of domestic workers,  70.9% and among own-account workers, 65.1%.

The distinct forms of insertion of female and male population in the job market – in terms of occupation, activity, position in the occupation, category of work, hours worked, among others – clearly influenced the level of income of these two groups.

 

In 2004, 2.9% of youngsters between 7 and 14 years old were out of school

There are also regional differences in the education indicators In the country, the percentage of youngsters between 7 and 14 years old out of school – the age group which is usually taking elementary school, was 2.9%. The best results were seen in the Southeast (1.9%) and South regions (2.2%). In the other ones they were: 5.1% in the North; 3.9% in the Northeast and 2.8% in the Central West.

Considering the total of children and teenagers between 5 and 17 yers of age, the percentage of those who did not go to school in 2004 was 8.9%. Whereas in the Southeast this figure ws 6.7%, in the North region it almost doubled (12.9%). Still in this group, the percentage of men who did not go to school was higher (9.5%) than tht of women (8.4%).

 

In relation to pre-school, children between 5 and 6 years old who did not go to school made up  18.9% of the group. The results for this indicator in the Southeast (13.9%) and Northeast (15.9%) regions were substantially below those of the other ones (25.8% in the Central West , 27.3% in the South and 31% in the North).

 

Few public institutions provided higher education

In spite of the special coverage, the public system of education served, in 2004, the  majority of students between 5 years of age or over (80.9%). The distribution was as follows: 26.1% of higher education students; 85% of high school students and 75.7% of pre-school kids attended public schools.

At regional level, the major differences in the percentage of students in public schools occurred in higher education. Whereas in the Southeast, 18.6% of students of higher education studied at public institutions, in the North they were 46.0%. The North region also presented the highest percentage in this indicator in terms of high school (90.8%) and elementary school (92.9%). The South region had the highest percentage of students in the public system in pre-school (79.8%).

In 2004, illiteracy rate was 10.5%

In the country, the illiteracy rate among people 10 years of age or over was 10.5% and of people 15 years of age or over was 11.4%. In the first group, the regional differences were more visible influential, showing the difference in the level of schooling by region. This indicator ranged from 5.7% in the South region to 20.6% in the Northeast. In the North region the illiteracy rate was 11.7%; in the Central West it was 8.3%; in the Southeast, 6.1%.

Employed women had higher level of education than men

Among the population 10 years old or over, the proportion of those who had at least 11 years of schooling (that is, who finished at least high school or equivalent) was 26.0%. This result reflects the higher level of schooling of women, once the number of women with 11 years of schooling corresponds to 27.7%, 3.6 percentage points above the male population.

The disparity between the level of instruction of the two groups (men and women) is even more present in the employed population. In the group of employed women, 40.0% had 11 years or more of schooling, being 10.8 percentage points above the indicator relative to men. In the male population, the difference, in percentage points, between this indicator for the total population 10 years of age or over and for the employed population was 5.1, whereas in the female group it was 12.3. This difference indicates that the interest of women in joining the job market increases with schooling.

 

Average  schooling of people 10 years old or over was 6.6 years

Another indicator which facilitates the measure of the level of instruction of the population is the average number of years of schooling. This indicator relative to the total of the population 10 years old or over (6.6 years)  was lower than that for employed persons (7.3 years). For the population 25 years old or over (those who, following the regular course of education, would be old enough to have completed superior education), the average number of years of schooling was 6.4 years. For the employed persons in this age group, 7.1 years. Analyzing the results of this indicator by group of activity, it was observed that the maximum was in the group between 20 and 24 years of age, both for the total and for the employed ones.  

The level of instruction in the Northeast region was at  a lower level than in the others; the Southeast presented the highest figure. The average number of years of schooling of the population 10 years old or over was 5.3 years in the Northeast region, and 7.3 in the Southeast. Also, among employed persons, the level of instruction in the Southeast region (8.2) remained in the leadership, whereas in  the Northeast it was the lowest (5.6 years).

The analysis of education indicators for the last five years was carried out by IBGE, considering PNAD's geographic coverage of the country until 2003. Thus, it was possible to detect if there was improvement of the level of schooling of children and teenagers between 5 and 17 years of age in this period. Considering the age groups at which children and teenagers should be taking pre, elementary and high school, it was observed that, from 1999 to 2004, the percentage of the population that did no attend school dcreased from 29.0% to 18.2% in the group 5 and 6 years of age; from 4.3% to 2.8% in the group between 7 and 14 years of age and from 21.5% to 17.8% in the group between 15 and 17 years of age. 

Still in this comparison, the illiteracy rate of people 10 years of age or over fell from 12.3% in 1999 to 10.4% in 2004. In the age group between 10 and 14 years of age, at which the child is expected to be able to read and write, at least, the illiteracy rate decreased from 5.5% in 1999 to 3.6% in 2004.

In 2004, there were 5,3 million working teenagers and children

In 2004, 11.8% of children and teenagers between 5 and 17 years of age were working. The distribution by age was: 1.5% between 5 and 9 years of age; 10.1% between 10 and 14 years of age and 31.1% of those between 15 and 17 years of age. In the male group ,the level of occupation remained higher than in the female group, considering the three age groups mentioned. In the group between 5 and 17 years of age, the level of occupation of men reached 15.3% and of women, 8.1%.

The survey also showed that child labor occurs more freqeuntly in the agricultural activity. The agricultural subscector held 75% of the employed population between 5 and 9 years of age. This percentage decreased to 59.1% in the group between 10 and 14 years  and reached 33.9% in the group between 15 and 17 years of age. This last result was above the percentage relative to the group 18 years old or over (19.6%).

The participation of children and teenagers in an economic activity presented important differences at regional level. The Southeast region was the one with the least number of working  children and  teenagers (7.9%), followed by the Central West (11.1%), North (13.8%), Northeast (14.8%) and South (14.9%).

Evolution of child labor in five years

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, it was seen that child labor in the group between 5 and 17 years of age continued on a downward trend. In the period between 1999 and 2004, the participation of employed persons between 5 and 9 years old changed from 2.4% to 1.4%; between 10 to 14 years old , from 14.9% to 9.5%; in the group between 15 and 17 years old , from 34.5% to 30.5%. In 1993 these indicators were, respectively, 3.2%, 19.6% and 46%.  

 

 

In 31% of municipalities there were not adequate sanitation services

 In 2004, 31.1% of household did not have adequate sewage disposal system (public sysstem or septic tank). In the same year, 17.8% of households were not connected to the public water supply system; 15.2% did not have garbage disposal; 34.6% did not have a telephone and, in 3.2% did not have electric energy.

In 2004 the Southeast had the highest percentage of households with electric energy (99.4%), water supply system (91.5%), sewage disposal system (77.4%) garbage disposal (94.2%) and adequate / proper sanitation services (86.9%). The South region overcame the others in terms of households with telephone (78.3%). The North region presented the lowest percentage of households with electric energy (89.5%) and water supply system (55.2%). Although the percentage of households having water supply system in the North was the lowest in the country (4.0%), in terms of sanitation the region reached 50.5%, surpassing the Northeast (45.5%) and Central West (41.5%). The percentage of households with telephone (41.3%) and garbage disposal (69.8%) of the Northeast was inferior to the observed in the other regions.

In 2004, 2.7% of the houses were rustic, that is, built out of material inappropriate for construction (wood reused from packages, adobe, straw, etc). The percentages in the North (6.8%) and Northeast (6.2%) were extremely above those of the remaining regions – 1.8% in the South; 1.3% in the Central West and 0.7% in the Southeast.

Sanitation services improved in relation to 2003

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, the number of households with adequate sanitation services (public system or septic tank) increased by 3.5% from 2003 to 2004. The change, above the total increase of the number of households in this period (2.5%), reveals the continuity of improvement of the sanitary conditions in the country, even in a slower rhythm than that of the periods 2001/2002 and 2002/2003.

This increase occurred mainly due to the increment of 4.2% in the number of households having sewer system, once the number of those having septic tank was not significant (1.9%). In case of electric energy, in five years, the percentage of households without electricity was reduced by 50% (from 5.2% in 199 to 2.6% in 2004). The percentage of rustic houses) fell from 3.6% to 2.5% , from 1999 to 2004.

Number of households having only a mobile phone line increased by 51.4% in one year

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, between 2003 and 2004, the number of households having only a mobile telephone line grew by 51.4%, the highest growth rate of all the items possessed investigated by PNAD. There was also expansion in the number of households using both mobile and fixed telephony (18.7%) and of households with PCs (11.2%). The rise of the number of households having computers connected to the Internet (11%) was also significant.

The increase in the number of households having only a mobile telephone line was higher than observed from 2001 to 2002 (15.6%) and from 2002 to 2003 (31.6%). This caused the increase by 9.2% in the total of households using telephony services (either fixed or mobile). From 2003 to 2004, the percentage of household using fixed telephony services(regardless of the existence of mobile phones) had slight decrease, from 50.8% to 49.6%, maintaining the downward trend observed from 2002 to 2003.

This may indicate that the mobile phone, an important means of communication out of the dwelling, is a way to make up for the lack of land telephone lines. In 16.5% of households, there was only the mobile phone in 2004 – in 2001, when the investigation of the mobile and conventional lines was performed separately, they were 7.8%. The expansion of the mobile phone sector was also significant in the households with a telephone line. The two types of line were found in 23.2% of the households in 2001 and in 31.8%, in 2004.

The increased offer of telephony services caused the percentage of households with a telephone to change from 37.6% to 66.1%.

In 2004, the percentage of households with a computer reached 16.6% and of those connected to the Internet, 12.4%. In 2001, when PNAD began to survey the existence of PCs, 12.6% of the households had this piece of equipment; in 8.6% of households the computer was connected to the Internet.

About 16% of households had a PC

In 2004, 87.4% of households had a refrigerator; 17.1% a freezer and 34.5% a washing machine. Television sets existed in 90.3% of households, whereas radios, in 87.8%. PCs were present in 16.3% of households.

The highest percentages of municipalities with radio, washing machines and freezers were in the South region (93.6%, 51.1% and 33.9%, respectively). The Southeast had the biggest number of households with refrigerators (95.6%), television (95.7%) and microcomputers (22%).

On the other hand the North region had the lowest percentages of residences with radio (73.0%) and television sets (79.3%) and the Northeast region, the lowest percentage of households with refrigerators (70.7%) freezers (6.7%) and washing machines (10.2%). In relation to PCs, the percentages were practically the same in the North (6.9%) and in the Northeast (6.8%).

In five years, the percentage of households with freezers and radio decreased

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, in 2004, the percentage of households with freezers (17.2%) and radios (88.1%) increased, with results below those of 1999 (19.6% and 89.9%, respectively).

Although the reduction of the number of households with freezers was insignificant (0.5%) from 2003 to 2004, the downward trend has been maintained since 1999, when 19.6% of the households had this appliance. On the other hand, the number of households with refrigerators continued growing: there was expansion of 3.4% from 2003 to 2004, and, in five years, the percentage changed from 82.2% to 88.1%.

It is worth mentioning that the higher number of households with a two-door refrigerator (which has a separate freezer) remained above that of refrigerators with one door: 9.4% versus 2.2% from 2003 to 2004. In the total of households with a refrigerator, the percentage of those having the two-door type went from 14.3% in 1999 to 17.9% in 2004.

The percentage of households with radio also showed reduction from 1999 to 2003, having been surpassed by the percentage of households with television sets in 2001. From that year on, the difference between both percentages has increased gradually. From 2003 to 2004, the number of households with radio increased by 2.9%, whereas in the households with television sets, by 3.5%.

Also on upward trend is the total number of households with a washing machine: there was expansion of 3.8% from 2003 to 2004, and the percentage increased from 32.85 to 34.9% in five years.

 

The elderly make up almost one tenth of the Brazilian population

PNAD also confirmed the aging tendency of the Brazilian population: considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, the percentage of people 60 years old or over was 6.4% in 1981. It increased to 8.0% in 1993 and reached 9.8% in 2004. People 24 years old or over made up 58.2% of the population in 1981; 52.4% in 1993; 49.0% in 1999 and 46.0% in 2004.

Combining the number of persons 60 years old or over with groups of 100 children under 5 years of age, it can be seen that the elderly were 48.3% in 1981. This percentage changed to 76.5% in 1993; 97.8% in 1999 and reached 120.1% in 2004, that is, a proportion of six elderly persons per five children under 5 years of age. Among the elderly, the percentage of women has been increasing, although slowly: in 1981, it was 52.6%, in 1999, 55.3%, and in 2004, it was 56.1%.

From 1999 to 2004, the percentage of households with a single dweller changed from 8.9% to 10.5%. The average number of persons by household was 4.0 in 1993; 3.7 in 1999 and 3.5 in 2004.

Fertility rate was 2.1 children and women made up 51.3% of the population in Brazil

In 2004, fertility rate was 2.1 children per woman. The North region had the highest rate (2.8) and the South, the lowest one (1.9). The results in other regions were: Northeast (2.3), Central West (2.1) and Southeast (2.0).

Men outnumbered women only in the population up to 19 years old. Women made up 51.3% of the total population of the country and in the group 60 years old or over, women were 56.0%. In 2004, white people represented 51.4% of the population in the country; dark-skinned ones, 42.1%. White people made up 61.2% of the population in the Southeast and 82.2% in the South. They were the majority in the North (71.4%), Northeast 963.6%) and Central West (51.2%).

Almost 40% of the population was not born in the cities they lived

As a result of migration, people not born in the cities where they lived made up 39.8% of the population, and those not born in the state of residence, 16.2%. The percentage of households with a single dweller ranged from 8.2% in the North region to 11.3 in the Southeast and Central West.

 

46.5% of workers contributed to social security funds

In 2004, the percentage of members of the employed population contributing to social security in any job was 46.5%. In the male population, this indicator was 47.2% and in the female, 45.6%. The activities which had the biggest number of contributors were public administration (84.5%), education, health and social services (83.0%), whereas the least number was found in agricultural activities (11%), domestic services (28.1%) and construction (29.0%).

Only 18% of workers were union members

PNAD 2004 showed that in the employed population there were 18% of union members. Among the workers, the union participation rate was 18.9% for men and 16.7% for women. This indicator showed that the participation in unions was higher in the group of other industrial activities (36.5%), being also relevant, education, health and social services (30.0%). On the other hand, the percentage of people belonging to unions was only 1.5% in the segment of domestic services and 7.2% in construction.

Considering the results of 2004, with the same geographic coverage of previous editions of PNAD, it was observed that the number of contributors to social security funds in any area has increased by 5.3% since 2003. The increment observed in employment , which concentrates most of the contributors to social security, influenced these results, higher than any others since the beginning of the 1990’s. The percentage of contributors in the employed population changed from 46.4% to 47.3%, from 2003 to 2004, and surpassed all others figures since 1992.

The number of employed persons belonging to unions increased by 5.1%, from 2003 to 2004, and the level of participation of the employed population changed from 17.7% to 18.0%, the highest result of this indicator since 1992.

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[1] Measure of the level of concentration of a certain distribution, whose value anges from zero (perfect equality) to one (perfect inequality).