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Increase of feminine scholarship reduces fertility and infant mortality

April 12, 2006 10h00 AM | Last Updated: March 19, 2018 05h25 PM

The Summary of Social Indicators elaborated by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), showed that the increase in the feminine scholarship reduced the fertility and the infant mortality, although in the labor market, it pronounced the inequality among men and women. In 2004,  women with up to 4 years of study earned, by hour, on the average, 80.8% of the earning of men with this type of scholarship, while those with 12 years or more of study earned 61.6% of the earning by hour of men.  Inside home, the situation of women was not different since they worked 4.4 hours more per day in household activities.

The Summary of Social Indicators has as database the PNAD 2004 (National Household Sample Survey), where  special analysis regarding ten subjects are developed: demographic aspects; education; labor and income; housing units; family; marriages, separations and divorces; children, teenagers and youngsters; elders; color and women for all the states and metropolitan areas of Brazil.  Following are presented the main highlights of this survey.

The increase in the feminine scholarship has a strong relation with the reductions of fertility and infant mortality rates.

In 2004, the number of children which compared the fertility of the less instructed women of the North and Northeast Regions with the ones that had high scholarship of the Southeast and South was more than 3 children.  Even considering the same region, women with up to 3 years of study had, on the average, more than the twice as much of children of women with 8 years or more of study.

The probability of a women with 8 years or more of study, with two children, to have a third one was slightly more than 50%, while the same probability associated to a women with up to 3 years of study was 90%.

A similar result was observed regarding infant mortality.  In 2004, the mortality rate among children with up to 1 year old of age whose mothers had 8 years old or more of study was 14‰ (14 per 1,000 live births) in the Southeast and South Regions. Considering children born in the Northeast, from mothers with up to 3 years of study, the rate reached 53.5‰.

In  Brazil, in 1991, women with 8 years or more of study equaled to 35.1% of the total of women in the age group from 15 to 49 years old (reproductive age).  In 2004, this percentage reached 58.5%, while, on the other hand,  women with up to 3 years of study totaled 14.7% .

North Region has major proportion of young mothers

In 2004, 63.4% of the 50.5 million Brazilian women in reproductive age had children, a proportion which ranged from 69.2% in the North to 61.8% in the Southeast Region, reaching its lowest level in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte (58.4%) and the highest level in Acre (71.6%).

Among the teenage girls from 15 to 17 years old, 6.8% had at least one child, and 11% had already two children.  In the youth population, from 18 to 24 years old, the proportion of women with children increased to 36.5%, although in the North Region it reached 52.2%.

Although the number of children per women is falling in the country, about 37% among them had three children or more in 2004, and in the North and Northeast these proportions reached 47.0% and 43.6% respectively. Among the poorest women (with household income up to ½ minimum salary per capita), almost half (49.1%) of the mothers had three or more children; while among those with household income above two minimum salaries per capita, this proportion fell to 21.6%.

 

 

Women are head of almost 30% of the Brazilian families

In Brazil, in 2004, women were the head of 29.4% of the 56.1 million families. The major proportion was located in the group of 60 years old or more (27.4%), while among men as head of families, 35.3% had between 25 and 39 years old.  Rio de Janeiro had the major percentage of families with women as head with 60 years old or more (33.9%).

Among the families with men as head, 25.1% lived with a household income up to ½ minimum salary per capita, while in families with women as head this proportion was 29.6%. There were, nevertheless, regional particularities. In the North and Northeast, more than 40% of the families with women as head lived with up to ½ minimum salary per capita; while in the South Region this proportion fell to 17.4%.

The families with men as head were generally different than those with women as head. When the head of family was a man, the more frequent family structure was that of a couple with all the children with less than 14 years old (33.6%). This family structure was followed by a structure with a couple with all the children with 14 years old or more (21.4%).  Regarding the families with women as head, the predominant structures were of mothers with all the children with 14 years old or over (31.4%), other types of families (25.6%) and mothers with all the children with less than 14 years old (23.2%).  This means that the families with women as head occurred in a household scenario without the presence of the consort or in family compositions that are eventually formed, as for example, by two sisters living together or by the same person living alone, among others.

The North Region had the highest percentage of families with women as head, without a consort and with all the children with less than 14 years old (30.4%). The state of Acre had the major proportion of families in this situation (34.7%).

In 2004, 27.0% of the women informed that they were the reference person of the Brazilian families and, among those, 14.8% lived with the consort, a significant percentage, which may be showing a new pattern of shared responsibility.

The Northeast Region was the one which had the major number of families with women as head, 29.3%. The state of Pernambuco stood out with 31.6%. This rate increased considerably in the metropolitan areas. Salvador had a percentage higher than the average: 41.8% of the families had women as head, and 20.2% among them lived with the consort. The South stood out since it had the lowest percentage of families with women as head however the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre had 31.7% of the families in this situation.  It can also be mentioned the case of Roraima, where 33.9% of the families were headed by women with consorts.

Only 3.9% of employed women are in management functions

In 2004, only 3.9% of the employed women were in management functions, while for men the proportion was 5.5%.  The major proportion of women in management functions was in the Federal District (8.0%), a result of the high feminine participation in the federal public service, where the access to management functions occurs in a more equal situation than in the private sector.

On the other hand, in the occupations related to science and arts (8.6% compared to 4.2%), secondary level instruction (7.8% compared to 6.5%), administrative services (11.4% compared to 5.8%), services (31.3% compared to 11.6%) and sellers (11.6% compared to 8.4%), the feminine participation was considerably higher.

In 2004, the employed women had average years of study above the ones of the employed men in the urban areas (8.6 compared to 7.6 years) as in the rural areas (4.3 compared to 3.8 years). The major feminine scholarship was partly, a consequence of a late entrance in the labor market. While 31.5% of men from 10 to 19 years old were employed, the proportion was 18.3% for women in this age group. The difference was maintained in the group from 30 to 39 years old, in which are observed the major indexes of employment: 91.1% for men and 65.7% for women.

In the labor market, the distribution of the population with higher education (12 years or more of study) was also distinguished. While men were in groups of activities more diversified, women were concentrated in the groups of education, health and social services (46.1%).  The data show that in the labor market is observed also the division of occupations in which women develop activities related to taking care of family, elders, ill persons, children, etc.

Among the working women, the household and non-remunerated job (26.2%) had a higher percentage than the employment with a formal contract (25.7%).  The major proportion of women in the category of military and statutory servants (8.8% compared to 5.0% for men) was related to the fact that the access to a public employment occurs generally by contest, hence, in a more fair way. The Northeast and North Regions had the major percentages of non-remunerated women (15.4% and 13.9% of the working feminine population, respectively).  The Central West had the major percentage in the category of household feminine employment (21.7%), standing out in this category the state of Goiás (23.5%).

Women worked 4.4 hours more per day in household activities

In Brazil, household activities are predominantly a feminine activity.  In 2004, 68.3% of the population with 10 years old and over, or 102.3 million persons performed household activities.  Among this universe, 32.2% were men and 67.8%, women. The region with the major proportion of women developing household occupations was the Northeast (70.6%). In Alagoas this number was even higher (78.6%).

On the other hand, among the employed persons, although women still were the main responsible for the household activities, the masculine participation increased: among the 55.1 million employed persons that had household occupations, 41.4% were men and 58.6% were women.  However, among the employed men, 46.3% developed household occupations, while among the employed women this proportion was almost twice as much (91.3%), indicating a double working shift.

The average weekly number of hours spent by women in household occupations (22.1 hours) was more than twice as much as the one observed by men (9.9). Considering, for example, for the employed population, 8 daily hours of work in a period of 5 days, it would be possible to affirm that the employed women worked on the average more 4.4 daily hours in household occupations, besides the usually hours worked, compared to 2.0 additional hours spent by men in these occupations.  The overall average number of weekly hours spent by the population in household activities was 20.7 hours, while for the employed population this figure was 17.0 hours.

In the Northeast, women spent more hours in household occupations (27.3 hours for the total and 24.6 hours for the employed population) standing out the state of Maranhão were the employed women spent 27.8 hours in household occupations. The shorter period of time was spent by the feminine workers of the Federal District (17.3 hours).

 

Unemployment is higher among those that have between 9 and 11 years of study

The analysis of the unemployment rate by groups of years of study showed that unemployment in 2004 reached especially persons with scholarship between 9 and 11 years of study (12.4) in comparison with those of lower scholarship with up to 4 years of study (5.5). Regarding women with higher education, the rate of unemployment was above the one of men: 6.2 compared to 4.5.

In a general way, in the Brazilian Regions, the unemployment rate of 2004 maintained the level of 2003 (for example the Northeast), and the major decrease was recorded in Espírito Santo (-1.8 percentage point).

The masculine unemployment rate was 6.8%, while the feminine was 11.7%.  The Southeast Region had the major level of unemployment (10.5%), masculine as well as feminine, but it was in the North Region where the difference between the two rates was higher (4.4% for men and 11.0% for women).

The changing from the lowest level of scholarship (up to 4 years of study) to the following category (from 5 to 8 years of study) represented an increment of around 29% in the average income per hour.  Regarding the next category, the secondary level (9 to 11 years of study), the increment compared to the previous category was 45%. Finally, a person which had a higher level (12 years or more of study) increased its income by 189% in relation to the one of secondary level. The employed population with up to 4 years of study earned on the average R$ 2.40 by hour worked, while persons with 12 years or more of study, received a value almost five times greater: R$ 13.00.

The labor market that less paid per hour, for those with a lower level of instruction, was in Piauí (R$ 1.20), Maranhão (R$ 1.30) and Ceará (R$ 1.40).  The best remunerations for higher level workers (12 years or more of study) were in Federal District (R$ 21.30), Rio de Janeiro (R$ 16.00) and Espírito Santo (R$ 14.20).

However, although the scholarship increased the average income, it also stressed the inequality between men and women in the labor market.  Women up to 4 years of study earned per hour, on the average, 80.8% of the income of men with this level of scholarship. Women, with 12 years or more of study earned 61.6% of the income of men per hour.  This situation was more pronounced in the Northeast Region, which had the lowest inequality by sex among the less schooled (81.3%) and the highest among the more schooled (57.7%).  Among the metropolitan areas, the one that had the major inequality between men and women with higher level instruction was Salvador (45.9%).

Difference in the income of men and women is higher among the 10% richest

In Brazil, in 2004, the average income of the 10% richest in the employed population was 16.2 times the average income of the 40% poorest.  Regarding the employed men this relation was 16.5 times and regarding the employed women, 14.3 times. Among the 40% poorest, the average income of women represented 76% of the income of men, while among the 10% richest this relation fell to 65.9%.

The major remuneration received in 2004 was observed in the category of employers (R$ 2,366.30), followed by military and statutory servants (R$ 1,300.10) and employees with a formal contract (R$ 784.60); while the lowest incomes were those of household workers (R$ 355.20), employers without a formal contract (R$ 435.70) and self-employed workers (R$ 598.50). In all the categories, men earned more than women. The average income of women was closer to the income of men only for employees without a formal contract (93.9% of the masculine salary), while the distance was larger among the self-employed workers (64.6%).

The regional inequality also stood out.  The lowest average remuneration was observed, generally, in the Northeast (R$ 492.50) and North (R$ 667.10). The value of the Northeast represented approximately 53% of the average income of the Southeast, and the difference was higher among the self-employed workers (39%). The lowest difference among the two regions was among the household workers (77%).  The major average income of formal contract workers was observed in the Federal District (R$ 1172.30) and in São Paulo (R$ 945.70), and the lowest, in Alagoas (R$ 475.80) and Piauí (R$ 495.50). 

Southeast and South have the best remunerated jobs and North and Northeast the worst

In 2004, the major proportions of employed population with a formal contract and employers, considering the labor jobs with best remuneration, were located in the Southeast (39.4% and 4.5%) and South Regions (35.1% and 5.2%).  Regarding the employees without a formal contract and the self-employed workers, which summed 40.2% of the employed population, they were more concentrated in the North (13.6% and 18.4%) and Northeast (14.4% and 20.3%).  These two regions also had the major percentages of non-remunerated workers (12.6% in the Northeast and 11% in the North). The category of military and statutory servants had the major relative participation in the North (11.1%) and Central West (12.4%).

Among the states, Tocantins (25.3%) and Roraima (24.3%) had the major percentages of employees without a formal contract, while São Paulo (45%) had the major proportion of employees with a formal contract.

Generally, the distribution of employed population by classes of workers occurred in the following way: 30.4% were employees with a formal contract, 22% were self-employed workers; 18.3% were employees without a formal contract; 7.7% were household workers; 7% were non-remunerated workers; 6.6% were military and statutory; and 4.1% were employers.  

Participation of youngsters in the labor market is the one that more increases

Young people in the age group from 18 to 24 years old were the one that most increased their participation in the labor market in relation to 2003 (1.2 percentage point).  In the Central West, this change reached 2.4 percentage points, but it was in Sergipe that the major change was observed (8.6 percentage points).  The activity rate among the young people reached the highest level in the South Region (79.8%), especially Santa Catarina (82.3%).

The differences by gender, considering the different age groups in the labor market, were smaller for the age group between 10 and 14 years old (7.2 percentage points) and greater among the population from 60 to 64 years old (34.0 percentage points).  In the population from 10 to 14 years old, the activity rate of boys (14.7%) was almost twice as much as the one of girls (7.4%), while in the next age group (15 to 17 years old) the percentages were 48.5% for boys and 31.9% for girls.

This delayed entrance of girls in to the labor market allows them, as it has been already mentioned, to obtain a better scholarship. On the other hand, in the case of boys, the high activity rate influences in indictors such as school lagging and school dropping.

As scholarship increases, the gap in relation to the masculine and feminine activity rates falls. Among those who have higher level, complete or incomplete, the rate for men was 86.8% and women 79%.  In the Northeast, it could be observed the lowest change among the masculine and feminine rates (5.6 percentage points), standing out Piauí in which the activity rate of women with this level of scholarship was even higher than the one of men (82.8% compared to 81.3%).

34.1% of teenagers of 16 and 17 years old work

While among the younger teenagers the exclusive study activity still was the most important in 2004, in the case of teenagers of 16 and 17 years old, age group in which work is allowed by law, a significant number (34.1%) was already working.

In the age group from 10 to 15 years old, 14.2% were economically active, a percentage that reached 46.0% among those with 16 and 17 years old.  The majority of workers from 5 to 17 years old worked in a non-agricultural activity (55.97%), with the exception of the Northeast, where children, teenagers and youngsters were working mainly in agriculture (59.3%).

Among the young working people from 16 to 24 years old, 37.7% earned monthly up to one minimum salary.  In the states of the Northeast, this percentage was higher than 50%, while in more formal markets, such as in São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, only 20% earned such a low remuneration.

Among the 5.3 million children and teenagers from 5 to 17 years old working in 2004, 4.8% had between 5 and 9 years old and 47.6% between 10 and 15 years old.  From this total of 2.9 million working children, 2 million (68.96%) lived in the Northeast. Only in Bahia, they were 557.8 thousand working children (the equivalent to the population of the state of Amapá), among which 6.2% had only between 5 and 9 years old, showing an extremely precocious entrance in the labor market.  

In 2050, Brazilian population will reach 259.8 million

In 2004, 65.4% of Brazilians (117 million) lived in the Southeast, South and Central West Regions. The Southeast concentrated 77 million, and the metropolitan area of São Paulo, with 19.2 million inhabitants (10.5% of the total of the Country), had more people, in absolute terms, than all the other 26 states (excluding São Paulo).  The data confirm the concentration of the Brazilian population in the areas of greater social and economic development.

According to the Brazilian Population Prospects - Revision 2004, the country will have, in 2050, a population of 259.8 million inhabitants, which represents an absolute growth of more than 77.7 million persons and a relative increment of 42.7% in the following forty-five years.

Nevertheless, the relative growth of the Brazilian population is having a deceleration since the seventies mainly due to the significant decreases in fertility and birth rate. Between 1991 and 2004, the crude birth rate, which measures the number of live births per thousand inhabitants in a specific year, changed from 23.4‰ to 20.6‰. In this same period, the total fertility rate (average number of children a woman will have in the end of her fertile period) fell from 2.7 to 2.3 children.

The diminishment of fertility and birth rates can also be observed through the analysis of age composition of the Brazilian population.  In 1991, the percentage of children and teenagers from 0 to 14 years old in the total population was 34.7%, while in 2004 this participation fell to 27.1%. This trend was maintained in the population estimates, with an estimate of 17.8% for the group of children and teenagers in 2050.

Another point that is worth relating is the considerable increment in the population of 70 years old and over. In 2004, the PNAD indicated a total of 7.7 million persons in this age group (4.3% of the total population), while the population estimate indicates a total of 34.3 million elders in 2050 (13.2%).  In relation to the population of 65 years old or more, in 1991 this total amounted to 4.8% of the total population and in 2004 it reached 6.7%.

The indicator dependence ratio, which calculated the proportion of potentially inactive persons (children from 0 to 14 years old and elders from 65 years old and over) and the potentially active persons (with ages from 15 to 64 years old) or available for economic activities, changed from 65.4 children and elders for each 100 persons in active age, in 1991, to 51.0% in 2004. This reduction, besides showing the decreases in the rates of fertility and birth, indicated also a major relative participation of the potentially involved population in productive activities. In the analysis by regions, the South indicated the lowest dependence ratio (46.7 children and elders for each 100 persons with age between 15 and 64 years old), while the North and Northeast Regions had indicators above the national average: 62.3% and 57.3% respectively.

From 1991 to 2004, Brazilians have 4 more years of life

In 2004, the average life expectancy in Brazil was 71.7 years old.  This was the 82nd position in the ranking of 192 countries analyzed by the United Nations.  The average life expectancy at birth, between 1991 and 2004, had an increment of 4.0 years, with women in a more favorable situation than men (70.9 compared to 75.5 years, regarding women, and 63.2 compared to 67.9 years regarding men). Besides this, the crude mortality rate, which represents the frequency of deaths in a population, fell from 6.8‰, in 1991, to 6.3‰, in 2004.  The total fertility rate continued falling.

Between 1991 and 2004, the infant mortality rate also continued its falling trend, changing from 45.1‰ to 26.6‰, corresponding to a falling proportion of 41.0%.  The infant mortality rate, in this level, situates Brazil in the 99th position in the ranking of the countries or areas with the lowest estimated rates by the United Nations, behind Cuba, Chile, Porto Rico, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, México, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, among others. In 2004, the lowest infant mortality rate was registered in Rio Grande do Sul (14.7‰), and the highest was observed in Alagoas (55.7‰).

Masculine mortality by external causes registers a slight fall in 2004

In Brazil, mortality due to external causes, mainly associated to violence, among the young masculine population from 20 to 24 years old was almost 4.1 times above the feminine one, in 2004.  In Amapá, in São Paulo, and in the Federal District and in Rio de Janeiro, men had a probability 5 times greater than women of dying between 20 and 24 years old.  The masculine overmortality, which is the ratio of the mortality rate by age among men and women, generally has its maximum value in the group 20 to 24 years old.

While for women in this age group, deaths due to external causes continued practically with no change in the period 1980-2004, with a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 22 deaths for each one hundred thousand inhabitants, in the masculine sex the rate increased up to 2003, being 121, in 1980, and reaching 184 deaths for each 100 thousand inhabitants. In 2004, there was a small reduction in the masculine rate due to external causes, which returned to the level observed in 1995, although it reached almost 10 times more than the feminine correspondent.

The difference among the life expectancies due to gender continued indicating a greater number of women in relation to men.  In 1991, there were in the country 97.5 men for each group of 100 women.  The ratio of gender fell to 95.0% in 2004.

Brazilian population gets older: for each 100 youngsters there are 25 elders

The Population Prospects of the United Nations for 2005 (1) indicate that Brazil belongs to the group of 10 countries with major population from 60 years old or more in absolute numbers. All of them together represent 62.9% of the elder world population (2).

The number of Brazilian older than 60 years old (3) was 17.6 million, representing 9.7% of the population in 2004.  The index of aging (4) changed from 0.11 in the beginning of the decade of 1980 to 0.25 in 2004, which means that for each 100 young people, there were 25 old people.  This value shows that the Brazilian society is getting older, but still is considered young. The population is only considered aged when this index is higher than 1. In an international comparison, it could be observed that the three major indexes are the ones of Italy, Japan and Germany, with 1.42; 1.41; and 1.31 respectively.

The distribution by sex in the total of elders in Brazil follows the world trend presenting a higher number of women: for each 100 old women, there were 78.6 old men. The great regions had a similar performance. In the Southeast this difference was more pronounced, especially in the last age group (older than 80 years old), where there were only 56.4 men for each 100 women, indicating a higher masculine mortality.

The proportion of elders which lived alone represented, in 2004, 13% of the family arrangements. Among the women with 70 years old and over, 19.6% lived alone, while among men this percentage reached only 11.7%. The social security (retired and/or pensioners) covered 77.4% of the population of 60 years old or more (13.7 million persons).  Regarding elders of 70 years old or more, this proportion was above 90%.

 

In relation to the distribution by gender, 78.6 % of men were retired while among women this proportion did not reach 55%, due to the lower feminine participation in the formal contract labor market, in the past. One third of the elders still were active in the labor market, being this situation more frequent among men (43.9% compared to 18.8% among women).

 

 

In the analysis by distribution of families by classes of household monthly income per capita, it could be observed, for the total of the country, in 2004 that 23.6% lived only with up to 1/2 minimum salary, a situation considered vulnerable.  On the other hand, only 6.4% of the families lived with an income per capita of more than 5 minimum salaries (approximately R$1,300 reais in 2004).  In the Northeast, the proportion of families with up to 1/2 minimum salary per capita reached almost 44%, considerably different than the proportion found in the Southeast (14.6%) and showing the historical inequalities found among these two regions.

The inequalities in the household income are more evident when the average income of those that belong to the 40% poorest in relation to the income of the 10% richest. These incomes were respectively, 1/2 minimum salary and 9.2 minimum salary per capita, which means that the 10% richest had an income almost 19.3 times higher.  In the Northeast, this relation was even greater, reaching 21.1 times.

Proportion of marriages among single persons fell

In 2004, 806.968 marriages were made in Brazil, 7.7% more than in 2003. This growth has been occurring since 2001 and results, partly, of collective marriages, as a consequence of partnerships between town halls, register offices and churches, with the objective of legalizing consensual unions.

In 86.4% of the marriages of 2004, both consorts were single, a percentage slightly lower than in 2003 (86.9%). Comparing with the data of 1994, when the proportion of marriages between singles was 91.7%, it could be observed a reduction of 5.8%.  The analysis of results by civil status of consorts shows the increasing trend of legal unions of single with divorced persons.

In 2004, for the country as a whole, the average age of the first marriage was for men, 28.1 years old and for women, 25.2 years old. When the calculation was made considering all the marriages, the average age among women was 27.0 years old and men, 30.4 years old.  It was also observed for the total of judicial separations, that the average duration of marriages in the country was 11.5 years.  The highlight came from Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, with longer legal unions, 13 and 12.7 years respectively. On the other hand, in Amazonas (8.8 years) and in Acre (9.8 years), the marriages lasted less.

More than ¼ of the rural population is illiterate

Brazil still had, in 2004, a proportion of 11.4% of the population of 15 years old or more which declared that did not know how to read or write a short letter, a illiteracy rate similar to countries as Jordan (10.1%), Peru (12.3%) and Bolivia (13.5%) and higher than that of developing countries such as Mexico (9.7%), China (9.1%), Chile (4.3%), Argentina (2.8%) and Cuba (0.2%). The situation was worse in the rural areas, where 25.8% of the population informed that they were illiterate, while in the urban areas the rate was 8.7%.

The more elevated rates of illiteracy were found in the Northeast, changing from 19.4% in Sergipe to 29.5% in Alagoas. Federal District (4.2%), Santa Catarina (4.8%) and Rio de Janeiro (4.8%) were the only states with rates lower than 5%.

In relation to functional illiterates(5), the scenario was even more serious: almost ¼ of the Brazilian population was in this condition.  In the North ands Northeast Regions, the percentages reached 29.1% and 37.6% respectively. Also, stand out the results of Alagoas (45.5%) and Piauí (42.4%).

Only 13% of the children are in nursery school, and only 44% of teenagers are in secondary school

The crude school frequency rate for the age group from 7 to 14 years old has been showing for some years a trend of complete coverage with 97% of the children attending school. This occurs mainly due to the legal obligation of providing elementary instruction in the public municipal sphere. On the other hand, in the instruction levels in which there is not this obligation, there are significant attendance differences.

For example, among the total of children from 0 to 3 years old in the country, slightly more than 13% attended nursery school.  The school frequency is higher for the group from 4 to 6 years old (70.5%), mainly in the Northeast (75.7%), although reflecting in a high degree the precocious entrance of this group in the 1st grade of the elementary instruction. This occurred due to the absence of preschool institutions and due to the searching by the municipalities of a major participation in the Fundef (Department of the Development of Financing Policies of Basic Education).  The rate of school frequency for teenagers from 15 to 17 years old was 82% in 2004.

Another important point to consider for the group from 15 to 17 years old is school lagging. Only 44% of the teenagers in this age group attended the secondary instruction (where they should be) in 2004, a percentage which fell to 22% in the rural areas.

The regional analysis showed differences still more significant in this indicator, which was 28% on the average in the North and Northeast compared to 58% in the Southeast.  Among the states, São Paulo had the highest rate for this age group (66.5%); on the other extreme was Alagoas, where only 1/5 of the population from 15 to 17 years old attended the secondary instruction.

Family income is primordial to entrance in nursery and preschool

The frequency rate of children shows that the family income is determinant for the access to preschool or nursery school. Only 9.0% of children from 0 to 3 years old whose family income per capita was up to 1/2 minimum salary attended an education institution.  In the analysis by regions, the percentage was 4.5% in the North and Central West, and 11% in the Southeast and South. In the families with higher income (more than 3 minimum salaries per capita), the rate was approximately  40%, showing that, independently of the region, when the socioeconomic family situation is better, the access to school is considerably higher.

Although in the group from 7 to 14 years old the family income does not influence the school frequency, regarding the teenagers from 15 to 17 years old, the variable is important. Among the teenagers belonging to the 20% poorer, 72.1% were in school, while among the 20% richest, this percentage reached 93.1%. The overall frequency rate of teenagers was 82%.

In the North, Acre and Roraima indicated percentages of teenagers considerably below the regional average (55% and 51% respectively). In the Northeast, Rio Grande do Norte (58.5%), Maranhão (61.6%) and Alagoas (62.1%) were also below the average. In the Southeast, only Espírito Santo had an index below the regional average, and in the South, only Paraná.

School lagging increases as students advance in elementary instruction

In 2004, school lagging in elementary instruction (1st to 8th grade) worsened as increased the school period.  Students considered in lagging conditions were children from 9 years old or more of age attending 1st grade; with 10 years old and more attending 2nd grade; with 11 years old and more attending 3rd grade; and so on.  In 1st grade, school lagging reached almost 17% of students; while in 8th grade, 38% of students had 16 years old or more, being that in the North and Northeast this percentage reached more than half of the students.

Through a simulation of school attendance, assuming constant the rates of promotion, repetition and dropping, the expectation of students concluding the 4th grade of elementary instruction was approximately 88%, while in the 8th grade it was only 54%.

Considering that the elementary instruction is divided in 8 grades (with two segments of 4 grades), in Brazil the student took on the average 5 years to conclude the first segment and 9.9 years to conclude the whole elementary instruction, almost two more years than the expected period.  In Bahia, the average period of conclusion of the 4th and the 8th grades was 6.3 and 11.7 years, respectively.

From the total of students from 18 to 24 years old, only approximately 1/3 studied in   higher education institutions in 2004 and more than half was behind: 38.8% in secondary instruction and 15.7% in elementary instruction. In the Southeast, the proportion of young people in higher education was higher (43.7%), while in the Northeast the delayed students were more than 70%.

On the average, Brazilian does not conclude elementary instruction, and elders are functional illiterates

The population of 15 years old and over had on the average 6.8 years of study in 2004.  The lowest averages were in the Northeast Region, changing from 6.1 years in Sergipe to 4.7 years in Alagoas, while the Federal District was the only state where the population had an average scholarship above the one of elementary instruction (8.8 years). The average studying years in the rural areas were considerably lower than that of the urban areas, with a difference of approximately 3 years in all the regions.

Only with 18 years old the Brazilian population had covered, on the average, the minimum school attendance of 8 years, considered obligatory by law.  On the other hand, due to the average of 3.5 years of study, elders could be considered functional illiterates. On the average, 30% of the adult population (25 years old or more) were functional illiterates, more than 40% had not concluded the elementary instruction, 9% had concluded the elementary instruction, 18% had concluded the secondary instruction and only 8% had completed the higher education.

There was a trend of growth of the average years of study as increased the family income. Hence, for those who were among the 1/5 poorer in 2004, the average was 3.9 years of study, and regarding the 1/5 richer, this value was 10.4 years.

Metropolitan area of Salvador had major proportion of black population

The distribution of population according to color maintained the pattern observed in the last years: 51% informed they were white; 42% dark skin; 6% black; and approximately 1% yellow or Indian. The major percentage of white color persons was found in the South Region (83%).  The North, Northeast and Central West Regions had a major participation of dark skin persons (71%, 64% and 51% respectively). The Southeast had the major proportion of persons that informed they were black persons (7%) - although Bahia was the state with the most significant participation of population with this color (13.1%), especially the metropolitan area of Salvador (24%).

Inequalities among whites, blacks and dark skins continue

The Brazilian black and dark skin population continued to have, in 2004, unfavorable indicators in relation to those observed for the white population.

The illiteracy rate of the black and dark skin population was, in 2004, more than twice as much as the one observed for the white population (16% compared to 7%). The highest difference was registered in Alagoas (22% for whites, 34% for dark skins and 41% for blacks). Regarding functional illiteracy, the scenario of inequalities was similar: in the country, 18% of the white population had less than four completed years of study, a percentage that was higher than 30% for the population of blacks and dark skins.

If the school frequency was not considerably unequal among the children from 7 to 14 years old, in the age groups from 15 to 17 years old and from 20 to 24 years old, the difference among whites and blacks and dark skins reached approximately six percentage points.

On the same way, in relation to the suitability grade-age, considering the youngsters from 18 to 24 years old, it could be observed that 11% of whites and 27% of blacks and dark skins still attended the elementary instruction, while 35% of the whites and 51% of the blacks and dark skins were still in secondary instruction. In this same age group, 47% of the students of white color were on higher education, a proportion almost three times higher than that of students with black and dark skin color.

Regarding the average years of study of the persons of 10 years old and over, it was 7.7 years for whites and approximately 6 years for blacks and dark skin.

The distinguished scholarship between whites and blacks and dark skin appears in the labor market.  Employed persons of white color had, in 2004, on the average, 8.4 years of study and earned monthly 3.8 minimum salaries. On the other hand, the black and dark skin color employed population had 6.2 years of study and 2 minimum salaries of income.  The difference in the scholarship is not enough, although, to explain the inequality in the income: although the average years of study of blacks and dark skins was 74% than that of whites, the average monthly earning of the black and dark skin employed population represented only 53% of the income of whites.

Even with persons with equivalent scholarship, it could be observed a significant difference in all the groups of years of study, with the employed population of white color earning systematically more than blacks and dark skins.  The major difference was found in the group of higher scholarship: among those with at least the secondary instruction concluded (12 years or more of study), whites earned on the average R$ 9.1 per hour, while blacks and dark skins R$ 5.5.

The level of fertility of white women of the Southeast and South Regions was below the level of replacement (1.8 and 1.7 children per women respectively), while for black and dark skin women of the North it was estimated in 3.0 children per women.

In the Northeast, the rate of infant mortality whose mothers were black and dark skin (46.5‰) was more than twice the rates referent to the Southeast (20.2‰) and South (22.8‰). The respective mortality rates of white mothers were 34‰, 17.0‰ and 16.4‰.

60.3% of the urban households have access to public sanitation services

In Brazil, 60.3% of the urban households had the set of public sanitation services (6) in 2004.  The Southeast stood out with 82.8% of the urban households attended, having the other regions considerably lower percentages: North (9.1%), Central West (34.4%), Northeast (34.9%) and South (57.7%). In the metropolitan areas located in the North and Northeast, the negative results came from Belém (20.1%) and Recife (36.0%), although all had percentages considerably below those located in the Southeast and South. The major percentages of urban households attended by the set of sanitation services were registered in the metropolitan areas of São Paulo (84.6%) and Belo Horizonte (82.7%).

*The complete tables with regional information, about the Social Indicators 2005 can be found on the site of IBGE (www.ibge.gov.br)

 

1) Source: World Population Prospects, 2004

(2) The international comparison was made for people above 60 years old, however it is worth mentioning that in developing countries only persons above 65 years old are considered elders.

(3) The Elder Statute of Brazil of 2003 considers elders those above 60 years old following recommendation of the United Nations for developing countries.

(4) Aging index is the ratio between persons of 65 years old and over and persons below 15 years old.

(5) Persons with 15 years old and over and less than 4 completed years of study, which means, literate persons, although not sufficiently habituated with the bases of lecture, writing and elementary mathematic operations.

(6) Those with simultaneous access to the sanitary public services, public water supply system with internal drain, connected to the sewage disposal and/ or water system, and with refuse disposal directly in households.