This publication sistematizes the IBGE relevant social statistics and presents wide range of demographic information. The “Synthesis of Social Indicators: A Review of Living Conditions among the Brazilian Population – 2009” has as its main source of information the National Household Sample Survey - PNAD, for the year 2008. The objective of the publication is to support specific social policies and expand the access of civil society in official statistics. Here's a brief summary of the topics covered:
1 - Demographic Aspects
Life expectancy at birth increased from 69.7 years in 1998 to 72.7 years in 2008. However, this expectation is lower than in other countries with high human development (HDI), such as Venezuela (73.8 years), Mexico (76.1) and Argentina (75.2). In Brazil, the lowest rates of life expectancy occurring in Alagoas (67.2 years), Maranhão (68.0) and Pernambuco (68.7), while larger ones are found in the Federal District (75.6%) and Santa Catarina (75.5%). To increase this indicator and, consequently, improve the ranking of Brazil in the HDI, the country must improve policies to reduce child mortality.
2 - Education
In Brazil, according to the PNAD, there was an illiteracy rate of 10.0%, equivalent to 14.2 million people aged 15 years or older. Of these, 469 thousand attended literacy courses in 2008. The rate of functional illiteracy was 21.0% in Brazil, representing 29.8 million people.
3 - Households
In 2008, the number of private households in Brazil reached about 57.6 million. The average number of residents per household, which in 1998 was 3.8, dropped to 3.3 people in 2007 as a result of fertility decline and reduction in average size of families.
4 - Families
The average household income per capita in 2008 was R $ 720. However, half the 60.9 million families living with values under $ 415 (minimum wage in 2008). The family size has decreased, increasing the proportion of households without children and single households.
5 - Weddings
The overall legal marriage rate (proportion of marriages by the number of people with 15 or more years old, times a thousand) shows increased formalization of marriages in recent years. Comparing 1998, 2002 and 2007, there is reversal of the declining rate of legal marriage in the country, falling from 6.1 per thousand in 1998 to 5.7 per thousand in 2002, and then grow to 6.7 per thousand in 2007. Attributed to this high increase in the number of couples who sought to formalize unions, encouraged by the new Civil Code (2002) and offers of collective marriages.
6 - Children, adolescents and young people
In terms of population, the proportion of children and adolescents in the Brazilian population has been declining gradually due to the phenomena of falling fertility and increasing life expectancy. Although still high, poverty in Brazil declined in the last ten years in families with children aged 0 to 14 years (28.4 million), from 45.0% in 1998 to 37.7% in 2008, showing the effect of public policies for income transfer effect.
School attendance has risen in all age groups being at 18.1% for children aged 0 to 3 years, participation still low but rising for children 4 to 6 years (79.8%) and becomes nearly universal for the basic school age span, adolescents from 7 to 14 years of age. As for the quality of education, the illiteracy rate for 9 year old's has decreased but remains high (7.8% in Brazil and 15.8% in the Northeast, the latter was 33.3% in 1998).
7 - Elderly
From 1998 to 2008, the Brazilian population grew by 14.1% (average 1.3% per year), while the number of elderly (60 years or older) increased by 51.2% (4, 2% pa). With that the proportion of elderly increased from 8.8% of the total population to 11.1%. The growth was even greater for the segment of 80 or more years of age (3 million people in 2008), which grew 69.4% (5.4% pa), indicating that longevity is increasing and resulting increase in the number of retirees and pensioners. The elderly have little education, but high relative participation as reference person of the household or family.
8 - Color or Race
As for the distribution of color or race, in the period 1998 to 2008, there is significant change. A decline of people who declare themselves white and growth in the proportion of states that black and brown. This fact is linked to self-rating process that progressively takes on the shape of self-awareness to participation in public inclusive actions (the example of racial quotas for admission to universities). This perspective, 48.4% of the population declared white in 2008 (compared to 54.0% in 1998), 6.8% defined themselves as black (from 5.7% in 1998), 43.8% mixed race (they were 39, 5% in 1998) and Indigenous 0.0% (compared to 0.8% in 1998).
9 - Women's
Women's occupancy rate in employment rose from 42.0% in 1998 to 47.2% in 2008, an increase in all groups except for the slump in the occupation of girls aged 10 to 15 years (from 11.5% to 6.4%), the result of federal policies to reduce child labor ( Family Grant and Program for the Eradication of Child Labor - PETI). However, men still occupy a larger share of the market, with occupancy rate of 68.5% in 2008. Moreover, women are who occupies the more precarious positions in the hierarchy of occupations, which has the largest share as domestic workers, who perform more household tasks and, consequently, are the lowest income earners. This difference may diminish in time, given the large and rising education found among women relatively to men.
