unfortunately, yes it is.
The level of poverty in Brazil is well above the norm for a middle-income country. Within Brazil, there are wide disparities in the extent of poverty. More than half of all poor Brazilians live in the Northeast. In spite of urbanization, rural and urban areas contribute equally to national poverty. Poverty disproportionately affects the young. The participation of children in the labor force in Brazil is at least twice as high as in any other country in Latin America. In the North and Northeast regions, about a quarter of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition. Poverty alleviation programs should focus more on children than they do now.
Poor rural households are concentrated in the Northeast. The household head is illiterate (frequently even if he attended school) and works in agriculture. About half are smallholders or sharecroppers. The rest are employees or temporary workers. Poor households are large--they have nearly twice as many children as the better-off. Access to utilities is rare.
Poor urban households are evenly dispersed between large cities and small towns; 40 percent live in the Northeast. They have more young children than wealthier households and spouses are not likely to participate in the labor market. The household head tends to be young, does not have a labor card, and most commonly works in services. Many are self-employed. A quarter of these household heads are illiterate; about half attended school for four years or less. These households have significantly less access to water and sanitation services than do better-off urban households.
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