Children in Brazil

Education

Due to the large number of impoverished children on the streets, Brazilian children have very little contact if any with school and education (Dimenstein, 1991). Illiteracy is a growing problem amongst Brazilian children (Jubilee, 1998). Statistics show that 76% of the children do not attend school which leads to the cause of one million illiterate children between the ages of fifteen to nineteen in Brazil. Children who can read and write have a better chance of succeeding and getting off the streets.

The first solution to end child labor and to get Brazilian children off the streets is education (Diderich, 1999; Jubilee, 1998). The International Labor Office says that 16.1% of children ten to fourteen years old are working (Jubilee, 1998). This percentage represents that 3.5 million children are working when they should be in school. However, children are on the streets because they are forced to work and help provide for their families.

Illiteracy is not only a problem for children in Brazil but for many adults as well. This makes it difficult to teach children to read without the help of the government (Lam & Daryea, 1999). To combat this problem, President Cordoso began a program to get children back in school. For each child a parent sends back to school, the government will give the family twenty-five reals (twenty-two dollars and thirty cents) a month. This will hopefully eliminate the large number of children working on the streets. It will also give children the opportunity to find a better future.

References

Diderich, Joelle (1999). Brazil Expands Program to End Child Labor. http://pangaea.org/street_children/latin/brazilabor.htm (1999, November 2).

Dimenstein, G. (1991). Brazilian War on Children, 1991. London: Latin American Bureau.

Jubilee Campaign (1998, October 2). Brazilian Street Children Briefing Paper. http://www.jubileecampaig.demon.co.uk/children/bra9.htm (1999, November 5).

Lam, D. & Daryea, S. (1999). The Effects of Schooling on Fertility, Labor Supply, and Investments in Children with Evidence from Brazil. The Journal of Human Resources, 34 (1) 160-192.

This page was created by Lindsay Bodack, Stephanie Hunter, Tom Kaufman, Caitlin Kelly as a collaborative project at Tulane University in the Children and Society class tought by Professor April Brayfield. The purpose of these pages is to educate the public on the plight of poverty stricken children in Brazil. To view other student web pages please visit the Children Around the World website.

updated December 15, 1999.