by Leandra Sebastien

Created on: September 02, 2009   Last Updated: September 03, 2009

The basic necessities that humans require to survive are food, shelter and clothing. However there are definitely other necessities that will prolong life and make living comfortable. Such things are not afforded to many of the poor people in Brazil who are not given equal access to health care, education, employment, land, water and sanitation facilities.

Poverty is commonly defined by U.S. researchers as - the state of living in a family with income below the federally defined poverty line.

What is interesting is that Brazil has the ninth largest economy in the world and the largest within Latin America. It is a country that is rich in natural resources and experiences rapid economic, nevertheless it suffers from major problems with poverty, hunger, disease and inadequate public services.

The best visual representation of poverty in Brazil is the favelas (slum housing) which can be found in the country's metropolitan areas and remote upcountry regions that suffer with economic underdevelopment and below-par standards of living. Over five hundred favelas or slum areas can be found within the city of Rio alone.

These overcrowded squatter selttlements can be seen built along the steep hillsides surrounding the city. Starting since the 1920's, there are now over one-third of Rio's urban population living in favelas. This is approximately two million people.

The poverty rate in Brazil is partly attributed to the country's economic inequality. Brazil ranks among the world's highest nations in what is known as the Gini coefficient, which is an index of inequality assessment. Wikipedia notes that a study on the subject in 2005, showed that the poor segment constitutes roughly about one-third of the population and the extremely poor make up 13% of the total population.

An article written by Sandra Williams in July 2007 (source: http://poverty.suite101.com/article.cfm/poverty_in_b razil) stated some interesting facts about the poverty in Brazil. These facts included:

a. Unemployed, self employed and informally employed have higher poverty rates. Of the self-employed in Brazil, only 20% actually have their own shops and the rest operate out of their homes, vehicles or other public spaces.

b. Poverty rates increase with the amount of dependents in the household.

c. 22.6% or 34.9 million Brazilians live below the poverty line.

d. Over half live in urban areas.

e. 52% do not have canalized water.

f. 68% have no garbage collection.

g. 78% do not have proper sewage connections

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