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 The rate of Brazilian youths enrolled in universities the last 10 years has doubled, from 6.9% to 13.9%, according to the Synthesis of Social Indicators, issued last week by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The survey shows that, in the 18 to 24 age bracket, attendance of youths to higher education institutions grew in all regions of the country from 1998 to 2008.
Even so, according to the IBGE, the Brazilian rate is low when compared to those of countries such as France, Spain and the United Kingdom, in which the rate is higher than 50%, as well as to those of some Latin American nations, such as Chile (52%).
The survey also indicates that among youths aged 18 to 24, the rate of those enrolled in primary school, which should be finished at around 14 years of age, dropped from 8.6%, in 1998, to 2.9%, in 2008.
The IBGE underscores that regional inequalities persist in access to education. "In the Northeast, which has the lowest rate, only 8.2% of youths aged 18 to 24 go to school, whereas in the South the percentage is more than twice as high: 19%," says the survey.
According to the institute, between 1998 and 2008, the rate of youths in the labor market has risen from 64.8% to 68.5%.
Another realization of the IBGE is that the income of young workers has grown from 1998 to 2008. In the group with 16 to 24 years of age, the percentage of those earning over one minimum wage increased from 38.1% to 49.1% during the period.
On the other hand, the rate of youths working long work hours, i.e. 45 hours or more, has gone from 38.9%, in 1998, to 28.8%, in 2008.
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