Six Million Brazilians Lifted Out Of Poverty In 2006

from the World Bank

“Six million Brazilians were lifted above the poverty line in 2006, said the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in a study released on Wednesday.

The number of Brazilian citizens living below the poverty line dropped by 15 percent in 2006 compared with 2005. The FGV stressed that it was the best result since the entity started carrying out the study in 1992. … This is the first time the population living in extreme poverty represented less than 20 percent of the country's population.

[FGV economist Marcelo] Neri also stressed that the incomes of the country's poorest 10 percent of citizens rose by 57.4 percent in the period, while those of the wealthiest 10 percent increased by 6.8 percent, which helped attenuate income distribution inequalities. …” [Xinhua (China)/Factiva]

EFE adds that “…Brazil is going through ‘an historic period’ in terms of poverty reduction, said Neri… who added that in 2006 the number of people living in extreme poverty in Brazil fell by 6 million.

He said that a large part of the advance in the fight against poverty has been due to government aid programs like the ‘Bolsa Familia,’ …and investment in education from previous governments that is now beginning to bear fruit.

He said that those programs have less electoral impact because they benefit children, but at the same time they help to improve the standard of living of families with much greater efficacy than increases in the minimum wage. …”