Spotlight: Brazil.

Brazil is South America's largest country and home to nearly half of the continent's people. Despite solid economic growth, Brazil has one of the world's widest income disparities. In the early 1990s, nearly 40% of urban and 66% of rural Brazilians lived in poverty. The streets of Brazil's cities are home to a large population of street children. Although it is difficult to estimate, 10 million children and youths may be either homeless or making a meager living off of the streets. Street children may be linked to prostitution and drugs and be the targets or perpetrators of violence. Child labor is an issue in Brazil. Today an estimated 30% of rural children and 9% of urban children ages 10-13 work in the formal economy. In some rural areas, 60% of workers are ages 5-17. Child labor also contributes to Brazil's relatively low educational attainment levels. UNICEF estimates that around 1990 only 1/3 of all Brazilian children continued on to secondary school, compared to 74% and 47%, respectively, for the Latin America and Caribbean regions. Immunization rates among Brazil's children are rising but still lag slightly behind regional averages. The mortality rate for children under age 5 decreased dramatically from 181 deaths for every 1000 live births in 1960 to 61/1000 in 1994. During the same time period, the average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime dropped from 6.2 to 2.8. This fertility decline is related in part to increased access to and acceptance of family planning. Contraceptive prevalence, including traditional and modern methods, is around 66%, with female sterilization and the pill being the most popular methods. Brazil's abortion rates are high, despite laws limiting access to abortion services. One estimate suggests that about 30% of all pregnancies are terminated through abortion each year.