White women form the majority of female heads of households in Brazil. This finding is contained in the National System of Gender Information, released today, May 22, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
According to the study, the percentage of households headed by white women rose 1.5 percentage points, from 53.6% to 55.1%, between 1991 and 2000, while the percentage of households headed by black and mulatto women dropped nearly 2 percentage points, from 45.5% to 43.4%.
The IBGE study, which cross-tabulated information from the 2000 Census, demonstrated the decrease in the number of women in Brazil who identified themselves as black or mulatto. The decrease amounted to 3% between 1991 and 2000.
In the opinion of the IBGE researchers, this reduction may be viewed as a consequence of the high maternal mortality rates and poorer living and health conditions that prevail among black women.
ABr