
Housing poverty in Brazil
- 2,040 people served in FY18
- 663 volunteers hosted in FY18
- Projects: construction, progressive improvements, land tenure
Since then, we have developed projects to rehabilitate slums in Brazil across 11 states.
In Brazil, we are currently present in six states with projects that aim to improve the lives of slum dwellers in Rio de Janeiro, São Paolo and smaller cities – ranging from building new homes, to repairs and improvements, water access and securing land tenure.
Brazil is the 5th most populous country in the world and has the 9th largest economy, yet it is also among the most unequal countries in the world with most of the wealth concentrated in the South (UN Statistics Division, 2006).
Despite its rapidly growing economy, around 11.8 million people live on less than $1.25 a day and over 60% of these live in the semi-arid North East Region (World Bank, 2009).
More than 50 million Brazilians live in inadequate housing (World Urban Forum, 2010). The North East State of Pernambuco has the highest housing deficit in Brazil, with 66% of those in need of housing living below the poverty line with no access to normal banking facilities.
A recent survey ranked São Paulo as the world’s 10th most expensive city and Rio de Janeiro as the 12th. New York, North America’s most expensive city, is 32nd, making Brazil the most expensive country in the Americas.
Brazil has between 6 million and 8 million fewer houses than it needs, which led to a proliferation of slum housing over time, and people earning less than US$1,000 per month account for about 90 percent of this deficit.
The greatest needs are in the northeast and southeast, where many cities are plagued by overcrowding and housing deterioration, which fuels extreme poverty in the country.
We are one of the entities authorised to work in partnership with the government to build new houses for vulnerable families to help relieve the issue of income inequality in Brazil and the huge gap in living standards across the country. Through the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life) programme, Habitat Brazil is building 1,623 houses in two cities in the state of Pernambuco.
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