Trends in educational inequality in Brazil

Abstract

Even today, Brazil's educational indicators are only slightly better than those of the poorest countries in Latin America. Nevertheless, the slow but continuous expansion in schooling in the last two decades has increased the Brazilian population's educational level and decreased inequality according to region, color, gender, and income bracket. By breaking down the explanatory factors for educational improvement, this study suggests, as a conservative estimate, that approximately 60% of this improvement is due to changes in living conditions and the geographic distribution of families resulting from urbanization and the demographic transition, with the remaining 40% due to actual improvements in the educational system's performance.