MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's extreme inequalities.

The results of the latest Brazilian Home Poll released this week indicate some spectacular advances in the greatest South American country and economy, but also persistent inequalities that undermine future prospects.

Literacy, phones, access to drinking water and sewage indexes have increased several times during the last ten years, but employment remains stagnant and actually jumped 79% in the last decade, meaning that eight million Brazilians are looking for jobs and can't find them.

The poll which is done by the Brazilian Institute of Statistics and Geography, IBGE, involved 130,000 homes all over the country that has an estimated population of 170 million.

The latest release shows that 1% of Brazilians have incomes similar to 40% of the poorest population. This means that while the rich have an average income of 2,350 US dollars per month, the poorest barely manage 53 US dollars, or forty times less.

Half the Brazilian working population averages 200 US dollars per month, 53 million live below the poverty line and 40,000 killings are reported every year.

On the other extreme Brazil has the second largest private jet fleet in the world; at any given moment 350 helicopters are over-flying Sao Paulo, the country's most dynamic city; besides Brazilians are also among the world's leading clients of Tiffany's jewels and Mont Blanc pens.

However half of Brazil's homes have no link to the sewage network, but 61% have phones either fixed or cellular, three times the number a decade ago, 40 million cellular and 48 million fixed line.

Another index described as positive is the number of working children (5 to 14 old) that has dropped from 12,1% in 1992 to less that 6,5% in 2003. Nevertheless two million Brazilians ages 5 to 14 still have to work and don't go to school.