The Gender Perspective in IBGE’s Brazilian Household Surveys and Censuses

1. The Gender Perspective in IBGE’s Brazilian Household Surveys and Censuses Lara Gama Analyst – Social Indicators Division Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) 2009 Global Forum on Gender Statistics Accra, Ghana January 26-28, 2009

2. Introduction: Some Information About Brazil Brazil is the most populated country in South America and the 5th most populated country in the world. It has a continental extension. Population: 189,820 million people 92,625 million men (47%) 97,195 million women (53%) 95,3 men for each 100 women (Source: IBGE, Brazilian National Household Survey, 2007)

4. The Gender Issue in Brazil • Institutional commitments: (1) • Brazil has signed several international agreements on gender equality: • CEDAW - Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (UN General Assembly, 1981). In the present, Brazil is a member of the CEDAW Committee. • Convention of Belém do Pará (Belém do Pará, Brazil, 1994) – Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women. • Fourth World Convention on Women (Beijing, 1995) and the Beijing Platform for Action. • Beijing+5 (New York, 2000)

5. The Gender Issue in Brazil • Institutional commitments: (2) • Recognizing the importance of prioritizing public policy specifically directed to women’s needs, Brazil has created several institutional instances that address gender issues: • Special Secretariat for Women’s Policy, 2003 -reaffirmed the federal government commitment to the gender equality. • Technical Committee on Gender and Time Use Studies, 2008 – an inter-institutional alliance involving IBGE, the Women’s Secretariat and IPEA, with the support of OIT and UNIFEM. Its goal is to boost gender studies and statistics in Brazil. • National Observatory on Gender Equality, will be launched march 2009 – createdby the Women’s Secretariat, in alliance with OIT and UNIFEM. Its goal is to monitorate the gender public policies in progress in Brazil.

6. About the Production of Gender Statistics The Gender Perspective in the Censuses • The 2000 Census • From the results of the 2000 Census, the most important study published with a gender perspective was: “A profile of women as the household reference person in Brazil”. The study included information about: • geographical distribution • age distribution • educational and income levels • women living alone • children living under women’s responsibility • comparative information: 1991/2000

7. The Gender Perspective in the Censuses The 2000 Census Main Changes: 1991/2000 Households where the reference person is a woman: 1991: 18,1% 2000: 24,9% 37,6%  Proportion of literates:15,7%  Medium years of study:27,3%  < 3 years of study:24,0%  15 years or more:27,3%  Medium income:61,9%  Median income:78,1%  Children 0-6:69,5%  Children 0-6, < 2 S.M. :20,3% 

8. The Gender Perspective in the Censuses • Steps for the 2010 Census • The questionnaire is in phase of tests and still passing through modifications. • Two pilot tests were already made: • September 2008 • January 2009 • 2. The experimental Census will be held in August 2009. • 3. The Census will go to field in August 2010, for a period of 4 months.

9. The Gender Perspective in the Censuses Steps for the 2010 Census Changes that are important on gender perspective For the first time, there will be the possibility of indicating joint headship (two or more people as reference for the household). 3.01 – Household reference person: (The one who is recognized like that by the household members) 1 – Only one person 2 – More than one person

10. The Gender Perspective in the Censuses Steps for the 2010 Census Modifications that have an influence on gender perspective Due to the increasing identification of women as the household reference person, a new question was introduced to make clear the reasons for the choice of women. 3.03 – What is the main reason for the choice of this person as the reference person? 1. Pays most of the expenses 2. Takes care of household members 3. Is the oldest person in the household 4. Other reason

11. The Gender Perspective in the Censuses Census 2000 x Census 2010 Relationship to the reference person 2000: 11 categories of relationship Patterns of family organization What is the relationship to the household responsible person? 2 – spouse 3 – child 4 - parent (or parent of spouse) 5 - grandchild or great-grandchild 6 – brother or sister 7 - other relative 8 – aggregate 9 – pensioner 10 - domestic employee 11 – domestic employee’s relative

12. The Gender Perspective in the Censuses 2 - spouse or partner of different sex 3 – spouse or partner of the same sex 4 – child of the responsible and spouse 5 – child only of the responsible 6 – child only of the spouse 7 – son-in-law/ daughter-in-law 8 – father or mother 9 – mother-in-law, father-in-law 10– grandchild 11 - great-grandchild 12 – brother or sister 13 - other relative 14 – aggregate 15 – cohabitating person 16 – pensioner 17 - domestic employee 18 – domestic employee’s relative 19 – individual living in collective household 2010: 19 categories More information on how the families are organized in Brazil

13. The Gender Perspective in the Censuses Steps for the 2010 Census 2 questionnaires: Basic questionnaire: age, sex, color/race, ethnicity if indigenous, language spoken, literacy, level of education, income. Sample questionnaire: other aspects of life conditions as: health services, religion, disabilities, marital status, economic characteristics, fertility, migration, educational characteristics.

14. Other IBGE’s household surveys that provide information by sex and age • Brazilian National Household Survey • Published since 1967. Periodicity: annual • Focus on economic characteristics and life conditions • Sample: 143 thousands households and 410 thousands people • It’s the most important source to measure time use and non-remunerated work, with 2 questions: • 1. In the (reference week), did __ do household activities? (question introduced in 1992) • 2. How many hours a week does __ dedicate normally to household activities? (question introduced in 2001)

15. Other IBGE’s household surveys that provide information by sex and age Time, work and household activities: an analysis based on the National Household Surveys 2001 and 2005 • A study published in August 2007 • For the first time, IBGE approaches the theme of time use, in a study of great repercussion • It calculated the journey at the workplace + the time spent on household activities for men x women, by age groups, relationship to the responsible person, type of family, among other characteristics

16. Other IBGE’s household surveys that provide information by sex and age • Social Indicators Synthesis • This annual publication is one of the most important sources of social information in Brazil • Published since 1998 • In 2003, a chapter about “Women” was introduced and it’s the most important reference for gender analysis among IBGE’s publications • The chapter provides information about women’s work, education, income, headship of the household, poverty • Since gender is a transversal theme, the chapter doesn’t cover it exhaustively, but it offers a minimum set of indicators that characterize women’s life conditions, as well as other aspects directly related to female life cycle, like maternity

17. Other IBGE’s household surveys that provide information by sex and age • Monthly Work Survey • Family Budget Survey • Urban Informal Economy • Counting of the Population 2007 • Agropecuary Census 2007

18. Future Perspectives: • Technical Committee on Gender and Time Use Studies • The committee, an inter-institutional alliance involving IBGE, the Women’s Secretariat and IPEA, is now the focal point for gender studies in the institution. • It involves two departments at IBGE, the Social Indicators and the Employment and Income Department, to improve the capacity of making gender analysis with a broader view. • The main goals of the committee, at the moment, are to: • map the existing production of data by sex in Brazil and make deeper analysis studies with a gender perspective • focus on the two themes where there’s more need for information: time use and violence against women.

19. Future Perspectives: • Household Surveys Integrated System • The National Household Survey and the Monthly Work Survey will be integrated and will be held in a rolling method. The Family Budget Survey will also be continuous. • There will be a “master sample” for all the household surveys. • Advantages: • More flexibility on the inclusion of new themes • Information more detailed geographically • Short-term indicators about labor market, nationally • Continuous information about expenditure • Methodological harmonization and uniformization of concepts • Optimization of resources

20. Final Considerations: • The Brazilian Statistical Institute has a long tradition of producing statistics decomposed by sex and age. • However, it is necessary to review some conceptual and methodological matters, to make a better picture of the reality of man and women in the country. • It is also necessary to broaden the scope of analysis, particularly in the themes of time use and domestic violence. • In spite of a great amount of data produced, the dissemination of studies and indicators with a gender perspective is recent and needs to be encouraged. • For that purpose, the inter-institutional articulation has been fundamental, but it still suffers with the lack of human, financial and technical resources as well as the need for training.

21. Thank you! Contacts: lara.gama@ibge.gov.br ana.saboia@ibge.gov.br