THE DEMOGRAPHY OF INEQUALITY. Considerations on Black People in Brazil (*)

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1 THE DEMOGRAPHY OF INEQUALITY Considerations on Black People in Brazil (*) Elza Berquó (**) INTRODUCTION In the last forty years, Brazil has seen a relative decrease of populations that declare themselves white or black blood and, consequently, a relative increase of mixed race population. (Graph 1) The white population increased at average annual rates of 2.10%, 2.94%, and 2.16% in the periods of , , and , respectively, reaching 64,540,467 persons in Blacks, though, had a decrease in population in absolute terms, in the first period, from 6,035,869 to 5,692,657 persons, i.e., an annual rate of minus 0.58%. There was a slight recovery in the following periods, 0.84% and 0.61%, respectively. The mixed race population, on the other hand, showed significant growth between 1940 and 1950, reaching an annual rate of 4.62%. It is worth noting that this rate slowed in the following period (4.09%) and remained at 4.05% between 1960 and One difficulty in treating the role of mortality, nuptiality and fertility in determining the different growth rates of these population groups arises from the way information on color is generated. It is subject to classification and surveys in which respondents and interviewers are responsible for the answers. In the 1940 and 1950 censuses, the item Color was surveyed according to a classification that referred to whites, blacks, yellows. A fourth group called mixed bloods, was added to include those who were not classified in the three previous groups. Table 1 Brazil Infant mortality per live births * CENSUSES 1 WHITE MIXED BLOOD BLACK MIXED BLOOD + BLACK TOTAL * Infant mortality was estimated based on basic information on women 20 to 24 years of age. (*) Part of this paper was presented at the meeting The Demography of Inequality in Contemporary Latin America, promoted by the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, February 21-24, That version was published in NOVOS ESTUDOS CEBRAP, n? 21, July, 1988, pp The entire people was first published in ABEP: VI Encontro Nacional de Estudos de População (Preceedings of the VI National Meeting), Olinda, 1988, pp. This has been translated into English by Haydn Coutinho and reviewed by Rosana Hogan (**) Researcher at the Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento - CEBRAP (Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning) and Núcleo de Estudos de População - NEPO/UNICAMP (Center for Population Studies of the University of Campinas). 1 In view of difficulties in data availability for certain states of the country, the 1960 census did not consider the total Brazilian population. Thus, subtotals were taken into account which did not consider the following states: Maranhão, Espírito Santo, Piauí, Guanabara, Santa Catarina, Rondônia, Roraima, Amapá, Amazonas and Pará. Subtotals calculated for the 1980 census also excluded the states mentioned above, making it comparable to the 1960 census, in order to permit a diachronic analysis of infant mortality in the different sub-populations which were considered.

2 From GARCIA TAMBURO, Estela Maria - Mortalidade infantil da população negra brasileira (Infant mortality of the Brazilian black population) NEPO/UNICAMP, 1987 (Textos NEPO 11). Note: Yellow people, (Oriental descent) not included here represented 0.6% of the Brazilian population during this 40 year period. In the 1960 census, the previous classification was maintained and, for the first time, pre-coded categories appear on the printed census form with the groups: white, black, yellow, and mixed blood. In the 1970 census, this item was eliminated. It was restored in 1980 with the following classifications: white, black, mixed blood, and yellow. Even though it is explicitly stated that it is the respondent who has to declare color, Araújo (1988) notes However, in the survey situation, as in other social situations, there is an elaborate etiquette, in this case based on the ideology of race relations in Brazil, which gives way to several possibilities of obtaining information on color from both the respondent and the interviewer." Another difficulty in the demographic study of Blacks in Brazil is the existence and availability of information. This is the case for the 1940 and 1950 censuses, for which only the tables published in the corresponding volumes are available. The absence of the item Color in the 1970 census results in a lack of information for this item during a period of twenty years. This is exactly the period of significant changes in the Brazilian demographic pattern. Even in the face of these difficulties, and at the risk of misinterpretations, we will attempt to put forward some hypotheses to help understand the growth rate of the self-declared black population. MORTALITY According to Wood and Webster (1987), in 1950 Whites had a life expectancy of 7.5 years more than non- Whites, whose life expectancy at birth was estimated at 40 years. During a period of thirty years, Whites and non-whites gained approximately 19.2% in life expectancy, Whites reaching 66.1 years of age and non- Whites 59.4 years. Garcia Tamburo (1987) presents the following results for infant mortality, according to mothers declaration of color. The situation of social injustice, evident in the high levels of infant mortality in the poorest population groups, blacks and mixed bloods, is indisputable. As a whole, these two groups took 20 years to reach the 1960 infant mortality level of Whites. Even when controlled by mother s education there still remains, in each educational category, a clear differential by color, in which Blacks are always the most unfavored. For illiterate black mothers there were 120 deaths per thousand live births in the first year of life in 1980, in contrast to 95 per thousand for infants born to white mothers (Table 2). Table 2 Brazil 1980 Infant mortality per thousand live births, according to mother s declaration of color and education. Color White Mixed Black Total Mixed Level of Blood Education Blood + Black Illiterate years years years or more Source: Tabulação Especial do Censo Demográfico (Special tabulation of the the demographic census), From GARCIA TAMBURO, Estela Maria - Mortalidade infantil da população negra brasileira (Infant mortality of Brazilian black population). Campinas NEPO/UNICAMP, 1987 (Textos NEPO 11) Because of living conditions, the infant and adult mortality rates of Blacks and of mixed bloods are well above those of Whites. 2

3 NUPTIALITY The excess of women in the country has been increasing in the last decades. For example, there were 1,032 women per thousand men in In terms of nuptiality (i.e., the chances people have to find mates for marriage in a typically monogamous society, as is the case of Brazil), such a numerical unbalance has implications that may strongly affect female lives. An aggravating circumstance, dictated by our Western culture, that the woman must be some years younger at marriage than her future husband, is added to this excess of women. Given the structure by age and sex of our population, women years of age have to choose from a much smaller pool of older men than do younger women, for whom men can be included. These facts demonstrate a significant difference by sex in the number of unmarried people (single, widows and widowers, separated) during a given period. However, when data are disaggregated according to declared color in the demographic census, the fact that the excess of women is concentrated in the self-declared white population stands out. In fact, for Whites, 37 of every thousand women could not, hypothetically, count on the availability of white mates. However, for men declared black or mixed blood, 17 would, theoretically, have difficulty in finding mates of the same color. If marriages were homogamous in relation to the color of spouses and if the wish to get married were universal according to the previous considerations, one could expect that : (a) all white men would marry, but not all white women; (b) all black women would marry, but not all black men. Considering the first hypothesis, 7.7% of white females were single, but only 0.5% of white males (Table 3). For the black population, however, results were not exactly as expected. Among black women 13.4% are single at the age of 50, an index 1.7 times greater than that corresponding to white and mixed-blood women. Although black men marry more than black women, remaining single is more common among black men than among white or mixed-blood men. Furthermore, chances for black women to marry were much lower than for white women. Additionally, it is worth noting that black people marry later than white and mixed-blood people (Berquó, 1987). While the age at first marriage is about 22.5 years of age for white and mixed-blood women, black women marry almost one year later. Age at marriage is also somewhat delayed for black men (Table 3). Table 3 Brazil 1980 Average ages at first union and definitive bachelorhood for men and women according to color. WOMEN MEN DIFFERENCE AT COLOR Age at % single Age at %single AGE OF at age 50 at age 50 marriage marriage MARRIAGE White Mixed blood Black From BERQUÓ, E. - Nupcialidade da população negra no Brasil (Nuptiality of the Black Population in Brazil) Campinas, NEPO/UNICAMP, 1987 (Textos NEPO 11) 3

4 This is not a new situation. Monteiro (1950) estimated that in 1950 the age of marriage for black women was 23.6 years, in contrast to 22.4 and 22.8 years of age at marriage for white and mixed-blood women, respectively. Similarly, black men married at 27 years of age on the average, while white and mixed-blood men married at 26.2 and 26.7, respectively. Looking at the situation from the viewpoint of classification of women by marital status, we find that only 47.2% (Table 4) of black women were married. This rate remained practically constant between 1960 and 1980 and is much lower than the rate for white women, 57.4% (Berquó, 1987). The situation is the same for all age groups in the female reproductive period as shown in Graph 2. Table 4 Brazil Distribution of women by marital status and color MARITAL STATUS White Mixed Blood Black White Mixed Blood Black Married single separated(*) Widow Non-declared (*) Includes separated, legally separated and divorced. From BERQUÓ, E. Nupcialidade da população negra no Brasil (Nuptiality of the Black Population in Brazil). Campinas, NEPO/UNICAMP, 1987 (Textos NEPO 11). Graph 2 Brazil 1980 Proportion of women conjugally united Graph 2 % AGE GROUPS From BERCOVICH, A. - A fecundidade da mulher negra: constatações e questões (Black female fertility: findings and questions). Campinas, NEPO/UNICAMP, 1987 (Textos NEPO 11). In the first place, these findings show exogamous marriages by color; secondly, that white women had an advantage in marriage competition. In fact, an analysis of composition by color of the 20,532,215 couples in the 1980 census shows that 19% of these couples were not of the same color; in 11% of them, the husband was darker than his wife. In only 8% of the cases was the opposite true (Tables 5 and 6). The difference between the proportion of white men married to darker women (mixed blood or black), 11.9%, and that of white women married to darker men, 15.3% (*), was highly significant. Table 5 Brazil Distribution by color of married women relative to husbands color (*) 2 X = significant at the level of 1 per thousand for 1 degree of freedom. 4

5 MEN WHITE MIXED BLACK TOTAL WOMEN White Mixed blood Black From BERQUÓ, E. Nupcialidade da População Negra no Brasil. Campinas, NEPO/UNICAMP, 1987 (Textos NEPO 11). In turn, the proportion of black men married to lighter women (white and mixed blood) is significantly higher, 41.4%, in contrast to the 33% of black women married to lighter husbands (**). Table 6 Brazil 1980 Distribution of married men, by color, in relation to color of spouse MEN WHITE MIXED BLOOD BLACK WOMEN White Mixed Blood Black From BERQUÓ, E. - Nupcialidade da população negra no Brasil. Campinas, NEPO/UNICAMP, 1987 (Textos NEPO 11) The proportion of mixed-blood men married to white women (23%) is also greater than that for mixedblood women married to white men (18%). On the other hand, there are more mixed-blood women married to black men (4.95%) than mixed-blood men married to black women (3.2%). These findings indicate that the miscegenation experienced by the Brazilian population is grounded on a certain asymmetry by sex in which the trend to lightening occurs due to men s search for lighter women. From a strictly demographic viewpoint, everything seems to point in that direction. Unlike white men, white women, due to their excess numbers, search for mixed-blood and black men; mixed-blood women also seek black mates, given the shortfall in mixed-blood males. Consequently, black women face the most unfavorable situation. Graphs 3-6 show clearly the lifetime dynamic of people successively marrying, separating/divorcing, becoming widowed, marrying again, separating/divorcing again, becoming widowed again, with two evident divisions: sex and color. Graph 3 Proportion of white men by marital status Graph 3 Graphic 4 Proportion of white women by marital status (**) 2 X = significant at the level of 1 per thousand for 1 degree of freedom. 5

6 Graph 4 AGE IN YEARS Widow/widower Single Unmarried Married Just as with men (Graphs 3 and 7), such a process is characterized by the force of the marriage curve which rises to 35/40 years of age, remains stationary from this point to 55/60 years of age, when it then begins to decrease. As a mirror image, the single curve shows a rapid drop from 20/30 years of age, and from then on continues decreasing, though more slowly. In the group of 20/25 years of age, these two curves intersect, corresponding to the average age at marriage. Widowhood is reflected only slightly, but its effect becomes pronounced after 50 years, when it surpasses the relative weight of single people. The only difference between these two graphs is in degree; black people marry less then white people and widowhood starts slightly earlier. Graphic 5 Percentage of black men by marital status Graph 5 In an analysis of graphs 4 and 6, it is immediately apparent that the curves of female marriages only surpass those for men in the age groups of 20/25 and 25/30. On the other hand, the proportion of single women after 35 years of age always surpasses that of bachelors. Widowhood increases after 45 years of age and is a significant factor in the percentage of unmarried women, becoming the major factor between 50 and 55 years of age. Graph 6 should be highlighted, however, since it reveals a social condition directly affecting black women. Marrying less frequently and later, greater proportions of black women also separate. As a result of differential mortality by sex and color, widowhood of black women is precocious and acute. Graphic 6 Percentage of black women by marital status Graph 6 AGE IN YEARS Single Unmarried Married Considering the above, a more gloomy future is undoubtedly reserved for women as far as absence of mate is concerned; a situation clearly aggravated with age. To reach such a conclusion, one need only look at the right sides of age pyramids of unmarried people in Graph 7. Graph 7 Brazil 1980 BLACK MEN BLACK WOMEN WHITE MEN WHITE WOMEN 6

7 Age pyramids of unmarried people, by sex and color. For black women, however, the situation is especially serious. At 30 years of age, more than 30% are alone; at 50, 41% do not have mates; and at 60, this figure reaches 71%. Conversely, only 27% of black men are alone at the age of FERTILITY Bercovich (1987), when estimating total fertility rates for by color, verified that until 1960 black women systematically had a smaller average number of children than did white women, but white women had fewer children than mixed-blood women. This situation was reversed in Between 1960 and 1980, the Brazilian population experienced a decrease of 32% in fertility; 7% from 1960 to 1970, and 28% from 1970 to This decrease was more significant among white women, decreasing 44%; black women had a decrease of 16%; and mixed-blood women 23 % (Table 7). Thus, for the first time in the last forty years, black women had a fertility rate greater than that of white women. As seen in the section on nuptiality, black women s delay in age at marriage and greater numbers remaining single may be factors explaining their lower fertility until Additionally, Bercovich (1987) shows that the proportion of women with no children was always greater for black women. In fact, in the period , a very high percentage of black women had had no live births. (Table 8). As this was a period characterized by little or no use of contraceptives, average rates for women with no children should be those found for whites and mixed bloods; actually very similar to 1940 and In view of this situation, we can conclude that three factors might be responsible for the high rate of black women with no live births.. smaller chance of conception, i.e., they would be more sterile;. smaller chance of carrying to term, i.e., they would be less fertile; greater prevalence of induced abortions. Table 7 Total fertility rates by color The methodology proposed by Carvalho (1974) for 1940, 1950 and 1960 was used. 7

8 FERTILITY BY COLOR CENSUS White Black Mixed Blood a b c a - Data from this census do not include some states of the country. For this, see footnote 1. b - Data on 1980 are comparable to those in c - Full census of Needs to be formatted*** From BERCOVICH, A. Fecundidade da mulher negra: constatações e questões. Campinas, NEPO/UNICAMP, 1987 (Textos NEPO 11). Undoubtedly, these situations are not exclusive and may affect the same women. On the other hand, for couples, the possibility of a man s temporary or definitive sterility should not be disregarded. Breastfeeding is another element that should be considered in the range of possibilities. Traditionally black women were apt to breastfeed for long periods, either by choice or necessity. Would they have maintained such a practice until recently? Research on this should be encouraged given the high correlation between the duration of breastfeeding and fertility control. Table 8 BRAZIL 1980 Proportion of women of years of age with no live born children YEARS WHITE BLACK MIXED BLOOD SOURCE: IBGE, demographic censuses. It is important to point out that this line of reasoning qualifies the role of maternal mortality, supposedly greater for black mothers than for white mothers, because of their distinct living conditions. If greater maternal mortality is positively associated with greater fertility, then under enumeration of considerable contingents of very prolific black women might be occurring and artificially increasing the rate of women with no children. Unfortunately, information that would permit the quantifying of this item is not found on death certificates. 8

9 Similarly, neither studies on sterility nor fetal deaths, differentiated by color, are available. The work of Wright and Pirie (1984), however, sheds some light in this direction.. In fact, when examining the intriguing fertility decline of American black people between 1810 and 1840, at a rate greater than that for white people, the authors point out and demonstrate that a great part of this process stemmed from involuntary sub-fertility. This was due to sexually transmitted diseases, particularly gonorrhea and syphilis and their sequelae, mainly pelvic inflammatory disease, conducive to infecundity and involuntary fetal deaths, either spontaneous abortions or still borns. Gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia infections, all sexually transmitted, were serious health problems worldwide before penicillin was made available in the mid-1950 s (Willcox, 1972). Highly contagious through sexual intercourse, they are conducive to tubal sterility in women via pelvic inflammatory disease. In turn, pregnancies in syphilitic women may end in abortions or late fetal deaths. Because of the high incidence of both gonorrhea and syphilis in Brazil during the pre-penicillin period and their association with health conditions, which, in turn, are strongly correlated with poverty, one may suppose that such diseases played an important role in determining lower levels of fertility of black women in this country, through infecundity and fetal deaths. Berquó and Gomes (1986) showed an increased incidence of syphilis in the municipality of São Paulo between 1928 and Coincident with this was a decline in fertility for the same period and a reversal of this trend in the post-penicillin period, when syphilis also decreased. Although the study is restricted to a specific context and did not separately treat Whites, Blacks, and mixed bloods, its results can be viewed as relevant factors in the hypotheses raised. On the other hand, it should be kept in mind that these factors may also have affected white and mixed-blood women s fertility, though to a lesser degree. Observing the fertility trend of those women who have had at least one live birth, Bercovich (1986) showed that black women s fertility is higher than that of white women and lower than that of mixed-blood women (Table 9). Table 9 Fertility of women 15 years of age or older, by color AVERAGE NUMBER OF CHILDREN PER WOMAN HAVING CHILDREN, BY COLOR YEARS White Black Mixed Blood Total SOURCE: IBGE, Demographic Censuses of 1940, 1950: Demographic Censuses of 1960, 1980: Special Tabulations. From BERCOVICH, A. Fecundidade da mulher negra: constatações e questões. Campinas NEPO/UNICAMP, 1987 (Textos NEPO 11). In brief, one may conclude that between 1940 and 1960 fertility of black women, as opposed to that of whites, was always lower because they married later and were less fecund or less fertile, although more prolific. From 1960 to 1980, black women showed a higher fertility than that of whites for two reasons. 9

10 First, there was better control over adverse health conditions which tended to reduce black women s fertility; second, white women resorted earlier and more efficiently to contraceptive methods after SUMMARY Based on yet incipient literature on the demography of black people in Brazil during the contemporary period, the majority of which comes from an on-going project at the Núcleo de Estudos de População da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Population Studies Center of the State University of Campinas) initiated in 1986, we have attempted to outline the demographic profile of this population. Some analyses already permit conclusions, while others lead to suppositions, the confirmation of which depend upon the continuation of this project or emergence of new research. A first general conclusion is that there are three demographic profiles: that of Whites, of Blacks, and of mixed blood. Grouping Blacks and mixed bloods together would lead us, even today, to lose some specific aspects and characteristics of each of these population groups. The analysis has shown that they are subjected to changes in mortality, marriage, and fertility, though at differing times. Mixed bloods are increasingly coming closer to whites, certainly as a result of the different rhythms of social, economic and cultural changes. Thus, the decline in the relative weight of Whites and Blacks in the Brazilian population and, as a consequence, the increase of mixed bloods are due to several factors. 1. For the population classified as White: a) lower mortality, earlier marriage, lower proportions remaining unmarried, and greater fertility of the white population until 1960 may be seen as responsible for its quantitative prevalence in the total population; b) increase in miscegenation, i.e., marriages with mixed bloods and Blacks, and a more intensive decline in fertility after 1960 (possibly due to earlier use of more efficient contraceptive methods) may be responsible for a decline of its growth rate and of its relative weight, although still the majority in total population. 2. For the population classified as Black: higher mortality, later marriage, high proportions remaining unmarried, especially for females, increase in miscegenation, greater female sterility, and lower fertility until 1960 may be responsible for the low growth rates of this population and for the significant decline of its relative weight in total population. 3. For the population classified as Mixed blood: Although subjected to high levels of mortality, miscegenation and high rates of fertility during the period are the greatest determinants of high growth rates of this population and, as a result, the systematic increase of its relative weight in total population. REFERENCES... 10