Poverty and Violence Cut 6 Years Off Black Lives in Brazil

Conflict Zones and Lack of Sanitation Shorten the Lives of Black and Mixed-Race Brazilians

Nov.26.2024 2:01PM

Black women and men live four to nearly six years less, respectively, than white people in Brazil. At the root of this disparity lies poverty. It exposes the poorest populations to diseases related to poor nutrition, lack of sanitation, and, above all, violence in slums and precarious urban settlements.

The study relied on data from the Census (demographic survey) and death records from the Ministry of Health to calculate life expectancy differences.

In the study, Black and mixed-race individuals were grouped as "Black," a group that, according to the 2022 Census, comprises 55.5% of Brazilians. The analysis considered life expectancy at birth over two decades: 2000–2009 and 2010–2019.

The life expectancy gap is largest among Black men, reaching 5.9 years less than their white counterparts during the 2010–2019 decade. Violence is the predominant factor. The report reveals that premature deaths among Black Brazilians occur predominantly between the ages of 15 and 34—that is, during youth and early adulthood.

For Black women, who were found to live four years less than white women during the 2010–2019 period, the leading contributor to the gap was "other causes" (39.6% of the disparity), particularly diseases related to the circulatory system.

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/brazil/2024/11/poverty-and-violence-cut-6-years-off-black-lives-in-brazil.shtml