Brasília, June 28, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - Around 27% of Brazilian families are headed by women, according to the Feminist Center of Studies and Advisory Services (Cfemea). In 90% of these households, mothers constitute the only source of income to maintain the family. In households in which men are the major income source, 90% include a wife who, in addition to exercising a gainful activity contributing to the family's support, is responsible for taking care of the home.

To confront gender disparities, the Chamber of Deputies' External Commission on the Feminization of Poverty in Brazil is sponsoring an international seminar, "For a Brazil without Inequalities," today and tomorrow (29), in Brasília.

"There are issues that are not economic, but cultural, questions of human values. These are the ones which require us to work a lot, speak a lot, and fight a lot to change," declared the president of the commission, Deputy Luci Choinaki (PT-SC).

The seminar, which is being held in a plenary hall in Annex II of the Chamber of Deputies, counts on the participation of women who represent various sectors, such as domestic workers, coconut splitters, farmers, and international organizations.

Women constitute 53% of the economically active population in Brazil, but only 17% are formally occupied. According to recent data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), drawn from the National Household Sample Survey (Pnad/2003), women, on the average, have more schooling than men (6.4 years versus 6.1 years) but are paid less.

According to the Deputy, women are responsible for 70% of the total hours worked but receive only 10% of total income. Moreover, 60% of the mothers who don't live with the fathers of their children don't receive regulary child support payments.

Translator: David Silberstein