Brazilians Easily Adapt to the US, According to Study

07/07/2017 - 09h48

According to US government data obtained through surveys it conducted and used by Brazilian researchers, the Brazilian community in the US is, on average, better qualified and more integrated than other immigrant communities.

Brazilians in the US - who add up to around 1.3 million according to Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs - have a lower unemployment rate (5%) as well as a household income average (US$ 55,463 per year) that is higher when compared not only to other immigrants, but to Americans as well.

The data was collected in 2014 - which was obtained using American surveys - and is the most recent data available.

It was compiled by researchers Álvaro de Castro e Lima and Alanni Barbosa de Castro for their book "Brazilians in the United States: half a century rebuilding America (1960-2010)".

The book, which is being edited by the Alexandre de Gusmão Foundation (Funag), belonging to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - will be released on Friday (the 7th) in Brasília, along with 16 of the Ministry's guides on how to do business abroad.

According to the survey, on average, Brazilians are more educated than other immigrants: 46% finished high school and started college, while 30% graduated from college.

Immigrant averages for those two categories are 35% and 23% respectively. "That's the difference between lower middle-class immigration, which is what Brazilian immigration is like, and the rest of Latin America, which is more rural, and not as educated", said the author.

According to the researcher, Brazilians are more integrated in the jobs market, but that doesn't translate into social or political impact. "Only now are Brazilians beginning to take the first steps in terms of political integration, launching campaigns as city councilmen or mayers, which is normal, because it's a very recent immigration wave", he said.

Castro e Lima highlights that, since 2013, there has been a new wave of Brazilians who are more qualified and are heading to the US, due to the political and economic crises as well as a rise in urban violence.

"But it's still too soon to tell if this is a new immigrantion wave or just a group of individuals who left the country because of the crisis, but will return afterward", he said.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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