ABSTRACT
A generation ago Brazil was socially as well as economically an underdeveloped country, and within another it may well be an industrialized nation. Treatment of Brazil's social dynamics centers on the relationship of social structure to economic and racial considerations—for benefits of growth have been very unevenly distributed in terms of social classes as well as by regions and gender. Income distribution in Brazil is couched in terms of proportions of population earning below, at, or above the minimum salary. This presents a problem of comparability over time, since the value of the minimum salary is far from constant. Nevertheless, such data do help portray the class structure of Brazilian society. Education is Brazil's primary channel of social mobility. Brazil's economic transformation is dramatically mirrored in changes that have occurred in the workforce. Income distribution in Brazil is couched in terms of proportions of population earning below, at, or above the minimum salary.
