Profile of Brazilian Remmitters in in Massachusetts - 2007

BRAZILIANS IN MA

JULY 2007eSilvestre.com

Innovation Network for Communities

INTRODUCTION

• Innovation Network for Communities is engaged in developing the Brazilian community in Massachusetts and funded the present research to describe its profiles and resources.

• The subjects for this survey were Money Remittance Senders from MA to Brazil.

OBJECTIVESThe research covers the demographic profile, the

pattern of use of remittances and the presence of Transnationalist behavior among the Brazilians residing in MA and sending money to their country.

The questionnaire included questions from 2006 and 2003 surveys directed by Manuel Orozco (Inter-American Dialogue, Institute for the Study of International Migration) in order to compare the Brazilians with immigrants from other

nationalities.

METHOD• According to the Census PUMS 2000,

the total number of Brazilian born adult (25+) immigrants in the state of Massachusetts is 24,056, this quantity represents 15.9% of the total in the US, second only to Florida (21.1%).

• A sample of 250 subjects (1/1000) is representative of the population with a confidence interval of 6.17% at a confidence level of 95%.

METHOD

The sample for the comparisons with the 2006 survey is shown in the above table.

CityNationality NY-NJ Los Angeles Chicago DC-Alexandria Miami-F. Lauderdale TotalMEXICO 100 300 200 600DOMINICANA 300 300JAMAICA 200 100 300EL SALVADOR 100 100 200 400GUATEMALA 100 100BOLIVIA 200 200NICARAGUA 100 100Total 700 500 200 400 200 2000

METHOD

Here is the sample for the comparisons with the 2003 survey.

CityNationality New York Los Angeles Miami Grand TotalColombia 100 100Cuba 175 175Ecuador 100 100El Salvador 100 110 210Guatemala 109 109Guyana 236 236Honduras 75 75México 100 182 282Nicaragua 150 150Dominicana 150 150Grand Total 686 401 500 1587

METHOD• The routes for the field work were

designed around remittance agencies that send money to Brazil in the cities and areas with the greater Brazilian population.

• The subjects were selected randomly and intercepted in those public places, to ensure that they were active remittance senders.

METHOD• A staff of 5 Portuguese speaking

interviewers was provided by Innovation Network for Communities and the Brazilian Immigration Center, and trained in administering the questionnaire.

• The interviewers wore ID badges from the National Money Transmitters Association (NMTA).

RESULTS

DEMOGRAPHICS

Zip codes and neighborhoods coincided. These are the most important ones.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Allston

Brighton

MaynardActon

East Boston

SomervilleEverett

Lowell

Neighborhoods

The age of the Brazilians is close to the average of other countries but statistically higher (p < .05).

41.14

36.85 35.96 35.63 35.19 34.36 33.4531.56

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

45.00

Average of age by nationality

AVERAGE = 34.38

• Unless otherwise indicated, all affirmations are statistically significant at a probability level of .0001.

• Although we explored every possible interaction among the included variables, we only report here the significant ones.

Brazil is the second nationality with higher proportion of males sending remittances (66.4%).

66.4

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

GuatemalaBrazil

Mexico

NicaraguaJamaica

Bolivia

Dominicana

El Salvador

Gender by nationality

Male

Female

Although the general education is High School, Brazil has the third place in college degrees.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Nicaragua Jamaica Brazil Dominicana Bolivia Mexico El Salvador Guatemala

Education by nationality

College degree Some college High School Elementary Not elementary

While the typical education for Brazilian males is high school (36.75%), one out of four females (23.81%) has a college degree.

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

Collegedegree

Some college High School ElementarySchool

Did not finishElementary

Education by gender

MaleFemale

Brazil has the greater proportion of higher income (32.4%) and the lower proportion of lesser income (1.6%)

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

Brazil Bolivia Nicaragua Jamaica Guatemala Dominicana Mexico El Salvador

Income by nationality

Less than 10,000 10,000 to 15,000 15,001 to 20,000 20,001 to 25,000 25,001 to 30,000 30,001 to 35,000 Over 35,000

One out of three of the Brazilians in MA, regardless of their educational level, has an income over $35,000, except for those who have some college, whose majority win from $20K to $25K

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

College degree Some college High School Elementary School Not Elementary

Income by education

Less than $10,000 $10,000 to $15,000 $15,001 to $20,000 $20,001 to $25,000 $25,001 to $30,000

$30,001 to $35,000 More than $35,000

The Brazilians who have college degree, high school education and those who did not finished the elementary win between $31 and $35 thousand a year.

The proportion of Brazilians with US citizenship is the lowest one (3.2%).

56.00%

43.00%

17.30% 16.00%14.00% 12.80% 12.00%

3.20%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Jamaica

Dominicana

El SalvadorBolivia

NicaraguaMexico

GuatemalaBrazil

US citizenship by nationality

As expected, the majority of those who are US citizens (37.5%) have been living here

over 15 years. One out of four (25%) have been living in US from 6 to 8 years.

12.50

25.00

12.50 12.50

37.50

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

Between fourand five years

Six to eightyears

Nine to tenyears

Eleven to fifteenyears

Over fifteenyears

Citizenship by years in US

The majority of Brazilians (85.6%) are employed and 12.4% are business owners.

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

Employment

Business owners (50%), one student and one housewife have some college education or a degree. Employed with college degree (11.2%) are considered outliers. The rest is between High School and Elementary.

EmployedStudent

UnemployedBusiness owner

Freelance workerHousewife

Employment

1

2

3

4

5

Ed

uc

ati

on

214211204

198180

146

14

1

The typical Brazilian household is composed of a total of 3 to 4 people.

Adults over 21 are the majority in the household: 82%.

Children under 21 are minority: 18%.

Almost half (40.4%) of the Brazilians have been in US from 1 to 3 years. The other half (44.2%) have lived here from 4 to 8 years.

4

40.4

24

21.2

1.63.6 3.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Less than 1 1 - 3 4 - 5 6 - 8 9 - 10 11 - 15 Over 15

Years in US

The majority of the immigrants from Brazil (85.6%) and from almost all other country have been living in US from 1 to 8 years.

Years in US Brazil Honduras Colombia Cuba Nicaragua Guatemala Mexico El Salvador Guyana Ecuador DominicanaLess than 1 4.0% 6.7% 8.0% 4.0% 4.0% 8.3% 6.7% 0.5% 0.8% 3.0% 2.0%1 to 3 40.4% 37.3% 32.0% 27.4% 26.7% 24.8% 21.6% 16.2% 13.1% 12.0% 4.7%4 to 5 24.0% 17.3% 31.0% 22.9% 31.3% 24.8% 23.4% 28.1% 14.8% 20.0% 13.3%6 to 8 21.2% 18.7% 15.0% 17.7% 12.7% 20.2% 14.2% 17.6% 30.9% 31.0% 18.0%9 to 10 1.6% 9.3% 7.0% 16.0% 10.7% 4.6% 14.5% 11.9% 14.4% 28.0% 26.7%11 to 15 3.6% 4.0% 3.0% 3.4% 4.7% 1.8% 7.1% 8.6% 8.1% 4.0% 14.7%Over 15 3.6% 6.7% 4.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.8% 12.4% 15.2% 11.0% 2.0% 20.0%

88% of Brazilians in MA live in a rented house, while only 10.8% own their houses.

The median of income for those who own their houses (Over $35,000) is higher than the median of income for those who rent ($31,000 to $35,000.)

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

Less than10,000

10,000 to15,000

15,001 to20,000

20,001 to25,000

25,001 to30,000

30,001 to35,000

Over35,000

House ownership by income

Own house

Rent

REMITTANCES

50% of Brazilians send money once a month, like almost every other nationality, 33.2% send it twice a month, 9.2% send money once every three months.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

Nicaragua Guatemala Mexico Bolivia Brazil DominicanRepublic

Jamaica El Salvador

Frequency of remittances by nationality

Once a month Twice a month Once every three months Once every six months Once a year Other

These are the most important cities for remittances, the rest have 2% or less and are included in the Highlights.

7.67.2

65.6

5.24.8

3.63.2

2.8 2.82.4

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Sobr‡lia

Governador Valadares

Conselheiro Pena

Belo HorizonteIpatinga

S‹o PauloCuritib

aVit—

ria

CriciœmaJauru

Rio de Janeiro

Beneficiary city

Here the cities are ordered by the average amount of the monthly remittance

$-

$200.00

$400.00

$600.00

$800.00

$1,000.00

$1,200.00

$1,400.00

Average monthly remittance by city (n > 3)

Here we can find the most important states for remittances, the rest have 2% or less.

51.6

9.66.4 6 5.2 4.4 3.6 3.6 2.4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Minas Gerais

Esp’ritu Santo

S‹o Paulo

Santa CatarinaParan‡

Pernambuco

Mato Grosso

Rio de JaneiroGoi‡s

Beneficiary states

These are the states ordered by the average amount of monthly remittance.

$-

$500.00

$1,000.00

$1,500.00

$2,000.00

$2,500.00

Average monthly remittance by State

Although the means of the most recent transaction is $747.78, the mode is $500. The measures of skewness (3.63) and kurtosis (18.82) confirm that the distribution is tilted to the left.

Also tilted to the left, the distribution of the money sent by month has a mean of $1,074.09, with a skewness of 4.7 and a kurtosis of 33.56.

These high mean is due to the outliers who said that they send $2,000 to $4,000 by month, including 2 that declared $10,000.

How much money do you send to your home country per month?

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

244229

217

204173170

13172

18

2191

163

99

Even correcting the average for outliers ($3,000 or more), monthly remittances for Brazilians ($875) are way above the average of many countries. Cuba stands below average ($113).

$875

$398

$331

$278 $274$218 $192 $188 $185 $177

$113

$-

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

$700

$800

$900

Monthly remittance by nationality

ABOVE AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

AVERAGE = $294

We ran a regression analysis to determine the effect of Gender, Education, Annual personal income and Years in US upon the monthly amount sent on remittances.

The regression model had not statistical significance.

The Median fee for remittances is around $10. Although the mean is $9.28, the distribution is tilted (Kurtosis = 8.02) and the percentiles 50 and 75 are 10.

Compared with the 2006 survey, Brazil has a very different scenario for Preferred Agency. For example, the First Place, shadowed in green, for Brazilians is Braz Transfers (33.20%) and the Second Place, in yellow, is Western Union (20.08%). Nevertheless, Western Union is No. 1 for almost every other country.

Third places are shadowed in tan.

Preferred agency BRAZIL MEXICO DOMINICANA JAMAICA EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA BOLIVIA NICARAGUABraz Transfers 33.20%Western Union 20.08% 33.67% 23.33% 45.50% 18.75% 30.00% 14.50% 15.00%Chang Express 13.60%Uno Transfer 13.20%Money Gram 6.80% 3.00% 12.33% 36.00% 21.25% 3.00% 1.00% 2.00%Global 3.60%Mexico Express 19.00%Banco Agrícola 21.50% 7.00%Pronto Envíos 3.50% 18.00% 0.50% 13.00%Ria Envía 3.50% 3.00% 0.50% 5.00% 11.00% 2.00% 8.00%La Nacional 36.50%Dolex 6.67% 2.33% 1.00% 3.00% 8.00%

As expected, the majority of Brazilians are Very Satisfied (41.6%) or Satisfied (51.2%) with their preferred remittance agencies.

Compared with the 2003 survey some Brazilians use other services like Money Orders (11.6%) or Check Cashing (3.6%) but, like with almost every other country, the majority (75%) do not use them.

The other countries make some use of other services (not listed in the table) like Express, Phone Cards, Phone Booths & Cargo

Other services Brazil Guyana Ecuador Nicaragua Cuba Colombia Dominicana Guatemala Honduras México El SalvadorMoney order 11.6% 1.3% 17.1% 9.8% 5.5%Check cashing 3.6% 0.7%Bill payment 1.2%Buy airplane tickets 0.4%Buy different things 0.4%Payday loan 0.4%Checking account 0.4%Other 7.0% 68.1% 51.3% 42.6% 39.6% 37.6% 32.3% 16.2% 30.0% 15.8% 6.9%None 75% 31.9% 48.7% 57.4% 60.4% 62.4% 66.5% 66.7% 70.0% 73.7% 87.6%

Compared with the 2006 survey, the first three reasons to prefer an agency for the Brazilians are related with the accessibility or convenience of the service.

For most of the other countries these main reasons are related to the quality of the service and its reputation.

Reasons to prefer agency Brazil México Dominicana Jamaica El Salvador Guatemala Close/Convenient/More agencies 27.3% 30.8% 16.0% 7.5% 12.8% 34.0%Costumer service/Friendly staff/Language 22.2% 0.8% 8.3% 13.5% 14.0% 5.0%Accesible/Easy to use/Services/Schedules 20.1% 14.8% 5.0% 11.0% 8.3% 11.0%Prestige/Well know/Recommended 16.1% 8.5% 2.0% 2.5% 3.8% 4.0%Price/Exchange rate/Free/Discounts 14.0% 10.2% 13.7% 16.0% 9.3% 27.0%Responsible/Secure/Trustworthy 30.2% 32.3% 23.5% 53.3% 32.0%Fast/Punctual/Efficient/No problems 25.7% 28.0% 28.5% 20.3% 19.0%

Consistently, the majority (63.6%) of the preferred agencies for Brazilians are at walking distance from home, although one out of three (32%) are at a less than 30 minutes drive.

63.6%

32.0%

4.0%0.4%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Walking distance Less than 30minutes drive

Between 30 and 60minutes

Don't know

Distance to transfer company from home

Mother/Father are the main beneficiaries of the remittances for every country, except for Guyana.

In second place for Brazil (21.4%) and some other countries are Husband/Wife.

For Brazil, Nicaragua, Cuba and Dominicana, the third place if for Children.

Beneficiary Brazil Guatemala México Colombia Nicaragua Ecuador El Salvador Cuba Dominicana Honduras GuyanaMother/Father 36.3% 49.5% 48.2% 46.0% 43.3% 39.0% 36.7% 36.6% 36.0% 30.7% 11.4%Husband/Wife 21.4% 22.9% 24.5% 14.0% 15.3% 9.0% 24.8% 7.4% 13.3% 26.7% 8.5%Your Children 19.3% 5.5% 8.2% 20.0% 15.3% 36.0% 11.9% 16.0% 14.7% 13.3% 16.9%Your Siblings 14.6% 14.7% 13.1% 9.0% 18.7% 14.0% 14.8% 24.6% 19.3% 18.7% 6.8%Other relatives 3.9% 6.4% 3.9% 3.0% 2.7% 1.0% 5.7% 8.0% 8.7% 4.0% 18.2%Friends 2.1% 0.5% 2.7% 1.3% 1.3%Business Partner 2.1%Other 0.3%Grandparents 0.9% 2.1% 8.0% 4.7% 1.0% 5.2% 7.4% 5.3% 5.3% 1.3%

Food (24.6%) and Clothing (17.3%) are the main uses for remittances in Brazil, like in most countries, in the comparison with the 2003 survey.

While medical expenses are in third place for Brazilians, for almost every other country it is Housing.

NationalityUses for remittances Brazil Nicaragua Cuba Guatemala El Salvador Colombia Honduras Ecuador México Dominicana Guyana

Food 24.60% 96.7% 96.6% 89.9% 89.5% 89.0% 88.0% 87.0% 86.9% 81.3% 72.0%Clothing 17.30% 68.7% 44.6% 69.7% 55.7% 59.0% 56.0% 29.0% 49.3% 25.3% 61.9%Medical 16.90% 10.7% 3.4% 3.7% 3.3% 8.0% 1.3% 4.0% 2.8% 6.7%Housing 15.90% 34.0% 16.6% 56.0% 46.2% 29.0% 32.0% 11.0% 37.2% 32.7% 33.1%Education 11.60% 29.3% 11.4% 39.4% 36.7% 31.0% 28.0% 20.0% 36.9% 21.3% 26.7%Don't Know 7.30% 2.7% 3.4% 11.0% 8.1% 6.0% 2.7% 8.0% 12.4% 8.0% 16.1%Business 5.30% 2.7% 0.6% 1.8% 2.4% 4.0% 1.0% 3.5% 4.0% 8.5%Savings 2.00% 0.6% 1.0% 0.7% 1.3% Other 8.00% 0.7% 1.1% 2.8% 4.8% 3.0% 8.0% 5.0% 8.7% 8.5%

Validating the results, Years sending money shows a very high correlation with Years living in US (Kendall’s tau-b = 0.79, p < .01, 2-tailed). The more years living in US, the more years sending money to Brazil.

Percentage of the total Years sending moneyYears in US <1 1 - 3 4 - 5 >5 NR Grand Total<1 4.0% 4.0%1 - 3 2.4% 37.9% 0.4% 40.7%4 - 5 3.2% 20.6% 0.4% 24.2%6 - 8 2.0% 4.4% 14.9% 21.4%9 - 10 0.4% 0.4% 0.8% 1.6%11 - 15 0.4% 0.8% 0.4% 2.0% 3.6%>15 3.6% 3.6%NR 0.4% 0.4% 0.8%Grand Total 7.3% 44.4% 25.8% 22.2% 0.4% 100.0%

The general same tendency is present for all nationalities included in the 2003 survey. A high Kendall’s tau-b correlation of 0.68 was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Years sending moneyYears in US Less than 1 1 - 3 4 - 6 7 - 9 10 - 12 13 - 15 > 15 NR Grand TotalLess than 1 3.97% 3.97%1 - 3 2.33% 17.14% 0.32% 0.13% 0.25% 20.16%4 - 6 0.88% 5.80% 15.31% 0.57% 22.56%7 - 9 0.50% 2.52% 5.80% 10.14% 0.32% 0.13% 0.06% 19.47%10 - 12 0.44% 1.89% 1.76% 3.34% 6.99% 0.13% 14.56%13 - 15 0.25% 0.38% 1.01% 1.07% 2.46% 1.26% 0.13% 6.55%> 15 0.13% 1.07% 0.88% 0.82% 2.02% 1.64% 4.22% 0.38% 11.15%NR 0.13% 0.50% 0.06% 0.38% 0.06% 0.06% 0.25% 0.13% 1.58%Grand Total 8.63% 29.30% 25.14% 16.45% 11.85% 3.21% 4.60% 0.82% 100.00%

Compared to the 2003 survey, almost half of the Brazilians (48%) have four or more years sending money to their country, like almost every other nationality except for Honduras.

Almost the other half (44.4%) have been sending money for between one and three years.

NationalityYears sending money Brazil Honduras Colombia Guatemala Nicaragua México Guyana Cuba El Salvador Dominicana EcuadorLess than a year 7.20% 12.00% 13.00% 12.84% 7.33% 9.22% 6.78% 9.71% 5.71% 10.67% 3.00%Between one and three years 44.40% 46.67% 40.00% 35.78% 32.00% 31.21% 28.39% 27.43% 25.24% 22.00% 14.00%Four or more 48.00% 41.33% 47.00% 51.38% 60.00% 59.22% 61.02% 61.71% 69.05% 67.33% 83.00%

92.4% of the Brazilians in MA prefer sending money by making a deposit into the beneficiary bank account. Only 6% prefers sending cash.

Almost half (42.4%) of the Brazilians would like low cost or free English classes. One out of four (25.6%) prefers financing for small business. One out of five (19.6%) wants Scholarships to pay school and college tuitions. Still, 6.8% would like low cost or free child care services.

42.4

25.6

19.6

6.8

21.6 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Sponsored services for community

Two out of three (66.8) Brazilians would be interested in contributing with a small portion of their remittances to support a “development fund” who gives services to the community.

The typical portion (42.8%) of remittances to contribute to the development fund is 1 percent. One out of five (20%) could contribute with 2 to 5 percent.

We crossed the monthly remittance to Brazil with the portion that they would give to support an immigrant fund to estimate what would be the potential monthly availability for this fund.

For example, 42% of the population (10,104) would allow 1 percent of their remittances to support the fund. The monthly average remittance for this 1 percent is $1,182.19.

So the 1 percent of this remittance category for this population would be $119,442,85.

The total estimated monthly support for all categories would be $362,471.

How much money do you send to your home country per month? Portion to support immigrant fund % of the total Brazilians in MA Average remittance % for support Estimated support10 percent or more 2.4% 577 795.00$ 79.50$ 45,898.85$ 6-9 percent 0.8% 192 325.00$ 24.38$ 4,690.92$ 2-5 percent 19.6% 4,715 1,166.12$ 40.81$ 192,438.38$ 1 percent 42.0% 10,104 1,182.19$ 11.82$ 119,442.85$ Total 64.8% 24,056 1,152.41$ --- 362,471.00$

Compared to the 2006 survey, Brazil has an average percent (70.4%) of people with bank accounts in the US, along with El Salvador and Nicaragua. Mexico and Guatemala are below the average and Jamaica, Bolivia and Dominicana are above (p < .05).

84.5

75.5 75.070.4

58.353.0

39.533.0

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

JamaicaBolivia

DominicanaBrazil

El Salvador

NicaraguaMexico

Guatemala

Bank account in US by nationality

Average = 61.1%

Above Average

Below Average

We ran another regression analysis to determine the effect of Gender, Education, Annual personal income and Years in US upon having a bank account in the US. This regression model showed a high statistical significance.

The standardized coefficients confirm that Education (p < .002) and Years in US (p < .004) are the most important factors to have a bank account.

Coefficients(a)

Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients

Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig.

(Constant) .849 .177 4.788 .000

Gender -.073 .068 -.076 -1.085 .279

Education -.079 .025 -.223 -3.171 .002

Annual personal income range .001 .019 .002 .030 .976

1

How long have you lived in the United States?

.071 .024 .206 2.932 .004

a Dependent Variable: Do you have a bank account in the United States?

Bank of America is the first bank of choice (44.8%) for Brazilians as for many other countries. Nevertheless, the second and third places for Brazil, Citizens Bank (17.6%) and Sovereign Bank (4.4%), are not mentioned by any other country.

NationalityBank in US BRAZIL MEXICO DOMINICANA JAMAICA EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA BOLIVIA NICARAGUABank of America 44.80% 8.50% 10.67% 9.50% 12.00% 8.00% 26.50% 13.00%Citizens Bank 17.60%Sovereign Bank 4.40%Middlesex Bank 1.60%Citibank 0.40% 5.50% 12.67% 18.00% 4.25% 3.00% 3.00%Luso American Credit Union 0.40%Chase 8.50% 18.00% 20.00% 3.75%Washington Mutual 4.17% 7.67% 10.00% 3.75% 13.00% 20.00%

As for almost all other nationalities, the main reason for Brazilians not to have a bank account is the lack of identification papers (40.7%), which is related to Accessibility and Convenience.

The second reason (36%) is subjective: “I don’t need a bank account”, but the third reason is also associated with Accessibility: “The process is very complicated”.

Why not bank Brazil México Dominicana Jamaica Colombia El Salvador Guatemala I don't have identification papers 40.70% 34.50% 4.00% 2.00% 26.00% 30.75% 41.00%I don't need a bank account 36.00% 21.17% 12.00% 10.50% 24.00% 12.50% 27.00%The process is very complicated 11.60% 9.17% 4.33% 1.00% 8.00% 9.50% 8.00%I don't speak English 8.10% 2.00%I don't trust banks 2.30% 5.83% 6.33% 2.50% 1.00% 2.75% 6.00%There is no bank near 1.20% 0.67% 0.33% 1.00%

When we order the nationalities by their use of both, credit and debit cards, Brazil (30%) is in the middle. One third of the Brazilians (35.6%) have a debit card and another third (30.8%) doesn’t have any of them.

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

Credit/Debit card by nationality

Both Credit Debit None of them

As with the monthly remittances, Brazilians are way above the other countries on monthly payments to the credit card ($744.74), being the average $325.43. Between the limits of the average are Nicaragua, Mexico and El Salvador (p < .05).

$714.74

$413.21

$341.00$317.65 $301.51

$265.45$217.76 $212.52

$0.00

$100.00

$200.00

$300.00

$400.00

$500.00

$600.00

$700.00

$800.00

Monthly payments to credit card by nationality

The majority of Brazilians (86.6%), as with every other nationality, does not have economic obligations in US.

Only 6.3% says to have house payment loans and 3.9% loans for other debts.

Obligations in US Brazil Guyana Cuba Colombia Nicaragua Honduras Ecuador El Salvador Dominicana Guatemala MéxicoDoes not have 86.60% 40.3% 75.4% 82.0% 84.7% 89.3% 96.0% 95.2% 88.7% 98.2% 97.5%House payment loans 6.30% 34.3% 18.9% 13.0% 12.0% 6.7% 3.0% 2.4% 2.0% 1.8% 1.1%Loans for other debts 3.90% 26.7% 1.0% 1.3% 1.0% 1.3% 0.7%Business loans 1.60% 5.5% 2.3% 1.3% 2.0%Education loans 1.60% 10.2% 4.6% 6.0% 2.7% 5.3% 1.0% 1.4% 6.0% 0.7%

TRANSNATIONALISM

The medians of frequency of travel to country are shaded in blue. We can see that 72% of Brazilians have never travel. Other countries in that case are Guatemala, Cuba, Honduras Colombia and Nicaragua.

On the contrary, half of the Dominicans travel once or twice a year.

Travel to country Brazil Guyana Ecuador Rep. Dom. El Salvador México NicaraguaColombia Honduras Cuba Guatemala3 or more times a year 0.40% 5.08% 11.33% 1.43% 2.13% 2.00% 2.00% 0.92%Twice a year 2.80% 10.59% 9.00% 24.00% 5.24% 4.26% 6.00% 7.00% 5.33% 2.29% 3.67%Once a year 6.80% 23.31% 29.00% 32.67% 19.05% 17.02% 11.33% 13.00% 6.67% 10.86% 4.59%Once every two years 1.60% 16.10% 26.00% 10.67% 5.24% 3.90% 13.33% 6.00% 12.00% 4.00% 3.67%Once every three years 0.80% 9.32% 3.00% 3.33% 8.10% 5.32% 3.33% 2.67% 1.71% 0.92%Less than 1 every 3 years 1.60% 22.88% 7.00% 16.00% 21.90% 12.41% 12.67% 15.00% 12.00% 13.14% 15.60%I've never travelled 72.00% 32.38% 39.72% 51.33% 57.00% 58.67% 68.00% 70.64%

As almost every other nationality, the Brazilians who travel stay typically two to three weeks (5.6%) or less than two months (5.2%)

How long do you stay? Brazil Guyana Dominicana Ecuador El Salvador Cuba Nicaragua Colombia México Honduras GuatemalaA week or less 0.80% 7.63% 7.33% 1.00% 1.90% 1.71% 6.00% 7.00% 3.55% 5.33% 1.83%2-3 weeks 5.60% 49.58% 48.67% 42.00% 26.67% 26.29% 26.00% 24.00% 18.79% 18.67% 18.35%Less than 2 months 5.20% 16.10% 26.00% 20.00% 15.71% 3.43% 12.00% 9.00% 12.06% 13.33% 3.67%More than 2 months 2.40% 1.69% 8.00% 9.00% 8.10% 3.33% 2.00% 6.38% 4.00% 4.59%Not Applicable 72% 32.38% 68.00% 51.33% 57.00% 39.72% 58.67% 70.64%

Brazil (52.4%) is among the countries with higher frequency of calls, two or more a week, along with Dominicana and Ecuador.

Other countries call typically once a week, except for Guyana and Cuba who mostly call once every two weeks.

Frequency of calls Dominicana Ecuador Brazil Colombia Nicaragua Mexico El Salvador Honduras Guatemala Guyana Cuba2 or more a week 60.7% 55.0% 52.4% 39.0% 28.7% 28.0% 23.8% 22.7% 21.1% 15.3% 11.4%Once a week 16.7% 43.0% 35.2% 38.0% 40.0% 44.0% 34.3% 33.3% 34.9% 23.3% 34.3%Once every 2 weeks 11.3% 2.0% 6.4% 16.0% 20.0% 14.2% 27.6% 25.3% 26.6% 28.0% 30.9%Once a month 8.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 8.9% 11.4% 10.7% 12.8% 19.1% 16.0%Less than once a month 3.3% 1.6% 1.0% 2.0% 3.9% 2.9% 6.7% 4.6% 6.4% 3.4%NR 0.4% 1.3% 1.1% 1.3% 8.1% 4.0%

The median length of calls to Brazil is 21 to 30 minutes, along with Dominicana, Colombia, Honduras and Nicaragua.

The lengthier calls, more than 30 minutes, are to Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.

The calls to Ecuador, Cuba and Guyana are typically from 11 to 20 minutes.

Length of calls Guatemala El Salvador Mexico Dominicana Brazil Colombia Honduras Nicaragua Ecuador Cuba GuyanaLess than 5 min. 0.5% 2.5% 0.7% 1.2% 2.0% 4.0% 0.7% 4.6% 3.4%6 to 10 min. 1.8% 4.3% 3.2% 6.7% 7.2% 10.0% 14.7% 9.3% 4.0% 21.1% 15.3%11 to 20 min. 9.2% 11.4% 7.8% 13.3% 18.8% 15.0% 20.0% 24.7% 45.0% 39.4% 39.0%21 to 30 min. 18.3% 22.4% 29.4% 35.3% 28.4% 32.0% 25.3% 36.0% 37.0% 21.1% 22.0%More than 30 min. 64.2% 59.0% 55.7% 44.0% 44.0% 40.0% 29.3% 26.0% 13.0% 9.7% 7.6%

One hundred percent of Brazilians buy products made in their country, as 95% of Ecuadorians.

Countries below the average are El Salvador, Guatemala and Cuba (p < .05).

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

Buy nostalgic products

ABOVE AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

AVERAGE = 72%

Almost half of the Brazilians (45.4%) buy foods and spices from their country. One out of five (20.5%) buy Videos, DVDs and CDs.

The third place is for clothing (17.8%)

45.4%

20.5%17.8%

5.1% 4.9% 3.7%1.6% 0.8% 0.2%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

50.0%

Nostalgic products

Except for Guyana and Ecuador, the majority of nationalities does not have economic obligations in their countries, including Brazil (51.2%) and especially Cuba (92%).

In second place for Brazil and many others is Savings account (27.1%) and in third place is Mortgage loan (6.9%).

Economic activities in country Brazil Guyana México El Salvador Cuba Rep. DominicanaNicaragua Colombia Ecuador Guatemala HondurasDoes not have 51.2% 35.2% 71.3% 75.7% 92.0% 62.7% 84.0% 62.0% 43.0% 76.1% 60.0%Savings account in a bank 27.1% 48.3% 25.2% 19.5% 1.7% 29.3% 4.7% 22.0% 55.0% 19.3% 16.0%Mortgage loan 6.9% 18.2% 4.3% 5.7% 2.3% 6.0% 6.0% 8.0% 14.0% 3.7% 12.0%Family/commercail business 8.1% 2.1% 1.4% 1.7% 3.3% 2.7% 6.0% 1.0% 1.8% 4.0%Life and health insurance 2.0% 4.7% 1.1% 2.7% 9.0% 8.0%Lends money to family 0.4% 8.5% 0.7% 1.3% 4.0% 1.0% 0.9% 2.7%Student loan 9.9% 1.3% 0.4% 0.5% 2.3% 0.7% 5.0%Loan to maintain a business 2.3% 1.7% 0.4% 2.7% 0.7% 1.0% 2.7%Rent payments 0.1% 0.4% 0.7%Medical expenses 0.1% 0.7%

One out of three Brazilians (37.6%) does not have financial accounts in their country. 28.9% have checking accounts and 26% have a savings account. Only 5.5% have credit cards.

37.6%

28.9%26.0%

5.5%

1.6%0.3%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

Does nothave / NR

Checkingaccount

Savingsaccount

Credit card Investmentaccount

Foreigncurrencysavings

Financial accounts in country

Only one out of three Brazilians help his/her family beyond the remittances, second only to Guyana (46.6%).

Below the average for this help are Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador and Guatemala (p < .05).

46.6%

36.80%

27.0%

22.7%20.0%

15.3%14.0%10.3%9.1%

5.7%3.7%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

50.0%

Help beyond remittances

AVERAGE = 19.2%

ABOVE AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

The first kind of help beyond remittances is, for almost all countries including Brazil (37.1%), payment of real state loans,

While for the other countries the second and third place are for student loans, loans to family or life and health insurance, for Brazil these places are for investment-related expenses (30.5%) and pension plan (15.2%).

Obligations beyond remittances Brazil Ecuador Guyana Dominicana Honduras Nicaragua México Colombia El Salvador Guatemala CubaPayment of real estate loans 37.10% 24.00% 20.76% 12.67% 8.00% 7.33% 7.09% 6.00% 2.86% 0.92% 0.57%Other investment-related expenses 30.50%Help with pension plan 15.20%Charitable donations 11.40%Payment of student loan 5.70% 5.08% 0.67% 2.67% 2.67% 1.06% 5.00% 1.43% 2.29%Loan to family for investments 18.64% 1.33% 5.33% 3.33% 1.42% 6.00% 2.75% 2.29%Life and health insurance 1.00% 2.97% 0.67% 4.00% 2.00% 0.35% 5.00% 0.95% 4.57%Loan for business 1.00% 5.08% 0.67% 6.67% 2.00% 0.71% 4.00% 0.48% 0.57%Rent payments 0.35%Tuition for siblings 1.00%

The average of immigrants who support hometown associations is 6.7% for all nationalities.

Brazil is above average with 12.4%), second only to Guyana (26.3%). El Salvador and Cuba are below average (p < .05).

26.3%

12.4%

10.0%

6.7%5.0%

4.0% 3.5% 3.3% 2.8% 2.4%

0.0%0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

Support of hometown associations

AVERAGE = 6.7%

ABOVE AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

Only one out of four Brazilians (23.6%) vote in national elections in Brazil.

The vast majority of Brazilians (87.6%) watch TV or listen to radio programs originated in their country.

Three out of four Brazilians (72%) send or receive e-mails from people in their country.

Almost every Brazilian with College degree (90.9%) send or receive e-mails from their country, while only half (46.7%) of those who did not finished elementary school do it (p < .05).

90.90%

70.00%

81.70%

69.80%

46.70%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

College Degree Some College High School ElementarySchool

UnfinishedElementary

E-mails by education

ABOVE AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

AVERAGE = 71.8%

Brazil is above average in Internet usage (72%), along with Jamaica and Dominicana.

Mexico and Guatemala are below average (p < .05).

76.5%72.0%

63.3%

36.0% 34.0%31.0%

24.2% 23.0%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

JamaicaBrazil

DominicanaBolivia

Nicaragua

El SalvadorMexico

Guatemala

Internet usage by nationality

BELOW AVERAGE

ABOVE AVERAGE

AVERAGE = 45%

CONCLUSIONS

DEMOGRAPHICS

• These results depicts Brazilians in MA as a privileged community compared to immigrants from other countries.

• The vast majority live in Suffolk county, specially around the Brazilian Immigration Center, and in Middlesex county.

• Their average age (34) is close to other immigrant communities. They are mature and responsible persons

that help their families back home.

• Their high proportion of males (66.4%) is only second to Guatemala.

• For El Salvador, this proportion is reversed, they have 63.8% of females.

• High school is the typical educational level for males but many females have college degrees or some college.

• College education is found only among students, business owners and housewives.

• Nevertheless, this education does not affect their income. It is over $35K, almost for all educational level.

• Also, one out of three Brazilians has a higher income than other nationalities.

• It is surprising to find this level of income when the majority is employed and only a few are business owners.

• The central measures of this income can be affected by the fact that 32% win from $31k to $35k, and that 15% did not answered this question.

• Compared to other countries, the proportion of Brazilians with US citizenship is the lowest one (3.2%).

• Not surprisingly, those who are citizens have been living longer in the US (over 15 years).

• The majority only have been living here 8 years or less.

• The typical Brazilian household is composed of a total of 3 to 4 adults.

• Children are scarce, because only 12% of the household have them.

• 88% of Brazilians in MA live in a rented house, while only 10.8% own their houses.

• The median of income for those who own their houses (Over $35,000) is higher than the median of income for those who rent ($31,000 to $35,000.)

REMITTANCES

• The typical frequency of remittances is once a month, although one out of three sends it twice a month.

• Although Sobrália, Governador Valadares and Conselheiro Pena receive more transactions, the first places in average amount sent are Governador Valadares, Guanhães and Rio de Janeiro.

• Again, Minas Gerais, Espíritu Santo and São Paulo receive more transactions but the higher average amounts are sent to Pará, Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte.

• The mean of the most recent transaction ($747.78) is probably more close to the truth than the estimated monthly remittance ($1,074.09), because there is a group of people who declares a way too high monthly remittance. The typical fee is $10.

• Even correcting the average for outliers ($3,000 or more), monthly remittances for Brazilians ($875) are way above

the average of many countries.

• While the first place for almost every other country in the comparison is for Western Union, Brazilians have their own preferred agency, Braz Transfers, and are satisfied or very satisfied with it.

• Although three out of four Brazilians does not use other services at their agencies, the rest use money orders or check cashing. Other nationalities

use Express, Phone Cards, Phone Booths and Cargo.

• While the Brazilians choose an agency because of the accessibility or convenience of the service, other immigrants look for the quality of the service and its reputation.

• That's why the majority of Brazilians preferred agencies are at walking distance.

• The main beneficiaries for almost all countries are mother and father, although Brazil has also husband, wife and children.

• Food (24.6%) and Clothing (17.3%) are the main uses for remittances in Brazil, like in most countries in the comparison with the 2003 survey.

• While Medical expenses are in third place for Brazilians, it is Housing for almost every other country.

• Like almost every other nationality in the 2003 survey, almost half of the Brazilians (48%) have four or more years sending money to their country.

• Validating the results, Years sending money have a perfect correlation with Years living in US. The more years living in US, the more years sending money to Brazil.

• Unlike every other nationality, 92.4% of the Brazilians in MA prefer sending money by making a deposit into the beneficiary bank account. Only 6% prefers sending cash.

• Almost half (42.4%) of the Brazilians would like low cost or free English classes for their community. One out of four (25.6%) prefers financing for small business.

• One out of five (19.6%) wants Scholarships to pay school and college tuitions. Still, 6.8% would like low cost or free child care services.

• Two out of three (66.8%) Brazilians would be interested in contributing with a small portion of their remittances to support a “development fund” who gives services to the community.

• The typical portion (42.8%) of remittances to contribute to the development fund is 1 percent. One out of five (20%) could contribute with 2 to 5 percent.

• The total estimated monthly

support for all categories would be $362,471.

• Compared to the 2006 survey, Brazil has an average percent (70.4%) of people with bank accounts in the US, along with El Salvador and Nicaragua.

• A regression analysis confirmed that the more important factors to open a bank account are Education and Years living in US.

• Bank of America is the first bank of choice (44.8%) for Brazilians as for many other countries.

• Nevertheless, the second and third places for Brazil are exclusive: Citizens Bank (17.6%) and Sovereign Bank (4.4%), are not mentioned by any other country.

• Brazilians compare to other nationalities in that accessibility and

convenience are the main reasons

not to have a bank account.

• Brazil is in the middle of card usage compared to the others. One out of three Brazilians have a debit/credit card, another one have a debit card and the rest does not have any of them.

• As with the monthly remittances, Brazilians are way above the other countries on monthly payments to the credit card.

• The majority of Brazilians (86.6%),

as with every other nationality,

does not have economic

obligations in US.

TRANSNATIONALISM

• Only one out of four Brazilians travel to Brazil, staying typically from 2 weeks to less than 2 months

• The lack of traveling is compensated by their frequency of calls, twice a week, and the length of these calls: 21 to 30 minutes.

• One hundred percent of Brazilians buy products made in their country, as 95% of Ecuadorians.

• Almost half of the Brazilians (45.4%) buy foods and spices from their country. One out of five (20.5%) buy Videos, DVDs and CDs.

• The third place is for clothing (17.8%)

• Only half of the Brazilians have economic obligations in their country.

• These are savings accounts and mortgage loans.

• The financial accounts in their country for one third of the Brazilians are mostly checking and savings accounts.

• Only one out of three Brazilians help his/her family beyond the remittances, second only to Guyana (46.6%).

• Like with the other nationalities this help is related to payments of real state, student or family loans.

• Exclusive for Brazilians are investment-related expenses (30.5%) and pension plan (15.2%).

• Consistently with their fund support, Brazilians are above average in helping hometown associations.

• While only one out of four Brazilians (23.6%) vote in national elections in Brazil, the majority watch TV, listen radio and receive e-mails from Brazil.

• Their use of internet is related to a higher level of education.

• Brazil is above average in Internet usage (72%), along with Jamaica

and Dominicana.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Brazilians in MA are a privileged community in comparison with immigrants from other countries. For example, women are more educated.

• Also, there is a group with a very high income sending a large amount in remittances.

• Our main recommendation for Innovation Network for Communities is to initiate an effort to create the development fund to offer services for this community.

• They are willing to cooperate with this fund and the estimation of monthly support makes this effort worthy.

• This fund can have partners like Braz Transfers and Bank of America to help collecting the support funds and, for example, to make possible mortgage loans for housing in the US.

• Desired services to fund are free English classes, financing for small business, scholarships and affordable child care.

• The presence of Transnationalist behavior seems apparent in the Brazilian community in MA.

• Nevertheless, to determine the Transnational level of the Brazilians with respect to other immigrant communities, it will be necessary to create a precise and reliable index.

• We can be of help in designing this index of Transnationalism.

BRAZILIANS IN MA

JULY 2007eSilvestre.com

Innovation Network for Communities