New Report Finds Brazilians in Mass. Have Highest Rates of Labor Participation and Self-Employment, of All Brazilians in US

Alvaro Lima, director of research for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, is the co-author – with Eduardo Siqueira – of a newly-released report, "Brazilians in the U.S. and Massachusetts: A Demographic and Economic Profile."

The Mauricio Gastón Institute of the University of Massachusetts Boston released the report to the public for the first time on Feb. 21, 2008.

Lima, a Brazilian immigrant who came to the U.S. as a student in the 1980s, talked to New England Ethnic News about the report and common misperceptions about Brazilians.

Following is the condensed and edited interview, which took place by phone on Feb. 22, 2008.

 

What stood out the most in your report?

The economic contributions of Brazilians to the state. I used the same model and the same methodology that we use for every other population. I was very surprised.

 

How many Brazilian businesses are in the country - and how many of them are in Massachusetts?

There are around 3,700 Brazilian businesses in the country - and Massachusetts has about 28% of them.

 

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS

Do you have any dollar values for the contributions of Brazilians to the economy of Massachusetts?

Brazilians contribute more than $1 billion to the regional product of Massachusetts – how they contribute as consumers, what they spend in the economy. The regional product is how much the dollar that you spend creates products.

 

That's quite high, $1 billion in Masachusetts alone.

It's quite high (but) when you compare and kind of put some boundaries on this, you see that (the $1 billion) is reasonable.

 

So it's a myth that the contributions of Brazilians to the Massachusetts economy is low?

Yes, and I think that is part of the notion that the Brazilian community is very small. The reality is that Brazilians are the fifth largest community in the state and the third largest community in metropolitan Boston.

In Boston alone, Brazilians are the 10th largest group. In the country, Brazilians are the 28th largest community.

They create close to 10,000 jobs. This information comes from the Census. They are not taking jobs, they're creating them. Some of these jobs are for other immigrants, some are not.

Brazilians create close to 10,000 jobs - in Massachusetts alone?

Yes, and another myth is about the cost of raising and retiring the (Brazilian) labor force, to the economy of this country or of Massachusetts. The myth is that Brazilians take up a lot of public resources.

The cost is not borne by this economy. It's borne by other economies. (What's) never told is that Brazilians - but this is true for other immigrants, too - they come here (to the USA) when they are of working age.

And many tend to go home when they retire.

Consider that most Brazilians that are here went to school in Brazil, so this is a direct transfer of public resources from a poor economy to a rich economy. But that - the REAL costs - never gets in the picture.

WHO and WHERE

How do you know that many Brazilians in Massachusetts go back to Brazil when they retire?

The Census doesn't have this data. It comes from data that we have, from the Brazilian Immigrant Center, and other data from Brazil. We have access to the Brazilian Census of who is coming and who is going back.

How would you describe Brazilians in Massachusetts?

They're mostly in their 30s. They're almost evenly divided between male and female.

They come here mostly as workers. Their level of self-employment is high.

They have a slightly-higher level of education than the average foreign-born. That is partly because, to immigrate, it takes social capital and real capital - money.

The (Brazilian) folks who immigrate here are in the Brazilian middle class and lower-middle class. So if you are poor in Brazil, you do not have the capital necessary to immigrate.

Does Framingham have the highest number of Brazilians in Massachusetts?

Among the cities, Framingham has the highest concentration of Brazilians.

After Framingham, it would be Boston, Cambridge, Everett and Malden that have large concentrations of Brazilians.

 

LABOR FORCE

Your report says that Brazilians in Massachusetts - as compared to those in other states - have the highest rate of labor participation. Why is that?

I think it's a combination (of factors). One, the Massachusetts economy is stronger than other (states') economies, so there are more jobs here.

Two, if you look at the profile of the Brazilian immigrant who comes to Massachusetts, they tend to be slightly more educated than Brazilians in the rest of the country.

There's a very strong network of Brazilians here. There is a large concentration of Brazilian companies (in Massachusetts) to hire Brazilians. It's easier for Brazilians to find jobs here.

The majority of Brazilians who immigrate here come to work. There is a network hiring effect (of local Brazilian companies), so the probability of hiring Brazilians is high.

Your report says also that Massachusetts has the highest rate - of ALL the states in the country - of self-employed Brazilians or Brazilian-owned businesses. Why do you think that is so?

I think again it has to do with the vibrancy of the Massachusetts economy in the last two, three decades.

But it also has to do with the profile of Brazilians who come to Massachusetts. They tend to be slightly more educated (than Brazilians in other states), and they tend to come from slightly larger cities in Brazil, bringing with them more (financial) capital than other Brazilians.

But it's not just more capital that they bring with them. They also bring their experience of self-employment.

One aspect of the Brazilian economic crisis in the 1980s, which continues today, is that people's jobs disappeared. So they had to open their own businesses and work for themselves. The economy has been forcing a lot of people to be on their own.

And the larger and more urbanized the city is that (the Brazilian immigrant) comes from, the more experience he has in urban business (as opposed to business in the Brazilian countryside).

By urbanization, I mean cities with industrial-services economies, larger populations and complex infrastructures - instead of, for example, smaller cities where you have just stores for generations that people come to.

 

What businesses or industries are these self-employed Brazilians in?

Mostly services, food service such as restaurants, and personal services like cleaning and tax preparation.

They are also in retail, they have small stores selling Brazilian (items), CDs and clothing. Food services and retail services are big sectors.

 

IMMIGRATION to – and FROM – MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts is the second most-popular destination in the United States for Brazilians, according to your report. Why do you think that's so?

After Florida, Massachusetts is the most-popular destination. There's a long history of migration of Brazilians to Massachusetts, for (the past) three or four decades.

There was a Massachusetts company in Brazil (a few decades ago) that worked in mining, going back to about the 1950s.

After the company shut down, it brought some Brazilians to Massachusetts, and that started connections to Massachusetts for Brazilians. A network was created.

It's been only about 30 years ago that the large Brazilian immigration started.

Today there is a strong social network of Brazilians. It's easier now for Brazilians to come to Massachusetts and find jobs, even if they don't speak English, than to other states.

 

Why did Brazilian immigration to the U.S. begin to speed up in the 1980s?

Brazil is historically a country of immigration, not emigration, similar to the U.S. It has a large immigrant population.

Brazilians did not immigrate until the end of the 1970s, the beginning of the 1980s, and throughout the 1980s.

There was an economic crisis in Brazil in the 1980s - that particularly affected the middle class - that produced large numbers of immigrants, some to Japan, some to the U.S.

That immigration has continued until now, partly because there is this network. It's only recently that the Brazilian economy has started to grow again.

 

The New York Times reported that there's been an exodus of Brazilians in New York and Massachusetts who have gone back to Brazil - one way. Has that been your sense as well?

Yes, there are Brazilians leaving Massachusetts. What we know - by contacts we made with Brazil and regions (there) - it's been confirmed that (returning) Brazilians are back there.

But what we don't know is if (other) Brazilians are leaving the country or leaving to go to other states in the U.S.

For example, there is a significant number of Brazilians who just recently arrived in New Orleans. From where, we don't know.

How many Brazilians have left Massachusetts? And how many remain in the state?

If you look at the U.S. Census, there is (about) 10,000 less Brazilians in Massachusetts.

In 2005, there were 84,000 Brazilians in Massachusetts. In 2006, there were 74,000.

Now, if you look at the 2005 and 2006 Census data for the country as a whole, there were 328,000 Brazilians in the U.S. before.

Now, there are 342,000 Brazilians in the U.S. So if they're leaving, they're also coming - but they're not coming to Massachusetts. They're going to other states.

 

In Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Brazilians comprise the highest percentage of the overall foreign-born population, according to your report. Any particular reason why?

Until a few years ago - when it became difficult for Brazilians to acquire visas to work here in the summer - they used to work there during the summer, then return back to Brazil, in mainly the tourism industries.

Also, they own landscaping and painting and businesses. They work in service industries, such as restaurants.

 

MYTHS and COMMUNITY NEEDS

You said earlier that people think of Brazilians in Massachusetts as being a small population, when in fact there are 74,000. Other myths are that Brazilians in the state take up public resources and don't contribute much to the economy. What other myths does the Brazilian community face?

Another myth is related to a larger myth about immigrants (in general), that immigrants do not produce much, do not pay taxes.

Our calculation is not only that they contribute $1 billion to the regional product, but that they also pay about $295,000,000 in state and federal taxes.

That is not a surprise because if you work with immigrants, you know that by paying taxes, immigrants hope that they will one day (become) legalized, and prove that they were here (paying taxes) and being good citizens, so to speak.

They also create close to 10,000 jobs.

You've been in Massachusetts for about 20 years now. What have been your observations of the Brazilian community during this time?

They've made incredible contributions to the cities where they are.

I remember going to Framingham 20 years ago. Downtown Framingham was a sorry place. It was boarded up, no commerce, no business. Brazilians revitalized downtown Framingham.

Today it's a vibrant place. Actually some Brazilians are under pressure to leave Framingham because they can't afford the rent and the (higher cost of living) that's happening there.

What are some of the needs that Brazilians collectively have in Massachusetts?

The major problem is access to drivers' licenses because that's what they need to go to work - to (take care of people's) yards, to clean houses - and to drop their kids off at school.

Another problem has been the general harassment of Brazilians where they are in large groups, like in Framingham and Everett.

Some have problems explaining to their kids that they're not criminals, that they're just working hard to give them a better life. That's a problem for the average Brazilian in the United States.

Another problem is in getting certification in the occupation or educational field that they had in Brazil. The certification process is cumbersome, expensive, bureaucratic.

A nurse ends up working as a nurse assistant, for example, or on the cleaning crew of a hospital. It's a waste of resources for the economy as a whole.

English literacy and childcare are big issues. Other research I did involved 250 Brazilians in Massachusetts who chose English as a Second Language, followed by childcare, when (asked to choose what needs they would want met) if we had a community investment fund to invest in the community.

Finally, what do you miss about Brazil?

I miss my family. That's a big miss. I miss the day to day--, the noise of the street, the noise of the language, the smell.

But I've been here now for 20 years. So when I'm there, I miss also things from here.

Source: EthnicNewz.org

Copyright 2008 New England Ethnic News, EthnicNewz.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the expressed permission by the news source. Contact Newz for more information.

 

 

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