Brazil challenges UNICEF's data of teenagers in poverty

Brazilian Social Development and Hunger Alleviation Minister Tereza Campello challenged Friday a UN report which underlined an increase of teenagers in poverty in the South American country.The report, released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),said the number of Brazilian teenagers living in poverty, aged between 12 and 17, increased from 16.3 percent in 2004 to 17.6 percent in 2009.Campello refuted the report with the government's own data which show a decrease in the number of this age group from 11.5 percent in 2004 to 7.6 percent in 2009."We had an improvement in the youngsters' and children's wealth," she said.According to the minister, figures released by UNICEF are incorrect because when measuring extreme poverty, it has taken into consideration the minimum wage, which in fact increased faster than inflation over the period, indicating a real rise in the population's income.From 2004 to 2009, Brazil's minimum wage almost doubled, going up from 240 reais (134 U.S. dollars) to 465 reais (260 dollars).UNICEF identifies extremely poor youngsters as those who live in households with a per capita income of less than 136.25 reais (76 dollars),about a quarter of the minimum wage, while the Brazilian government sets the standard at 70 reais (39 dollars).