Many of the clients are foreigners. This problem is closely related to unemployment and the lack of access to education. By not implementing a broad agrarian reform, the government has both failed to implement the principles of the Brazilian Constitution, as well as to guarantee the right to basic nutrition enshrined in article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. The majority of non-reported deaths are of children less than one year old. These areas do not have the necessary urban infrastructure to house those who arrive in search of work.
Workdays are often as long as eleven hours.
The dire situation of the Brazilian education system is evidenced by the existence of roughly 15.2 million illiterates and 30 million functionally illiterate, according to the Ministry of Education. Given that the estimated population of children in this age range is 28 million, one can deduce that there are some 1.26 million children between 7 and 14 years old not attending school.