For Brazil's new middle class, life's still a struggle

http://www.latimes.com/world/brazil/la-fg-ff-brazil-middle-class-20140611-story.html#page=1



In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a subway strike has turned the morning commute into an even longer ordeal.

For Brazil's new middle class, life's still a struggle
Vincent Bevins
June 11, 2014

When soccer's World Cup tournament kicks off Thursday in Brazil, it will mark a crowning moment in a campaign for respect built largely on the country's economic progress over the last decade, especially in lifting 40 million people out of poverty.

Many have left the daily struggle for survival behind in recent years, to focus on a steady job and hope for a better future.

But here is what it often means to be part of this new middle class:

Juan Brito Rocha, a 22-year-old scholarship student, lives with his parents and three brothers in a run-down high-rise with holes in the concrete walls where the family is trying to improve the electrical service. The brothers, ranging in age from 15 to 25, sleep in bunk beds in one tiny bedroom and share clothes.