Brazil has 35.9% of young people who neither study nor work – OECD

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Lack of opportunities, high unemployment, and school dropout rates make Brazil only behind South Africa the runner-up among the countries with the highest proportion of young people who neither study nor work. In 2020, there were 35.9% of young Brazilians aged 18 to 24 in this situation. Next in line is Colombia with 34.5%.

Brazil’s and Colombia’s numbers are far from the average of the countries, which is 15.1%. Experts indicate that this situation has serious consequences for the Brazilian economy, besides representing a lack of public policies by the government and a lost opportunity.

The data for each country are from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). Here is the full text of the OECD ‘Education at a Glance 2021’ study.

One of the points the OECD report highlights about Brazil is how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted job prospects for young adults. According to Enid Rocha, from Ipea (Institute for Applied Economic Research), entering the job market is difficult in Brazil. Now, it is even worse.

“It’s what we are already calling the ‘Covid generation,'” says Rocha to Poder 360 newspaper. “The pandemic has directly affected education and the job market. And the longer these young people stay in this situation, the deeper the marks that will accompany them for their entire lives.”

And this situation existed even before the pandemic. Rocha points to the economic crisis that hit Brazil in 2015, which has already increased the vulnerability of the youngest. The weaker labor market limits opportunities, whether in education or in the workplace.

In recent years, unemployment has grown again in the country. For Marcos Barão, president of Conjuve (National Youth Council), the economic worsening scenario creates a significant risk: youth disillusionment.

“What you have in practice is hopelessness in relation to the future, due to significant impacts on the educational process and employment. Young people study and can’t work, but the chances are even lower when they don’t study.”

The problem only got worse with the lack of public policies. During the pandemic, Brazil was one of the few countries that did not increase investment in education, according to the OECD. The transfers represented 4% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2018. The percentage did not change in 2020 or 2021.

Rocha also draws attention to the lack of professionalization programs and the effects of inequality, which prevents many students from following distance education.

In this sense, Conjuve launched the “Package of Measures for the Productive Inclusion of Youth in Brazil” in October. The report heard different specialists propose public policies for young people to advance in their studies and enter the job market.

Barão told Poder360 that he would go to Brasília from October 19 to 21 to talk to members of the Congress about the issue. Conjuve is also trying to establish a dialogue with the Executive Branch for a policy in the area.

WORK-EDUCATION RELATIONSHIP

In recent years, school dropouts have fallen. In 2018, elementary school dropouts were 1.5%, while in 2020, it was 1%. In high school, on the other hand, the drop was from 6.1% to 2.3%.

But unemployment in the 18-24 age group grew from 28.1% to 29.8% over the same period.

The situation is even worse for young people who do not continue their studies, either by abandoning them or not going beyond the primary level (completion of high school). The demand for technical knowledge ends up barring many young people from the job market.

And even when they do manage to get into the job market, young people who don’t have the opportunity to continue their studies are more likely to have informal jobs with lower pay and no access to social security.

According to Barão, for those who need to leave primary education to work and end up dropping out of school, the situation is even worse.

“When we look at the impact on the lives of young people, besides informality and low pay, we see that there is a reduction in life expectancy itself. They become even more susceptible to social vulnerabilities that cause a lot of damage in the present and the future.”

For Rocha, Brazil is missing an opportunity. “All countries have taken advantage of this moment when most of their population is young. Brazil has not succeeded. Our population is starting to age and, in the short and medium-term, there is no prospect of improvement for the situation of young people and the future of this generation.”