The number of young people who do not study, do not work, or are not looking for a job has grown in the last year, according to a survey by the Ministry of Labor released on Tuesday (28). Brazil had 4 million young people between 14 and 24 years old in this situation in the 1st quarter of 2023, according to the research. This number jumped to 5.4 million in the same period this year.
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Majority is Woman
Of this group, around 60% are women, the majority with young children, and 68% are black.
Job Search
Also considering those who are looking for a job – 3.2 million -, the so-called unemployed, the group reaches 8.6 million young Brazilians.
17% of the Population
Young people between 14 and 24 years old represent 17% of the Brazilian population (34 million people), and the majority of them (39%) live in the Southeast region, half of which are in the state of São Paulo.
Informal Market
In 2024, the employed population between the ages of 14 and 24 will be 14 million, with 45% (6.3 million) working informally, according to the survey. This percentage changes a lot from state to state.
Apprentice and Intern
Between 2011 and 2024, the number of apprentices in Brazil doubled. Currently, there are 602 thousand. The survey highlights that 59% of them did not complete high school.
There were 642,000 interns in 2023 and 877,000 in 2024, an increase of 37%. More than half (51%) work in private companies, but there is a high proportion in the public sector (40%), mainly in public administration (30%) and Justice (7%).
Analysis:
The significant increase in the number of young people who do not study, do not work, and are not looking for work, along with the female majority in this group, indicates a reality in which young women are particularly affected by adverse economic conditions.
This situation is worsened by the predominance of informal work among employed young people, highlighting the precariousness of working conditions and the lack of access to formal jobs with guaranteed labor rights.
The numbers are still a reflection of the COVID-19 pandemic and can be explained, in part, by the care work that women carry out in society. The economic crisis and measures to contain the pandemic have exacerbated pre-existing inequalities, placing young women in a position of greater vulnerability.
Sources: G1.
