Almost 20 million Brazilians survive with just beaks

Almost 20 million informal workers resorted to occupations with lower incomes and without the need for qualifications to try to finance their survival in the third quarter of 2021. This is the search for the popular odd jobs as a strategy to pay basic expenses.

This is one of the conclusions of a study released this Wednesday (22) by B3 Social and Fundação Arymax, in partnership with Instituto Veredas.

According to the survey, Brazil had 19.7 million workers classified as informal subsistence workers in the third quarter of 2021 – the most recent period with data available when the analysis began.

The group brought together professionals with an income of up to two minimum wages and who filled occupations marked by instability, such as odd jobs.

These 19.7 million corresponded to 60.5% of a universe of 32.5 million workers inserted in informal positions or in vacancies that, even with a formal contract or CNPJ, had traces of informality, such as the uncertainty of income at the end of the month.

The survey, produced using data from the Pnad Contínua (Continuous National Household Sample Survey), focuses on the positions of salaried workers, self-employed workers and private sector employers.

Informal people from the agricultural or public and domestic sectors are not included in the sample of 32.5 million due to the specifics of these categories, say those responsible for the study.

“Informality is not expressed in a single way. It has different characteristics within each group of workers”, says Vahíd Vahdat, director of projects and institutional articulation at Instituto Veredas.

“Several issues call attention to the numbers, and one of them is that having an occupation may not be enough. The quality of work matters a lot. Subsistence informal people are in completely unstable occupations. These positions do not create a consistent horizon for workers”, complete.

According to the study, 75.4% of informal workers with incomplete primary education or less belonged to the group of workers who only sought the basics for survival in the third quarter of 2021.

The analysis also indicates that more than 64% of the informal subsistence groups were black.

fragile forms

Within the sample of 32.5 million workers, the second largest group was classified as the fragile formal ones. This portion was estimated at 6.9 million, equivalent to 21.1% of the total.

According to the research parameters, the formal fragile are workers who, even with a formal contract or CNPJ, perform functions with lower remuneration (up to two minimum wages) and face situations of uncertainty or vulnerability, as well as informal workers.

Among the examples cited by the study are intermittent job vacancies, whose provision of services is not continuous, or positions without regular wages.

“These are bonds that, in times of crisis, tend to be broken,” says Vahdat.

Informal with productive potential or by choice

The study also points out that, among the 32.5 million workers analyzed, there were 5.2 million (or 16.1%) defined as informal with productive potential.

They were ahead of the subsistence group in terms of education and income (from two to five minimum wages), but were still threatened by uncertainty in the professional market.

Finally, the remaining share, 735,900 (or 2.3%), was that of the informal by choice, the study indicates.

This portion is characterized by bringing together professionals with more than five minimum wages and a chance of achieving formality.

However, it remains in the informal field for possible reasons such as avoiding additional tax costs or considering the formalization process bureaucratic.

“While we are unable to create a better economic horizon for the country, informality will remain high or even grow”, projects Vahdat.

“Part of the solution has to do with creating economic policies for employment. As long as there is no horizon, it will be very difficult.”