Out-of-school and jobless youth are on the rise. The pandemic generated one of the largest contingents of this population subgroup in Brazilian history. Approximately 12 million young people neither study nor work.
They leave the education system early and have low qualifications. The poorest receive lower quality education. Even in public education there is inequality in access to the best schools.
However, it is known that the skills built by people during their youth exert considerable influence on their trajectories. Especially with regard to opportunities in the labor market. Those who don’t develop enough skills have access to worse jobs.
Added to this is the low Brazilian economic growth. The difficult situation faced by the country in recent years has made the job market even more competitive. Many go to the informal sector and, as a result, tend to receive lower wages and do not have access to social security.
For thousands of disadvantaged young people, there is no hope for the future. Those who study, learn little in our schools and face difficulties in finding employment. However, for those who do not qualify, the chances are even lower.
Disillusionment and youthful frustration increase. Outside of school and with low expectations regarding the job market, the world of crime is inviting. Some see in illegal activities that return and social value that schools and occasional low-quality work will not provide.
Some are put in prison, others end up in the crossfire of violence. This plot is reproduced daily around us and represents a high cost for any society.
Offering better opportunities for young people with no prospects is a fairer, cheaper and more prosperous path. For this, one of the paths is to advance both the provision of quality education and the inclusion of youth in the job market.
In a recent study carried out by Luciano Salomão and Naercio Menezes-Filho, researchers found a relationship between the improvement in the quality of education in Brazilian municipalities and a decrease in homicides, an increase in higher education enrollments and job creation (Um Novo Index de Quality of Basic Education and its Effects on Homicide, Education and Employment of Young Brazilians, 2022).
In the American context, in an impact assessment carried out by Judd Kessler, it is estimated that the Syep (Summer Youth Employment Program) in New York City led to a 10% decrease in incarceration and an 18% decrease in mortality (The effects of yoth employment on crime: Evidence from New York City Lotteries, 2021).
This and other evidence is common knowledge to many on the benches of economics schools. However, they usually do not reach the population and even public managers.
Moving forward in the construction of paths to generate greater dissemination of the results of well-founded research can help society to be more assertive in relation to the dilemmas involving public choices.
However, this is not a trivial thing to do. There is the challenge of developing more effective communication for complex issues in a country where a significant portion of the population has considerable difficulties in interpreting basic texts.
In addition, there is a lack of interest. Often, trivial, futile or controversial subjects attract more people’s attention than those that actually have the potential to change their lives. Despite the challenges, we need to move forward. Brazil’s social situation is too delicate to always remain in the background.
The text is a tribute to Ain’t got no/I got life, by Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni and James Rado, performed by Nina Simone.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
