Generation without work or study breaks record in pandemic, says FGV – News

The pandemic made the so-called “nem-nem generation” – a portion of young people between 15 and 29 years old who do not study or work – to break a historical record in 2020, according to a survey carried out by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation Social Policy Center (FGV Social) released this week.

The survey shows that in the second half of 2020 this percentage was 29.33%, the highest since the beginning of the series that started in 2012. In the second half of last year, the percentage of young people without a job or study dropped, but it was still in 25.5%, the equivalent of saying that a quarter of young Brazilians ended the year without work or school.

The lowest percentage ever recorded in the survey, 20.76%, occurred during 2014.

According to economist Marcelo Néri, director of FGV Social and responsible for the survey, the study shows the high vulnerability of young people in times of crisis.

“These shocks can leave permanent marks, the so-called scar effect, on the trajectory of social ascension for an entire generation”, he says in the study.

School dropout dropped

The survey also showed a drop in the dropout rate during the pandemic, reaching the lowest level in the series in the last quarter of 2020, with 57.95% among 15- to 29-year-olds. At the end of 2019, this percentage was 62.2%.

For the researcher, the combination of lack of job opportunities with lower school fees (automatic attendance and approval) may explain this lower dropout rate.

Uneducated youth, women and heads of household suffer more

The survey also identified the groups most vulnerable to a lack of employment and study. The survey found that the most vulnerable are people with no education (66.81%); Northeasterners (32%), women (31.29%), blacks (29.09%), residents of the periphery of the largest Brazilian metropolises (27.41%) and heads of families (27.39%).

“In addition to traditionally excluded groups, the fact that the greatest incidence of the nem-nem are among those with less education and the main providers of families have implications for the future of these young people and entire families”, concludes the study.

The complete survey can be accessed at this link https://www.cps.fgv.br/cps/bd/docs/TEXTO-Pandemia-Jovens-Nem-Nem_Sumario-Marcelo_Neri_FGV_Social.pdf

– .