Youth employment in Brasil

Youth unemployment is a huge challenge for Latin America and economic growth does not in itself resolve the problem. In Brazil, the phenomenon of youth unemployment hits harder those with lower incomes, less education, women, afro-brazilians, and those living in urban areas. The unemployment rate among the youngest age groups shot up during the 1990s. And despite a moderate recovery in jobs in Brazil in recent years, youth unemployment has risen. The International Development Research Centre showed how youth unemployment and informality have effects on later adult labor market outcomes – youths who were exposed to higher levels of unemployment and informality fared systematically worse in the labor markets as adults. The result leads to a vicious cycle: large informal sectors mean less tax revenue for governments to invest in the infrastructure development necessary to support private sector growth and the creation of employment opportunities.

Our development expert Marta Sachy conducted the monitoring & evaluation of the TCHAU Project – Trabalhar, Cooperação, Humanidade, Amor, União: an initiative funded by the European Union with the goal of creating a multi-purpose center to provide professional training and promote youth employment in two heavily affected neighborhoods of Salvador de Bahia, Boca do Rio and Acupe de Brotas. The project was launched in 2015 upon signature of the agreement between Molise Region, the foundation D.Avelar Brandão Vilela, the Christian institution of support for young people – ICAJ, the city of Salvador de Bahia, and the parish center of St. Francis of Assisi.