Over 1.8 million children and adolescents in Brazil labor market

Black and brown children make up the majority

Published on 29/11/2017 - 20:20 By Ana Cristina Campos reports from Agência Brasil - Rio de Janeiro

In 2016, of a total 40.1 million children and adolescents aged 5 through 17, 1.8 million were active in the labor market. The level of employment in this portion of the population reached 4.6%—a group chiefly formed by 14 to 17-year-olds. Black and brown children make up the majority—64.1%.

The figures can be found in the study entitled Continuous PNAD (National Household Sample Survey), released today (Nov. 29) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), also reveals that 34.7% of the children in the labor market were girls, compared to 65.3% of boys.

Of children aged five through nine, 0.2% were employed in 2016—some 30 thousand. As for the age group comprising 10 to 13-year-olds, the percentage added up up 1.3%, or 160 thousand children. For 14 to 15, 6.4% were employed (430 thousand), compared to 16% (1.2 million) for adolescents aged 16 to 17.

Of all working children aged five to 13, 71.8% were black or brown, against 63.2% for 14 to 17-year-olds.

Education

An average of 81.4% of children and adolescents employed attended school in 2016. Further classifying these people into different age groups shows that 98.4% of working children from 5 to 13 years old went to school. For those aged 14 through 17, the percentage was reported at 79.5%. Of the those employed and aged 5 to 17, 94.8% went to a public school, and 5.2% to a private one.

Of the people working aged 5 to 13, only 26% were paid. As for the group formed by 14 to 17-year-olds, 78.2% were paid.

Type of work

Agriculture was the main activity among working children from 5 to 13 years old, which accounts for 47.6% of them. As for those aged 14 to 17, the main activity was trade (27.2%). Furthermore, whereas 66% of the group comprising children from 14 to 17 had jobs as employees, 73% of children from 5 to 13 were employed as family assistants.

Of the teenagers aged 14 and 15 with a job as employees, 89.5% were informal workers. Of those employed aged 16 and 16, the percentage of those officially registered as workers totaled 29.2% in 2016.

Income

The real monthly income for those aged 5 to 17 was estimated at $159.47.

The number of hours of work followed an increasing trend based on age, with eight hours for 5 to 9-year-olds and 28.4 hours for 16 to 17-year-olds.

Under Brazilian law, working is illegal for people younger than 16 years old, unless they are employed as apprentice and aged at least 14.


Translated by Fabrício Ferreira


Fonte: Over 1.8 million children and adolescents in Brazil labor market

Edition: Valéria Aguiar / Nira Foster

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