Brazil has fewer young people who neither study nor work

One out of five young people aged 15–29 in Brazil (19.8%) were neither studying nor working in 2023, statistics bureau IBGE reported.

In absolute numbers, 9.6 million youths were in this situation. The study found that, on the other hand, 15.3 percent of young people worked and studied, 39.4 percent only worked, and 25.5 percent only studied.

The proportion of young people who neither worked nor studied fell compared to 2022 (20%) and 2019 (22.4%). “These people who neither studied—or were receiving training—nor worked have been decreasing in number because, in recent years, we’ve had a greater influx of young people into the workforce. This group has been reduced more through the labor market than necessarily through education,” IBGE researcher Adriana Beringuy stated.

The percentage of young people who neither worked nor studied was even higher among those aged 18–24, the age group suitable for higher education: 24 percent, or approximately one in four people. In this group, 18 percent studied and worked, 39.4 percent only worked, and 18.6 percent only studied.

Among 15–17-year-olds, 11.3 percent worked and studied, 2.3 percent only worked, 81.2 percent only studied, and 5.1 percent did neither. As for those aged 25–29, 13.8 percent worked and studied, 59.2 percent only worked, 4.8 percent only studied, and 22.3 percent did neither.

“From 15 to 17 years old, the main arrangement is not to be working, and to be studying—which is quite desirable. From 18 to 24, the number of people who are only studying drop significantly and the amount of those who are only working rises. Work begins to compete with study in their lives. But those who are neither working nor studying are see a growth in number. Finally, between the ages of 25 and 29, we have almost 60 percent of people who are fully engaged in work,” the researcher went on to say.