Pandemic could create an entire ‘lost generation’ in Brazil

Economies all over the world are tanking due to Covid-19 and the forced social isolation measures that have come with the pandemic. In Brazil, GDP is set to shrink by between 6 and 10 percent this year, depending on who you listen to. But Latin America’s biggest economy has an additional problem. The coronavirus crisis came as the country was still struggling to recover from the 2014-2016 recession, which — out of Brazil’s extensive rap sheet of economic downturns — was the worst on record. This latest GDP contraction will cap off what has essentially been a lost decade.

In just three months, the pandemic has thrown out almost ten years of growth in GDP per capita, signifying two things: this crisis is more severe than the one that preceded it, and growth in Brazil has already been feeble for years. Considering the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) estimates for the economy, GDP per capita has backslid to 2010 levels.

An entire generation of Brazilians are being directly damaged by the crisis due to missed opportunities in economic development, largely those who entered the labor force and cannot place themselves in a proper position.

What is happening in the labor market?

Since 2015, Brazil’s unemployment rates have been consistently in the double digits. However, looking closer at the data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, we see that unemployment among youngsters is much higher. 

Among teenagers between 14 and 17 years old who are looking for a job, more than 40 percent are left wanting. Among those aged 18 to 24, the rate has hovered around 25 percent. And these measurements have yet to include the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, bound to aggravate the situation. 

“When there is a crisis, young people are among the first to lose their jobs, mainly...