Teenagers in Rio de Janeiro: education, work and health risks

Abstract

Adolescence is generally treated in a homogeneous manner by society. However, adolescents’ vulnerability to risks is strongly influenced by their social conditions. The role played by schools is essential in introducing young people to culture and citizenship and preparing them for insertion into the job market. Data from the 2005 National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) show increasing rates of school attendance, but high levels of grade/age gap, which leads to a disadvantage in insertion into the job market. Adolescents from the poorest segments of the population enter the job market much earlier than those from other social segments and have greater difficulty in reconciling study and work. According to the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (DIEESE), most young people from poorer families only work and do not study, have only incomplete elementary education and receive average incomes below the minimum wage. The conditions and environment in which the work is carried out can influence the health of adolescents. One of the great challenges of Brazilian society, in relation to adolescents and young people, is to enable them to have socially integrated life projects in the different social contexts in which they are inserted. Adolescence; educational status; socioeconomic factors