Increased child labor in Brazil in the pandemic: myth or reality?

Abstract

This article aimed to analyze the reality and changes in child labor in Brazil during the period of the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus and how the State dealt with this fact led to an increase in inequality and social difficulties in the country, resulting in the current situation, as well as understanding what are the possible ways to reduce this practice, increasing the rights of these children and adolescents and improving their experience. According to UNICEF (United Nations Emergency Fund for Children), globally, 8.9 million children and adolescents are at risk of being pushed into child labor by the end of 2022, thus, the ways to fight the virus used by the government may have failed with this class, since the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 places it as the duty of the State, society and the family, to ensure health, education, and freedom, in addition, to protect them from any form of exploitation, cruelty, neglect, and oppression, therefore, this type of work should be decreasing rather than increasing. That being said, the research used the qualitative methodology in its development, presenting information that explains the subject, through primary and secondary sources, such as laws, articles, and news, presenting numbers and measurable information to exemplify the reality and arguments discussed in the process.