The COVID-19 health crisis has hit the Brazilian labor market, which had been recovering slowly after the country’s long 2014-2016 recession, and as a result, unemployment has now risen to more than 14%. The recovery had been stronger in the informal economy, which shortly before the pandemic began accounted for 42% of the economically active population. To debate the pandemic’s impacts, Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Brazilian Institute of Economics (FGV IBRE) and Folha de S. Paulo will hold another edition in their series of monthly meetings, called “The Informal Economy, Inequality and the Welfare System.” The event will be broadcast on FGV’s and Folha de S. Paulo’s YouTube channels on 20 August, starting at 10 am.

Fernando Veloso, a senior researcher in FGV IBRE’s applied economics area; Vinicius Botelho, an associate researcher at FGV IBRE; and Pedro Nery, a Senate legal advisor, will debate how the pandemic has revealed the huge social vulnerability of informal economy workers, which led the government to approve and then extend emergency aid. The health crisis has also sparked reflection in Congress about the need to reinforce the country’s welfare system. Analysts and lawmakers have presented several proposals in this area.

According to specialists, changes in labor relations, as a large share of workers are now in the “App Economy,” have also led to greater interest in this subject. Employment relationships in the App Economy are not subject to labor legislation, so they do not offer any social protection measures.

Those interested in taking part can sign up here.