Reports

Using household data from 15 countries in Latin America and Africa, this paper explores linkages between informality and education-occupation matching. The paper applies a unified methodology to measuring education-occupation mismatches and informality, consistently with the international labour and statistical standards in this area. The results suggest that in the majority of low- and middle-income developing countries with available data, workers in informal jobs have higher odds of being undereducated as compared to workers in formal jobs. Workers in formal jobs, in contrast, have higher chances of being overeducated. These results are consistent for dependent as well as for independent workers. They also hold for men and for women according to the gender-disaggregated analysis. Moreover, in the majority of countries considered in this paper, the matching-informality nexus is also related to the extent of informality in a given area: in labour markets with higher informality, informal workers in particular have a higher chance of being undereducated. The paper discusses policy implications of these findings.

This country policy profile on education in Brazil is part of the Education Policy Outlook series. Building on the first policy profile for Brazil (2015), it offers a concise analysis of where the education system stands today in terms of strengths and challenges, and how this compares to other systems. This profile also analyses the evolution of ongoing and emerging related policy efforts in Brazil, including education responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. It brings together over a decade's worth of policy analysis by the Education Policy Outlook, as well as recent OECD data, relevant thematic and country-specific work and other international and national evidence. The report also benefits from the Education Policy Outlook's ongoing comparative analysis of resilience and responsiveness in education policy. This profile is complemented by its companion report Education Policy Outlook: Brazil - with a focus on international policies (both also available in Portuguese).

This country policy profile on education in Brazil is part of the Education Policy Outlook series. Building on the first policy profile for Brazil (2015), it offers a concise analysis of where the education system stands today and how this compares to other systems. This profile offers relevant international policy examples that may serve as possible inspiration as policy makers work to address Brazil's key challenges and priorities, including in the post-COVID recovery. It brings together over a decade's worth of policy analysis by the Education Policy Outlook, as well as recent OECD data, relevant thematic and country-specific work and other international and national evidence. The report also benefits from the Education Policy Outlook's ongoing comparative analysis of resilience and responsiveness in education policy. This profile is complemented by its companion report Education Policy Outlook: Brazil - with a focus on national and subnational policies (both also available in Portuguese).

In light of recent education reforms, Brazil is currently considering a series of changes to the purpose and design of its Basic Education Assessment System (Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica, SAEB), which has been a critical source of information about student learning outcomes for the past 30 years. To inform these discussions, the OECD was invited to review a set of policy proposals for reforming the current SAEB so that it more closely aligns with Brazil’s new learning standards and provides data to support a range of education actors - from the classroom to the ministry – in their efforts to raise educational performance and reduce inequalities. The findings from this OECD Review are set out in the below policy perspective.

The Education in Brazil: An International Perspective report was developed drawing on internationally comparative data on education in Brazil, in particular the extensive range of data collected by the OECD through its surveys. The experiences of other countries and how they have tackled challenges similar to those now faced by Brazil, along with the insights from consultations with key national experts, also inform the analysis. The report benchmarks with OECD and a set of comparator emerging economies the whole education system from early childhood education and care to tertiary education, focusing on: Access and participation Learning and labour market outcomes The allocation, use and efficiency of financial, human and material resources School leaders, teachers and teaching The school climate and student well-being The report highlights the many strengths of Brazil’s education system, identifies the main challenges ahead and offers policy implications for the future.

The state of Paraná, one of Brazil’s most populated and developed states, has been aligning its public policies with sustainable development since the 1990s. More recently, Paraná has used the SDGs as a tool and framework to reduce longstanding challenges related to health, education and safety as well as to address global megatrends affecting the state such as climate change, demographic pressures and digitalisation. Despite the absence of a state-wide sustainable development plan, Paraná is aligning its Multi-Year Plan (PPA) for 2020-23 and other planning and budgeting tools with the SDGs to face the socio-economic territorial disparities within the state. Through a multi-stakeholder governance framework, guidelines and financial contributions, the state provides incentives to align local and regional planning systems with the 2030 Agenda and to address sustainable development challenges in an integrated way.

Cette source fiable et à jour de statistiques trimestrielles de l'OCDE sur la balance des paiements et le commerce international de marchandises dresse un tableau précis des tendances les plus récentes des structures d’échange des pays membres avec le reste du monde. Les données de balance des paiements sont présentées corrigées des variations saisonnières. Les statistiques de commerce international de marchandises sont ventilées par pays. Les séries présentées couvrent les dix derniers trimestres et les deux dernières années. Cette publication trimestrielle est divisé en trois parties : I. Balance des paiements et commerce international II. Commerce international de marchandises par pay.

Career guidance for adults is a fundamental lever to help adults successfully navigate constantly evolving labour markets. As labour markets in Latin America are hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and mega trends such as globalisation and digitalisation continue to impact labour demand, support is urgently needed. Millions of adults have lost their jobs and need to identify new career options. However, career guidance for adults is still rare in Latin America. More common are vocational guidance programmes for young people, or labour intermediation services for adults. This report analyses career guidance initiatives for adults in four Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico). It emphasises the need to establish career guidance higher up on the policy agenda of the region. Lessons are drawn on how to strengthen the coverage and inclusiveness of career guidance, provision and service delivery, quality and impact, as well as governance and funding. The findings build on information collected through the 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA), an online survey of adults’ experience with career guidance.

Brazil spends around 15% of GDP on different social benefits, but within these expenditures, different benefits have different social impacts. While the small conditional cash transfer programme Bolsa Família is well-targeted to the poor and has a strong diminishing effect on inequality, pension benefits largely reach those with above-median incomes. Over many years, and as a result of different indexation mechanisms, the real value of pension benefits has increased rapidly, while conditional cash transfers have struggled to keep pace with inflation. This paper presents a simulation experiment using household data to demonstrate the significant potential that changes in the annual benefit indexation mechanism of social security benefits could have had for reducing inequality. Maintaining the purchasing power of pension benefits while shifting the increased pension spending that resulted from automatic indexation towards conditional cash transfers would have allowed significantly stronger progress in reducing inequality. This strengthens the case for rethinking the current indexation mechanism of social security benefits in Brazil.