| Hello, *|NOME|* The objectives of IMDS are to promote and carry out studies using microdata that are capable of characterizing the pattern of social mobility in Brazil. A project that has yielded several fruits is the monitoring of the first generations of children and young people benefited by the Bolsa Família Program, and who in 2005 were between 7 and 16 years of age. A set of dashboards allows the user to gauge the frequency with which, as young adults, these children stopped depending on social assistance (measured by the exit from the single registry of beneficiaries of social programs, CadÚnico) and the incidence with which they attended the formal labor market (measured by the presence of these young adults in the RAIS). This collection of indicators organized by IMDS can be seen here. The main findings of this research were consolidated and transformed into a policy paper that can be found here. Subsequently, the results of these research studies were organized in the format of an academic article, accepted for specialized publication in "World Development Perspectives", a renowned journal in the area of development. Although the publication of academic studies is not among the institute's priority objectives, the submission of policy papers to scientific dissemination outlets is made whenever we think there is room for it, as scientific publications ratify the quality and methodological robustness of the institute's intellectual products. Submission, however, requires efforts to convert the original article into a work with more academic language, and often an additional effort to demonstrate that the content produced contains methodological innovation or pioneering spirit that justifies the publication as scientifically relevant. This also, as was the case, requires the elimination of some sections and the inclusion of others, especially when a specific point needs further evidence, as was required by one of the reviewers in charge of judging the quality of the submitted document. The result of this effort can be accessed here. We use this space to highlight some of the main results and conclusions of the article. The survey showed that 64% of children and young people benefited by Bolsa Família in 2005 were no longer dependent on federal social programs in 2019, whilst 45% of them entered the formal labor market at least once between 2015 and 2019. Together, it is possible to trace a relationship between entry into the formal labor market and exit from the social protection system for this population. A more in-depth look, however, allowed us to identify notable differences based on sex, race, age, and region of residence of individuals. We observed, for example, that a person born in municipalities in the North and Northeast regions presented, on average, half the probability of social mobility when compared to residents of the South and Southeast regions. This fact led us to analyze the differences in the territory with greater focus. We identified local factors, such as the quality of the municipality's health and education infrastructures, in addition to the local economic dynamism, as being important determinants of an individual’s capacity for social mobility. To celebrate the publication of the article, we produced an article on the institute's website (imdsbrasil.org), in which the authors are interviewed – a new way of publicizing our work and that we will use whenever appropriate (see here). We would like to register our thanks to the authors of the published work. This research on the first generations of Bolsa Família has generated some spin-offs that are in progress (our projects can be followed here), and the results of which we will disclose in this letter and on our various channels. See you at the next “Letter from IMDS”! Paulo Tafner CEO |
