Labor and employment in the agriculture of the south region in the 2004–2014

Abstract

In the period between 2004 and 2014, a contingent of 933 thousand people left the agricultural, livestock and forestry activities in the Southern region of Brazil. The labor market in that region is characterized by many forms of occupation, from the salaried work to the various forms of family work. So, it is necessary to keep a look out for important structural features, such as: number of employed persons; child labor; degree of formality of employment relationships; coverage of Social Security; level of education of the occupied people; “aging” of employees and farmers; and distribution of occupied people by the main agricultural activities. Because of this, the aim of the paper is to analyze the main aspects related to work and employment in the agriculture of the Southern region in the period 2004-2014. The sources of information are special tabulations from the National Survey by Household (PNAD), conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).