**of belonging.**<sup>36</sup> As discussed <mark>by Duflo (2012), in contexts of poverty and social exclusion, hopelessness and the perceived lack of opportunity for life transformation may undermine one’s willingness or ability to make choices, causing individuals to deliberately “hold back”. Hope can fuel an exit from the poverty trap; and, conversely, the deficit of hope can create a poverty trap, hindering the development of other capabilities and limiting how much individuals can achieve.</mark>

**A recurrent theme from the interviews is the demotivation participants felt after failing several times to access work or educational opportunities, and how these** **<mark>reiterated failures led them to slowly give up</mark> on a desired course of action.** A <mark>significant share among these youths did aspire to return to work, school or to engage in tertiary education.</mark> Nevertheless, the constant failed attempts can generate frustration and resignation in a context where services are of bad quality or where opportunities are unavailable (frustration/ lack of opportunities effect). For example, a young woman who is motivated and keeps trying to find a good job may eventually give up. <mark>After failing several times to be selected for a job, she seems to have accepted her unemployment as insoluble and expresses having “</mark> _<mark>perdido as esperanças”</mark>_ <mark>(“lost hope”). She begins perceiving her efforts as useless, causing her to stop trying to look for a job.</mark>

_<mark>Q8: IR: What do you think that could be done to improve your situation? For you to get a job... what do you think that could help you to get a job?</mark>_ _<mark>P: At the moment, I think nothing. Cause every time I try, nobody calls me. I ́ve lost hope already. IR: Why did you lose hope?</mark>_ _<mark>P: Because so many times I tried and nobody ever calls me. The only place where I can go even without curriculum is the animal game stand.</mark>_<sup>_37_</sup> _<mark>You go there, ask and they already put you in some spot.</mark>_ _<mark>Woman, 19 years, from urban Caranguejo-Tabaiares.</mark>_

**<mark>Gender norms also frame young men’s and women’s experiences and references of the trajectories that are possible and desirable for their future – including in the realm of work and education.</mark>** <mark>A</mark> s noted by the World Development Report 2015 Mind, Society and Behavior (World Bank 2015), rather than considering all possible costs and benefits from a self-interested perspective, people are malleable and emotional actors whose decision making is influenced by contextual cues, local social networks and social norms, and shared mental models. These play a role in determining what individuals perceive as desirable, possible, or even “thinkable” for their lives. Most women interviewed had female family members and peers who formed families during adolescence. This shapes their views of what is normal, acceptable and socially desirable. If young women perceive their roles as that of being wives, mothers, and not to be working for an income unless there is physical need for it, they will likely not aspire to do something different. <mark>The same issues were found in rural areas, but they</mark>

> 36 Sociological and anthropological literature has extensively shown how people’s attitudes and beliefs are shaped by the social groups they feel they belong to (Bourdieu 1977; Kleinman 2006).

> 37 Jogo do Bicho ("the animal game") is an illegal gambling game in Brazil. Very popular throughout the country, it is a lottery-type game organized on a regional basis and operationalized through _“bancas”_ (stands) in the streets where people can place their bets.

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