<mark>they become providers of a household, the instability of their work situation puts a strain on their emotional health and self-image. Given the low educational attainment, lack of experience and qualification, youth will mostly find opportunities in temporary, low stability and informal jobs with low salaries.</mark><sup>45</sup>

**5 Observed Patterns are Stronger in Rural Areas**<sup>**46**</sup>

**In this section, we explore more in-depth the data collected from rural sites.** Rural sites consisted in “ _agrovilas_ ”<sup>47</sup> located in the semiarid region of the state of Pernambuco. As we will demonstrate, rural youth perceived similar – albeit seemingly intensified - constraints to their participation in the educational system and labor markets as poor urban youth: more traditional gender norms and sexual division of labor; fewer opportunities; and more stringent external barriers.

**_Exclusion from Opportunities and Diminished Value of Education_**

**<mark>According to the rural youth interviewed, unless one migrates or has access to private transportation they are unable to access educational opportunities and other economic opportunities outside of farming.</mark>**<sup>48</sup> <mark>Most individuals made a living from agriculture by taking on small daily jobs – known as “</mark> _<mark>diárias”</mark>_<sup>_49_</sup> <mark>in larger farms, planting on their own family plots or both. In addition, a small number of families have small businesses such as bars, food stands or mini markets. N</mark> evertheless, a _grovilas_ are situated over 60 km (and connected by precarious unpaved roads) from the nearest urban hub and, from the late afternoon onwards, there is no public transportation available to these areas.<sup>50</sup>

> 45 This is consistent with findings in De Hoyos et al (2016) and Monteiro (2013).

> 46 On average in the Latin America region, the share of youth out of work and out of school is higher in rural areas (21 percent of youth) than in urban areas (17 percent). At the same time, the absolute number of youth in such situation is higher in the cities given the high urbanization rate (De Hoyos 2016; Costa and Ulyssea 2014; Camarano et al. 2006; Tillman and Comim 2014). Additionally, the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil are identified as the regions with the highest proportion of youth out of school and out of work (Costa and Ulyssea 2014).

47 Agrovilas are typically planned villages in which houses are grouped together in one area rather than on each farmer’s parcel of land, which are located at further distance. This way of grouping houses is meant to facilitate the provision of basic services to households such as electricity and potable water (Zibechi 2007).

> 48 A _grovilas_ had access to irrigation systems, that function as key enablers of farming activities. Such systems are not commonly available to family farmers in other semiarid regions of Brazil, which can suffer from intense drought periods. Upon the formation of these _agrovilas_ , families who were relocated there were each given a house, with access to water, a plot to plant with irrigation systems, and a living stipend.

> 49 <mark>Informal daily work for women will generally involve laying seeds, removing fruits and vegetables from trees</mark> _<mark>(“despencando o amendoim”),</mark>_ <mark>cleaning and boxing them, while males will do the heavier work such as sowing the land and applying fertilizers and pesticides (</mark> _<mark>“evenenar</mark>_ <mark>”).</mark>

> 50 <mark>Costa and Ulyssea (2014) point to the lack of opportunities and distances as major obstacles for young people to enter the labor market and access education opportunities in rural areas in Brazil.</mark>

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