WASHINGTON DC, Feb 18 (IPS) – When Brazil’s unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent in November 2025 – the lowest in a quarter of a century – it marked an impressive turnaround from the pandemic. But while men’s labor market participation has returned to pre-coronavirus levels, women have fallen significantly behind.
It is especially important to get more people into jobs, as the aging population in Brazil, as in many other countries, is expected to weigh on growth. Our estimates suggest that halving the gender employment gap from 20 to 10 percentage points by 2033 could increase Brazil’s growth by 0.5 percentage points per year.
Household responsibilities
The need to take care of household and family responsibilities is a key reason why many Brazilian women find it difficult to join the workforce – a trend that our analysis, based on the Brazilian Continuous Household Sample Survey, further explores.
This is especially relevant given the ongoing debate over whether Brazil’s flagship conditional cash transfer program, Bolsa Família, also discourages women from entering the labor market.
Bolsa Família, which has been fighting extreme poverty since 2003, currently provides an average monthly amount of about $130 to families who keep children in school and meet mandatory vaccinations and other health requirements. About 50 million people – or about a quarter of the population – benefit from it and were significantly expanded by 2023.
We look at the data to see if Bolsa Família is indeed limiting women’s labor force participation. We find that although Bolsa Família does not appear to systematically reduce labor force participation, the transfers are associated with lower participation of women in households with children aged six or younger.
However, it is also important to emphasize that a full assessment of how Bolsa Família relates to economic well-being must include considerations that go well beyond labor market participation.
Wage differences
Another factor that could work against women’s participation is the gender pay gap. We find that the monthly wage for women is on average about 22 percent lower than for men – after controlling for education, age, race, industry and position. These wage gaps may encourage some women, including those receiving Bolsa Família benefits, to stay home and care for their younger children rather than enter the labor market.
Policy options
As we explain in the report for our annual economic review (the 2025 Article IV Consultation), several measures can help more women enter the labor market and support economic growth in Brazil. These include:
- • Expanding access to affordable, accessible and high-quality childcare and elderly care services, along with adjustments to the design of parental leave policies
• Adjusting the design of Bolsa Família, such as further phasing out Bolsa Família benefits upon entry into employment to reduce any disincentives for paid work.
• Addressing pay disparities, including through effective implementation of the landmark Pay Equality Act of 2023.
Together, these measures can promote a more favorable environment for women to enter the labor market and increase Brazil’s economic potential.
Bunyada Laoprapassorn is an economist at the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department.
IPS UN Office
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