Brazil’s politics of employment
Vagrancy and the dead letter of the law
Existe em português
Vamos em frente que atrás vem gente
The above is a Brazilian ditado (saying) which roughly translates to “if you stay still too long, others will pass you by.” It can perhaps be best applied to the work environment, and with Brazil being a country of over 200 million people, it’s best if all those people have work. Many Brazilians take great pride in being employed, even if it's for a basic-level job in the service industry.
It’s not just in the citizen’s own personal interest to have work; it also happens to be illegal to be unemployed in Brazil. In fact, it was once technically punishable by a short jail term.
The reason behind this can likely be tied to social security benefits. While in the US, you effectively pay your own future benefits out of each paycheck, in Brazil, it’s possible for the elderly to receive a social security check, regardless of their prior employment history - or lack thereof. This is especially true for low-income individuals who qualify for non-contributory benefits1, which provide support for those in financial need. However, these benefits depend on the person’s financial situation and proof of hardship, not just their employment history.
Before the idea of going to jail starts to worry you, read on.
The fact that someone may be committing a crime without knowing it is not at all specific to Brazil. For proof, there’s a book called Three Felonies A Day by Harvey Silverglate, which argues that the US legal system is so complex and overcriminalized that the average American unknowingly commits multiple felonies daily [1].
Now, getting back to Brazil, here's the actual legal standing - specifically, Legal Decree 3.688, Article 59, from October 1941 - on the criminal misdemeanor of vagrancy:
Art. 59. Engaging habitually in idleness, being fit for work, without having an income that ensures sufficient means of subsistence, or providing for one's own subsistence through illicit activities:
Penalty – simple prison, from fifteen days to three months.
Single paragraph. The supervening acquisition of income, which ensures the convict sufficient means of subsistence, extinguishes the sentence [2].
What it means is, if you’re Brazilian who was stopped on the streets and your carteira de trabalho2 wasn’t signed3, you could have gone to jail. However, there’s no need to get too worried, because the reality is that no one goes to jail these days for being out of work. It just doesn’t happen.
In strict legal terms, this is called a dead letter - a law or regulation that technically still exists in the legal code but is no longer enforced or has lost practical effect.
This law, rooted in the Estado Novo dictatorship, was historically used as a tool of social control. Vagabundagem - the term for idleness - was often broadly interpreted and encompassed acts of political protest. During the era of political repression, it was not uncommon for individuals previously employed to be fired for their political stances, and their subsequent unemployment would make them vulnerable to being arrested under the vagrancy laws. This shows how the law was a mechanism for controlling dissent to further silence political enemies.
Historically, the concept of otium cum dignitate - leisure with dignity - was celebrated as a noble form of rest or intellectual engagement. The idea was valued by the Roman elite, who believed that leisure time should be spent in meaningful pursuits4, such as intellectual activities or artistic endeavors, rather than in idleness or debauchery. However, in the context of Brazil’s vagrancy law, there was no distinction between dignified rest and the potentially punishable state of being unemployed.
The vagrancy law no longer holds the power it once did, especially with the passage of the 1988 Constitution, which enshrined the rights and freedoms of citizens, including the oft-mentioned “right to education, health, work, leisure, and security”5 [3].
This marked a big change from earlier times, especially during the military dictatorship (1964-1985), when populist policies like Getúlio Vargas’s CLT, a set of labor laws meant to protect workers, were seen as a problem. The military regime viewed these protections as obstacles to economic growth and flexibility, treating them as barriers to progress. Over time, Brazil’s political and social landscape has changed, with more emphasis on personal freedoms, including the right to be unemployed. This reflects a broader cultural transformation, where idleness and protest are no longer criminalized in the same way, and there’s more recognition of personal dignity and freedom.
Historically, idleness and loitering - and even activities that were difficult to define, like capoeira - were tied to negative social perceptions, with the 1890 Brazilian Penal Code associating vagabonding and capoeiristas with criminality. But just as views on vagrancy, idleness, and employment have progressed over time, so has society’s view of capoeira. Read more about it here in this sister article.
Sources
1 - List of the author’s books, including Three Felonies a Day
2 - Legal Decree 3.688, Article 59
3 - Constitution of 1988
such as the BPC (Benefício de Prestação Continuada)
employment card, modeled after Mussolini’s carta del lavoro
testified to, by your current employer
but if the poor are also time-poor, when do they experience leisure?
a 2015 amendment included: social security, protection to motherhood and childhood, and assistance to the needy.