Author: Cássia Almeida

Source: O Globo - Rio de Janeiro / RJ - ECONOMY - 23/05/2010

"I have eternity to rest". This phrase by 63-year-old teacher Angela Lacerda epitomizes the importance that work takes on in the lives of Brazilians. Research carried out by the NovaS / B Agency with more than two thousand people across the country brings this characteristic in a very striking way in the choices of options offered by researchers.

Angela teaches at two public schools and in her spare time, which is very few, she sews bags that she sells at the Ipanema Fair on Sundays: - I work from Sunday to Sunday. Even if I won at the Mega-Sena, I wouldn't slow down. I would only work with less anxiety.

Through the survey, 72% of respondents agreed with the statement “work has always given me pleasure”. For Angela, this is clear. At 18, he started working. Forty-five years later, he wakes up at 5:30 am and only around midnight. In addition to work, he helps his youngest daughter, of five children, to take care of his granddaughter. And she visits her bedridden mother daily. And the children? As a teacher, she took her children to school. While working, he stayed close to them: - Work for me is very important. It is the way of providing things for the children.

Pride of being Brazilian takes on a prominent place The sociologist at the Center for Population Studies at Unicamp Elisabete Doria Bilac sees two explanations for this valorization of work, which does not differentiate between income or sex.

The first is in the good economic situation. More formal jobs and higher wages create a good relationship with work: - There is an optimist in this answer. In addition, the work identifies the human being. He is more respected when he works.

This sensation of pleasure is somewhat surprising, given the degree of informality (more than 40% are workers without a formal contract) and lack of protection in the labor market.

Another factor is characteristic of capitalist society, with valorization over work.

Stability is another strengthened value in the lives of Brazilians.

According to the survey, questions that deal with public employment, with a formal contract and the dream of owning a home identified 39% of the interviewees. Translator Daniela Madruga has a dream: to get a public job. Financial stability, especially after retirement in the public sector, is more attractive: - My job is uncertain.

I can go two to three months without working. This causes anxiety.

I know people who have reached old age and retired from public service and are relaxed today. Others in the private sector are experiencing difficulties.

Her husband is a civil servant, at Daniela's insistence. But the unpredictability of her work prevents Daniela from studying for a competition.

Provider man is still a strong presence The advancement of women in the labor market, with more than 50% of them working age (over 10 years) working, has not yet managed to change a still striking feature in society: the idea that men are the family provider. The phrases identified with this profile won the preference of 45% of respondents.

- The real change is faster than the recognition of it. The ideal of a provider is maintained, even though this model is finished. The single male provider model no longer exists - says Elisabete.

The total priority for children, on the other hand, gains strength in society.

For the CEO of NovaS / B, João Roberto Vieira da Costa, women are increasingly achieving a greater balance between work and motherhood: - There was a distance at first. This conflict is now better resolved.

For the Unicamp sociologist, the son today is “an expensive and rare asset”: - It is a life project. It's a choice. Therefore, it becomes the priority.

And Brazil has a prominent place in life here. Being Brazilian, enjoying living here and buying products made in Brazil characterize the economist and engineer Thiago Reunalt, 30, owner of Hélice Consultoria.

He has lived outside Brazil more than a dozen times, but he does not intend to repeat the dose: - I am in love with Brazil. Nowhere in the world has such a warm and welcoming people. It is a unique country.

For Costa, there is a recent agenda in the country that explains this perception.

- There is a virtuous circle of economic, social and even sporting facts, such as the World Cup and the Olympics, that help explain this patriotism.

But the total plunge on the internet is still timid among Brazilians, as well as the concern with the environment.

Those who live plugged in represented only 3%, but "in full expansion", for Costa, director of NovaS / B: - But the concern with the environment does not appear as a priority. It is still far from the Brazilian universe.

Working with administration and studying Computer Technology, Cássio Padovani personifies this group of plug-ins on the internet. He lives on the net at work, at home, at college.

- I have friends that I only know on the internet.

And the time for dating? - My girlfriend lives with me.

We managed to find some time. The problem is that there is only one computer at home