Elderly workforce in Brasília grows as pensions fall short

In Brasília, the arithmetic of aging is becoming impossible to ignore. A new survey shows that 6.2 percent of people aged 60 and older in the Federal District remain economically active—a small but growing number that has climbed from 5.8 percent in the previous measurement. The data comes from the Employment and Unemployment Survey of the Federal District, conducted jointly by the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies and the Research and Statistics Institute of the DF. The shift reflects a quiet crisis: pensions are not enough, and so people who should be resting continue to work.

Four out of five elderly residents have left the workforce entirely, with nearly 70 percent of them living on retirement benefits alone. But the 6.2 percent who remain employed tell a more complicated story. More than seven in ten of these working seniors are the primary earners in their households, meaning their income is not discretionary—it is the difference between stability and hardship for entire families. As the population ages and the structure of the workforce changes, researchers are watching closely to understand how this trend will reshape labor supply and demand across the city.

The reasons people keep working fall into two categories, though they often overlap. Hannah Salmen, an entrepreneurship and innovation professor, explains that insufficient pension payments force many retirees to seek additional income. But she also notes something equally important: the desire to remain engaged, productive, and mentally sharp. Work, in this context, is not just about money. It is about purpose.

Rubens Tavares is 76 years old and has been selling handcrafted goods at the Tower Market for three decades. He retired, opened his stall, and has stayed there ever since. "The pension is too small, so you have to keep working to support your family," he says plainly. Yet when he talks about his days at the market, something shifts in his voice. He knows his craft. He enjoys the rhythm of it. He sees people. He is not sitting at home staring at the ceiling. "It's good for the body and the mind," he reflects. "The important thing is to live well in whatever way you can."

Liane Ferreira took a different path. At 76, she is among the 80 percent who have stepped away from work entirely. A retired civil servant, she had the pension to do so and made the choice to leave when the job no longer made sense to her. Now she crochets, knits, spends time with family, and watches volleyball games—things she loves. She is currently undergoing cancer treatment, but she does not miss the office. "I never had to go back to work, thank God," she says. "I have my pension and can take care of myself properly." The freedom to rest, to heal, to simply be—this is what retirement meant to her, and she has it.

These two lives sit at opposite ends of the same demographic shift. One reflects necessity; the other reflects choice. Together, they illustrate what researchers are beginning to track: as Brazil's population ages, the relationship between work, income, and dignity is being redrawn. The question now is how the labor market will adapt as more elderly people either choose or are forced to remain in it, and what that means for younger workers seeking their own place in the economy.