Entre a longevidade produtiva e a exclusão: a construção noticiosa sobre a recolocação e permanência de trabalhadores idosos durante a aprovação da Reforma da Previdência de 2019

Abstract

Population aging in Brazil has produced significant impacts on the labor market and on social protection policies, particularly following the 2019 pension reform. In this context, there has been an increase in the continued participation of older adults in the workforce, while practices that hinder their entry and permanence in employment persist. This dissertation analyzes the central role of the media in the social construction of this scenario by setting the agenda and framing the public debate on aging, work, and social security. The general objective of this study was to examine how the coverage of two major news portals framed the reintegration and continued employment of older workers during the approval process of the 2019 Pension Reform. To this end, a qualitative approach was adopted, and the data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. An examination was conducted of the predominant journalistic frames in media coverage concerning productive longevity and the extension of working life. The research corpus consisted of 98 news articles, including 50 published by Grupo Globo and 48 by Grupo Folha de S.Paulo, focusing on one of three main topics addressed in this study: “Pension Reform”, “Older Adults in the Labor Market” and “Brazilian Retirement”. The findings indicate the predominance of narratives that associate increased life expectancy with the need to extend working life, often linking this argument to individual responsibility for the financial sustainability of the Brazilian social security system. However, the journalistic materials did not address the relationship between raising the retirement age and the difficulties of employability at older ages due to structural factors, such as ageism and barriers to professional reintegration. This research contributes to the interdisciplinary debate on communication, work, and public policy by articulating media agenda-setting theories with discussions on aging and the labor market, and by highlighting the role of the media in legitimizing social discourses related to labor aging and pension reforms.