Rio, September 23, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The government plans to spend R$ 139 million this year on the First Job Program. It is foreseen that next year's expenditures will total R$ 284 million. This information was provided on Monday (22) by the Minister of Labor, Jaques Wagner. He said that he is confident that entrepreneurs who are already participating in the Social Responsibility Program will subscribe to the First Job Program. According to the Minister, there have already been 10 thousand job contracts this year without the need for the government to offer a financial counterpart.

Minister Wagner believes that 250 thousand young people between 16 and 24 years of age can be hired in the first year. "It is important to create an atmosphere in which young people can once again feel included. The matter of a salary is an important aspect, because, after all, people have to survive, and income is insufficient in socially fragile families. For this reason it is important that firms, when they provide a place for young people, create an atmosphere of social inclusion. Exclusion is what causes violence," he explained. (DAS)