This paper aims to reflect on the scientific production about the Brazilian Unemployment Insurance Program (PSD). To this end, we present the fundamentals of the PSD, its mode of operation and its mediating character, within the social protection policies in force in the capitalist mode of production. The PSD is the main policy to protect the laid-off worker in Brazil and in several countries of the world. Its importance is directly linked to the functioning of the labor market and the minimization of the impacts of capitalist exploitation on workers lives, adding pay, professional qualification and workforce intermediation. For such a large extent, it has been, since the late 1980s, the object of several studies from various fields of knowledge, thus pointing to the need for systematization of the state of knowledge, so that it is possible to draw an analytical map that facilitates understanding and also point out the consensus built. Considering the PSD Formal Worker modality, this thesis seeks answers to the following problem: how has the scientific production been about the Brazilian Unemployment Insurance Program and what consensus is being built on these productions? To address these issues, we conducted a qualitative, explanatory research, using as sources theses, dissertations and articles on the PSD, between 1990 and 2017. The repositories used to search for theses and dissertations were the Bank of Theses of Higher Education Personnel Improvement Coordination (CAPES), the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) and the Public Domain platform. The search for articles was done through EBSCOhost. The research universe comprises 9 theses, 12 dissertations and 13 articles. Most studies are from the Southeast and Midwest, coming from federal universities and postgraduate programs in Economics. The most discussed topics are professional qualification and the adverse effects of payment. There is consensus that the compulsory professional qualification in the PSD generates increased human capital and employability, a theoretical position that blames workers for unemployment and with which this thesis does not corroborate. However, there are those who understand that qualification, as it stands, in addition to not guaranteeing employment, also contributes to the withdrawal of rights. Regarding payment, there is consensus that the worker is susceptible to moral hazard, tending to create situations to access the portions of the PSD and to accommodate while receiving them. Given this, some studies advocate plot regression, effort control strategies, use of worker time for qualification and greater effectiveness of intermediation services as solutions to moral hazard. It is clear that the PSD has been analyzed from a strong control and exploitation bias of the workforce, as well as reduction of rights and consensus building around a world view in which the program is not understood as a social right.