CHILD LABOR: TYPES, CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The child labor is normally equated with the term child exploitation. According to the definition of the International Labor Organization (ILO), it is true that not all child labor should be considered exploitation, since activities such as helping around the house, looking for a small job in the summer or other similar activities can even be positive.

The same organization sets the guidelines that separate this type of work with the truly harmful. In short, it is about anyone who deprives children of living their childhood stage in a natural way. They are the tasks that prevent them from developing properly and in a dignified manner.

Source: Ton Rulkens, via Wikimedia Commons

Child labor, understood as exploitation, harms the physical and mental development of children. On many occasions they are exploited by mafias, the most serious cases being those involving sexual exploitation or situations of near slavery.

Actions are being developed around the world to try to reduce the number of children who are forced to work due to various circumstances. The latest data indicate that there are still some 150 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 who work, with a special incidence in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Causes

Child labor, understood as exploitation, still affects a large number of children all over the planet. Its effects are devastating, not only for the simple fact of stealing the childhood of those affected, but also for the consequences on physical and mental health.

The causes of child labor go beyond poverty, although poverty is among the most important. In certain parts of the world, there are also cultural factors that explain the phenomenon.

To this must be added the inequality between genders, lack of access to education, negligent policies of the states and other circumstances that cause boys and girls to be forced to work from their earliest childhood.

Poverty

Poverty at home is one of the main causes of child labor. In fact, the vast majority of working children come from families with incomes well below the poverty line.

For this reason, the kids have to contribute a salary to the house in order to survive. In addition, circumstances arise that in certain countries it may be easier for children to find a job than for their parents to do so. Salaries are lower, they will not demand labor rights and they will perform all the tasks that are required of them.

Poverty is not only a cause of child labor, but it also feeds back to become a consequence. The little ones are forced to drop out of school, not being able to acquire the necessary training to qualify for better positions in the future. In this way, it is likely that when forming your own family, situations will repeat themselves.

Cultural factors

The very definition of "childhood" varies depending on where in the world you are born. In rural African or Asian areas, it is considered normal for children under the age of ten to begin to acquire adult behaviors, such as marriage or work.

If these social beliefs are joined by the situation of poverty, it is understood that all members of the family must collaborate in survival, including the smallest.

There are also frequent justifications such as that work makes children acquire values ​​such as responsibility and sacrifice. In certain environments, it is valued even more than education itself, which is limited to learning to write and read.

The rest of the teachings are considered useless, since those relatives do not believe they have perspectives beyond dedicating themselves to their traditional activity, be it agriculture, fishing and other similar activities.

Finally, some parents are even suspicious that their sons and, especially, daughters, go to educational centers. They think that education is going to separate them from their traditional beliefs, make them more rebellious against the rules of the house and before their own authority.

Inequity

Discrimination based on gender, race or social groups is another risk factor for children. These situations make their integration into education and, in the case of adults, into the labor market more complicated. In the end, it is one more push towards child labor.

Gender

Among the most frequent discriminations is the one that occurs for reasons of gender. In many countries of the world, girls are considered worse off than their brothers and, from a very young age, they are assigned to housework and are not even allowed access to education.

Girls also suffer in some parts of the world a higher risk of being victims of child prostitution networks. Although governments are trying to alleviate it, in some areas of Asia the presence of girls in prostitution has been very common.

To try to alleviate this great problem a bit, some European countries (where the majority of the clients were from) have begun to judge their citizens for resorting to child prostitution outside their borders in case the country in which they have been committed the crime do not.

Access to education

Despite the fact that, in general terms, education and child labor are not necessarily mutually exclusive, in most cases children who start working end up dropping out of school.

The lack of opportunities to study is, at the same time, a causal factor of child labor. Not being able to go to school and receive training makes the child see himself immersed in a social dynamic that will force him to work. In addition, you will not have the necessary tools to defend yourself or to leave that circle.

In many countries it has achieved the social achievement of offering free education. However, in certain rural areas, the educational offer may be scarce. Many times, the family is forced to spend on materials, uniforms and other items that it cannot afford.

Consequences

As noted above, the main consequence of child labor is to perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty. This causes children to join jobs and this causes them not to study, preventing them from finding better salaries in the future.

Perpetuation of poverty

Not being able to access education due to having to work, or only attending class irregularly, ends up perpetuating poverty.

Not only is the possibility of social advancement towards better paid jobs affected, but the patterns of social behavior remain unchanged and child labor will continue to be seen as normal and inevitable.

On the other hand, poverty also has effects on the cognitive development of the youngest, increasing school failure.

Child's Health

Boys and girls are not fully formed, so they are more physically vulnerable. Those who are forced to work pay the consequences by falling ill more often, having accidents and significantly worsening their health.

This is further compounded when they have to work in dangerous activities or areas. Landfills, mines or the streets of a city are some of the places that greatly affect the health of children.

Finally, it is not uncommon for them to be mistreated by their employers or by others in the course of their activities.

Psychological effects

The consequences on the health of working children are not only physical. On a mental level, they also suffer negative effects, starting with the need to mature prematurely and not be able to develop the activities typical of childhood.

In the end, this causes in the medium-long term that those affected have low self-esteem, problems of social adaptation and trauma. Many times, they fall into addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Industries that employ child labor

Gold mining

This metal, highly valued in the jewelry and electronics industry, is a major cause of child labor.

The extraction work in the underground artisanal mines, employs thousands of children. It is a job that involves extreme environmental conditions, many of them highly toxic to the body.

Countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Senegal and Indonesia are among those that most employ children for this type of task.

Cotton cultivation

As the most widely used textile fiber, this crop demands a lot of labor around the world. In countries like Uzbekistan, children are forced to work their harvest during the school break.

Brazil also registers a high percentage of child labor in this sector. In these cases, social policies have not been successful in curbing the situation.

Sugar cane cultivation

It is a case very similar to the previous one, with the aggravation that the conditions represent a greater risk for children. Heavy and sharp tools seriously compromise the health of minors.

Brick making

In countries such as Nepal, Pakistan and India, it is very common that when a family contracts a debt that they cannot pay, they send their children to make bricks.

Unfortunately, this practice is traditional, and that is why it still remains in force. These children work long hours, often in adverse weather conditions.

Coffee growing

Especially African and Latin American children are subjected to demanding working conditions in the coffee industry.

At harvest time, they usually work ten hours a day, while at sowing, land preparation and seedlings, they work up to 8 hours a day.

Others

• Armed conflicts.
• Coltan.
• Sexual exploitation
• Cultivation of the land.
• Fishing and aquaculture.
• Forestry.
• Cattle raising.

Distribution and figures

Each year UNICEF and the ILO present reports detailing the numbers of child laborers and their geographical distribution. The first organization estimates that there are currently about 150 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 working around the planet.

The positive part is that this number has been decreasing in recent years, although the problem is still far from being solved.

Half of that figure, about 72 million, is concentrated on the African continent. In Asia there are some 62 million minors working, while 10.7 million do so in the American continent.

Those numbers mean that 1 in 4 children in Africa have to work. In Asia they are 1 in 8 and in Latin America they are 1 in 10.

Argentina

Data on child labor in Argentina were collected by the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security, with the collaboration of UNICEF.

The results are quite negative, since it states that 715,484 children between the ages of 5 and 15 are forced to work in that country. This represents almost 10% of children in Argentina.

As is common throughout the world, the figures are higher in rural areas, where 19.8% of minors work in different sectors.

On the other hand, the research found that one in four urban children in this situation work on the street or in some form of transport. Girls are the majority in night chores.

Peru

Despite the decrease in the total number of minors working, 4% less since 2012, there are still 21.8% of children and adolescents in this situation in Peru. With these figures, the country leads the list of countries in South America in child labor.

The National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) presented the latest specialized survey in 2015. It shows that a large part of underage workers also perform dangerous tasks.

Another 1.5% of minors are in a situation of forced labor and 5.3% dedicate themselves to domestic tasks for more than 22 hours a week. The latter implies that, despite being in school, they usually do not reach the appropriate level of learning.

Colombia

Colombia is another of the countries that is taking measures to reduce the number of children who are forced to work. In fact, between 2015 and 2016 it managed to reduce the rate of child workers by 1.3%, finally remaining at 7.8% of the total number of minors in the country.

The number, however, remains high. Statistics affirm that there are still more than 896,000 minors working instead of attending school.

Another worrying data, although decreasing, in the number of children and adolescents enrolled in armed groups. The latest studies gave the figure of between 14,000 and 17,000 minors participating in these groups.

Mexico

Mexico is one of the countries that leads the statistics of child labor in Latin America. The UNAM stated in a report that about 3.6 million children work, most of them are in poverty and many live on the streets.

Although the official figures are not too recent, the federal government claimed in 2015 that the situation was better. Thus, their numbers reduced the number of affected to 2.2 million.

Of the total of minors who work, 14% are only between 5 and 11 years old, while 21.8% are between 12 and 14 years old.

In terms of economic sectors, the one with the most child workers is agriculture, with 22.6%, followed by commerce with 20.2%

Brazil

Brazil is one of the few countries in the region in which the number of working children is increasing rather than decreasing. The age range most affected by this rise is between 5 and 9 years.

The calculation made by organizations for the defense of children states that more than 7 million minors are forced to work in Brazil. More than 560.00 are domestic employees.

Africa

Compared to other regions of the world, the eradication of child labor in Africa is progressing much more slowly. According to ILO data, 26.4% of boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 14 are active in employment, the highest rate in the world.

In total numbers, the continent is home to almost 50 million working minors, only behind Asia.

Asia

The economic improvement on the part of the continent has allowed a considerable reduction in the total number of working children. However, Asia is still the continent with the highest number of children under 15 who have to work. In percentage, 18.8% of the 650 million Asian children are in this situation.

In addition, according to UNICEF and other organizations, some of the most cruel forms of child exploitation appear on that continent.

Those of most concern are child trafficking, sexual exploitation, debt bondage or compulsory recruitment in armed conflict or drug trafficking.

References

1. World Labor Organization. What is meant by child labor?. Retrieved from ilo.org
2. World Labor Organization. Child Labor. Retrieved from ilo.org
3. UNICEF Mexico. Child labor Retrieved from unicef.org
4. Humanium. Child labor in the world. Retrieved from humanium.org
5. Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Roser, Max. Child Labor. Retrieved from ourworldindata.org
6. Compassion International. Child Labor Facts. Retrieved from compassion.com
7. FAO. Child labor in agriculture is on the rise, driven by conflict and disasters. Retrieved from fao.org
8. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Child labor. Retrieved from britannica.com