Child Child Labour…Labour…Around the world

What is Child Labour?What is Child Labour?• Child Labour is defined as: - Work performed by children

under the age of 18 (depending on the country)- Long hours of work on a

regular or full-time basis- Abusive treatment by the

employer- No access, or poor access,

to education

Child LabourChild Labour• Child labour includes selling things in the

street or working in someone’s house as a domestic servant. In these cases, it’s not so much the work itself that’s bad, but how the child is treated, how many hours a day they work and whether the work prevents school

attendance.• In most cases, children are trapped in these

situations by debts or outright slavery.

Extreme Child LabourExtreme Child Labour• Worst forms-> Is work that is very difficult and

harmful to the child’s physical development. (carrying heavy loads, using dangerous equipment, spraying

pesticides, working in unclean environments)• Unconditional worst forms -> This means no matter what the circumstances are, no matter how

much is paid or how little the child does, it is illegal – even for adults. This includes slavery, the buying and

selling of a human being, forced or bonded labour, using children in armed conflict, prostitution,

pornography, and involvement in drugs or any other illegal activity.

Why Does This Why Does This Happen?Happen?

• Poverty causes parents to sell their child to a factory or mine.

• Unemployment and labour laws make it easier for an adult to make a child work informally then to

find a wage-paying job.• A parent may be too sick to work.

• Parents have died, so older siblings leave school to make money to take care of their siblings, run

the household, etc.

Stats on Child LabourStats on Child Labour• There are 218 million child labourers around the

world.• Around 1/3 of children in Sub-Saharan Africa are

workers.• An estimated 57 million children are not in school

• While the percentage of child labourers is decreasing across Africa, there are actually more children in the

workforce now than 10 years ago.• It is estimated to take $760 billion over 20 years to

eliminate child labour completely. The estimated benefit in terms of better education and health is

over $4 trillion, a six-to-one difference.

History of Child History of Child Labour in the WestLabour in the West• Before the 1940’s, numerous children

aged 5-14 worked in Europe, North America, and various colonies of European

powers.• They worked in Agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, and mining

to name a few.• With the rise of household income,

availability of schools and passage of child labour laws, the rates of child labour fell.

Child Labour in Child Labour in CanadaCanada

• Prior to the 20th century, children were often seen as economic assets to families.

• Child labour actually made an important contribution to Aboriginal culture, and to the societies of New

France and early English Canada.• By the 20th century this started to change…By 1911 about 40% of Canadian children aged 5-9, and 50% of

10-19 year olds were in school.• As the percentage of children attending school increased, the proportion of boys aged 14-19 who

were working dropped from 68% in 1921, to 40% in 1961.

Child Labour in Child Labour in CanadaCanada

• With more people moving into the cities in the mid 19th century, more opportunities opened of paid

employment became available for children not in school…In major urban centers, children could find employment in textile mills (Montreal), Hamilton

businesses, mines (Cape Breton & British Columbia), and small manufacturing enterprises in the

Maritimes.• These jobs for children were considered “dead end” –

They were poorly paid, menial positions without any opportunity for advancement.

• The children holding these jobs came from working class backgrounds.

Child Labour in Child Labour in CanadaCanada

• The first wave of provincial legislation against child labour in factories and mines came between 1870-

1880, but the prohibition of child labour did not come until the 20th century.

• Several conditions combined to restrict and eventually end child labour in Canada.

• By the beginning of the 20th century most provinces had enacted labour laws to restrict the employment of

children.• In the late 1800’s BC and NS put in legislation

restricting child employment in mines.• By 1929, children under 14 had been legally excluded

from factory and mine employment in most provinces.

Child Labour in Child Labour in CanadaCanada

• Even after legislation was passed, child labour continued to persist in Canada in less visible forms.

• Between Confederation and the mid-1920’s, about 80,000 British children, most under 14, were brought to Canada by humanitarian organizations wishing to give them a new start away from their working-class

backgrounds.• Most were apprenticed to rural families, and in

general, became child labourers rather than adopted children.

• Growing sensitivity to their fate led to the prohibition of child immigration in 1925.

Great Depression and Great Depression and WW2WW2

• During the great depression, many adults sought jobs formerly done largely by

children.• During WW 2, however, many children

entered the work force, defying school attendance legislation.

• Since the war, it has been argued, women replaced children as part-time contributors

to family income (on average).

Today in CanadaToday in Canada• In general, work outside school hours is allowed…However, for children under 16, school attendance is

compulsory and employment is restricted. • The legislation governing minimum age, number of

working hours per day, and the time of day that a youth may work varies between provinces.

• Some provinces require parental permission for a minor to be employed.

• Legislation also exists to protect minors from working under dangerous or hazardous conditions, such as in

the mining industry, manufacturing, construction, forestry, and where liquor is sold or kept for sale.

Child Labour TodayChild Labour Today

• The incidence of child labour around the world has decreased from 25% to 10% between 1960 and 2003 according to the

World Bank.• Nevertheless, groups like UNICEF believe that the total number

remains quite high, they estimate 168 million children aged 5-17 worldwide were involved in child labour in 2013

Grey – Do not collect or report child labour

dataYellow - <10% Green – 10-20%Brown – 20-30%Red – 30-40%Black - >40%

Child Labour TodayChild Labour Today• About 60% of child labour involves farming, dairy,

fisheries, and forestry.• Another 25% were in activities such as retail, hawking

goods, restaurants, storage, polishing shoes, and other services.

• The remaining 15% laboured in assembly and manufacturing, home based enterprises, factories,

mines, and operating machinery.• 2 out of 3 child workers work alongside their parents,

in unpaid family work situations.• Child labour predominantly occurs in the rural areas

(70%), and the informal urban sector (26%)

Child Labour TodayChild Labour Today• Contrary to popular belief, most child labourers are employed by their parents rather than in manufacturing or formal

economy.• Less than 3% of child labour aged 5-14 across

the world work outside their household, or away from their parents.

• Child labour accounts for 22% of the workforce in Asia, 32% in Africa, 17% in Latin America, and 1% in the USA, Canada, Europe

and other wealthy nations.

Child Labour TodayChild Labour Today• Child labour information can be difficult to obtain because of disagreements between data sources as

to what constitutes child labour…Also in some countries, China for example, government policy

contributes to this difficulty.• China’s government categorizes child labour data as

“highly secret”. Although they have enacted regulations to prevent child labour, there still is

reported problems with it within China, generally in Agriculture, and low-skill service sectors, as well as small workshops and manufacturing enterprises.

Major Child Labour Major Child Labour StoriesStories

• Over the years there have been some major stories and incidents based around child labour, here are some examples that we are going to

look into a little deeper:- Cocoa Production (West Africa)

- Mining (Africa)- Gap Products (USA)

- H & M and Zara (Bangladesh & Uzbekistan)- Primark (Ireland))

Cocoa ProductionCocoa Production• In 1998 UNICEF reported

that Ivory Coast farmers enslaved children – many

from surrounding countries.

• In 2001, the US State Department estimated there were 15,000 child slaves in cocoa, cotton, and coffee farms in the

Ivory Coast, and the Chocolate Manufacturers

Association acknowledged that child slavery is used

in the cocoa harvest.

Malians & Cocoa Malians & Cocoa Farming on the Ivory Farming on the Ivory

CoastCoast• Malian migrants (from Mali –

North of Ivory Coast) have long worked on cocoa farms in the

Ivory Coast.• In 2000 cocoa prices dropped

to a 10-year low and some farmers stopped paying their

employees.• The Malian counsel had to rescue some boys who had not

been paid for 5 years.• The children were mostly from

poor families, and parents were told the children would send money home, but once they

left home, this never happened.

Cocoa & The Ivory Cocoa & The Ivory CoastCoast

• In 2002 the Ivory Coast had 12,000 children with no relatives nearby, which suggested they were trafficked, likely from neighbouring Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo.

• The cocoa industry was accused of profiting from child slavery and trafficking…The European Cocoa Association

dismissed these reports as “false and excessive”. • Later the industry acknowledged the working conditions

for children were unsatisfactory and children’s rights were sometimes violated, and acknowledged the claims

could not be ignored.• In a BBC interview, the ambassador for Ivory Coast to

the United Kingdom called these reports of widespread use of slave child labour by 700,000 cocoa farmers as

absurd and inaccurate.

Cocoa ProductionCocoa Production• In 2001, a voluntary agreement called Harkin-Engel Protocol, was accepted by the international

cocoa and chocolate industry to eliminate the worst forms of child labour.

• BBC Panorama Documentary recorded May 8, 2010

Copper & Cobalt Copper & Cobalt Mines in AfricaMines in Africa

• There have been claims of child labour taking place in copper and cobalt mines

that supply Chinease companies in Congo.

• The children dig by hand, carry sacks on their backs

that weight more then there body weight.

• An African report claimed that 80,000 child labourers under the age of 15 worked

in these mines. That is about 40% of all the employed miners.

Gold Mines in AfricaGold Mines in Africa• Gold mining is another source of dangerous child

labour in Africa, this form of mining uses labour-intensive

and low-tech methods.• A Human rights watch group

estimates that about 12% of global gold production comes

from these mines.• In west Africa, in countries

such as Mali, between 20,000-40,000 children work

in these mines.• Children as young as 6 work

with their families.

Gold Mines in AfricaGold Mines in Africa• These children and families suffer chronic exposure to

toxic chemicals including mercury, and do hazardous work such as digging shafts and working

underground. • The poor practices harm the long term health of

children, and release hundreds of tons of mercury every year into the rivers, ground water, and lakes.• Gold is very important to countries like Mali and

Ghana…It brings in the 2nd most money for goods exported outside of the country.

• For poor families with children, it is the primary and sometimes only source of income.

Gold Mining in AfricaGold Mining in Africa

A look into what it’s like for the families and kids mining for Gold

in Africa

GAPGAP• A 2007 report claimed that some GAP products had

been produced by child labourers.• GAP acknowledged the problem and announced that it

will pull the products from its shelf. • GAP created a policy that if it discovered child labour

was used by any of its suppliers, the contractor must remove the child from the workplace, provide it with access to schooling and a wage, and guarantee the

opportunity of work on reaching a legal working age.• The New York times reported that GAP, after the child

labour discovery, created a $200,000 grant to improve working conditions in the supplier community.

H & M and ZaraH & M and Zara• In December, 2009 Anti-Slavery International accused

H&M and Zara of using cotton from suppliers from Bangladesh.

• It also suspected that many of their raw materials originated from Uzbekistan, where children aged 10

are forced to work in the fields.• H&M and Zara both condemned the use of Child Labour and said that they don’t accept, and would

seek to avoid having any of their products associated with Child Labour.

• Saying that, they both admitted that they don not have any reliable ways to make sure that cotton from places like Uzbekistan do not end up in any of their products.

A Look Into The Clothing A Look Into The Clothing

IndustryIndustry

• The Clothing Industry in Bangladesh

• A look into Nike sweatshops