Child Labor Exploitation

Corporate social responsibility has become a key bundle of metrics in gauging the ethical business practices of multinational corporations known to oversee supply chains distributed around the globe. Nestlé for instance has recently come under ridicule and in some instance blatant condemnation for failing to stop practices within its supply chain that contravene human rights. The company’s operations in Côte d’Ivoire have particularly faced litigation due to the significant involvement of cheap child labor which does not come anywhere near justifying the company’s billion dollar returns every year. Has Nestlé turned a blind eye to injustices and unethical practices that seem to taint every chocolate bar sold around the world? Are Americans aware for instance that the chocolate they just ate could have been put a child out of school and endangered their health or maybe that it comes from coerced child labor? Read on to find out the ethical dilemma that faces Nestlé.

This article aims to contribute to the growing body of scholarly work that critically deconstructs dominant discourse on ‘trafficking’ and to the literature that documents and theorizes the gap between states’ spoken commitment to children’s rights and the lived experience of migrant children in the contemporary world. It contrasts the intense public and policy concern with the suffering of ‘trafficked’ children against the relative lack of interest in other ways that migrant children can suffer, in particular, suffering resulting from immigration policy and its enforcement. It argues that discourse on ‘child trafficking’ operates to produce and maintain exclusionary conceptions of who is normatively a child. These conceptions of the normative child then inform policy and practice that often punishes, rather than protects, children who do not conform to the imagined norm, and that simultaneously reinforces children’s existing vulnerabilities and creates new ones.

Child Labor, Poverty and School Attendance: Evidences from the Philippines by Region
Russell Cristian E. Fernandez1 and Ferdinand T. Abocejo2
1University of San Carlos Graduate School of Business and Economics
2Cebu Normal University Center for Research and Evaluation

ABSTRACT

The study examined the relationship between poverty and child labor in the Philippines by region. It investigated how school attendance of working children relates to poverty incidence covering the period 2008-2012. The study utilized data from the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) and the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) to determine the relationships among poverty, prevalence of child labor and the number of working children not attending school. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was employed in the analysis. Findings revealed that poverty incidence and prevalence of child labor were strongly correlated. Similarly, poverty incidence strongly associates with the number of working children not attending school. Poverty displaces these children from school. School children are enticed to participate in the labor force because of short-term income opportunities. There is, however, no relationship between prevalence of child labor and the number of working children not attending school. Empirical data revealed that CARAGA, ARMM and Zamboanga have high percentages of poor individuals compared with other regions of the country with large number of children not attending school. It is evident that children have taken on the responsibility of augmenting the household incomes and of providing the needs of their households.  There is enough evidence that conclude that poverty pushes children to participate in the labor force for them augment household income. It is recommended that the government, aside from ensuring free basic education, should provide and construct schools close to poor communities so that all children who cannot pay transportation costs are able to attend school.

Keywords: Poverty incidence, child labor, working children, school attendance, correlation analysis, Philippines

Sa paglantad ng modernisasyon, nananatiling talamak ang pagtitinda ng mga kabataan sa lansangan. Sa kabila nito, iilan lamang ang pulidong reperensya ukol sa mga kaso child street vending na siyang pumukaw ng interes ng mga mananaliksik ng programang sikolohiya mula sa National University - Laguna upang ituon ang pag-aaral sa pook ng lokalidad. Ang pag-aaral ay may layong magsiwalat ng mga karanasan, hamong kinakaharap, sanhi, epekto at mga stratedehikal na gawain ng mga batang nagtitinda sa lansangan. Ang kwalitatibong pag-aaral ay may disenyong deskriptibong penomenolohiya at mga instrumentong talatanungang papel at miktinig upang masiyasat ang limang respondanteng lalaki, edad labinlima pababa (RA 7658, batay sa Child Labor Code) sa lunsod ng Calamba. Ang pamamaraan ay isinagawa sa tulong ng kombenyente at boluntarismong pagpili, at tematikong pagsusuri ng mga datos.
Ang tuklas ng pag-aaral ay patungkol sa pagkakakilanlan ng mga kinapanayam, kalagayan ng pamilya at kapaligirang impluwensyal; Mga balakid tulad ng kompetisyon, sasakyan, klima at kapulisan; Mga sanhi gaya ng kakulangan sa pantustos sa pagkain, edukasyon, medikasyon at udyok ng pampamilyang kaugalian o kultura ;Ang mga epekto sa edukasyon, kalusugan at sikolohikal na aspeto kasama ang kanilang pananaw (thinking), emosyon (feeling), at pag-uugali (behavior); At panghuli ay ang kanilang mga stratedehikal na gawain sa kalsada, sa pag-aaral, pamilya at pagharap sa emosyonal na suliranin. Sa kabuuan ng lagom na kaalamang inilahad sa buong pag-aaral, masasabing ang sulyap sa buhay ng mga batang lansangan ay laganap sa kapaligiran ng mga lansangang piping saksi sa kanilang mga pagdaralita.

Mga susing salita:  Tinderong Musmos, Child Labor, Child Street Vending, RA 7658, Mga batang nagtitinda sa lansangan, Child vendor

The use of child labor in the production of hand knotted carpets in India has been widely reported and documented. An important development which has a bearing on the incidence of child labor in the carpet industry in India is that in recent years there has been an overall decline in the production and exports of hand knotted carpets in India, particularly in core carpet belt. The principal aim of the present study is to understand the current situation of the child labor problem in India‟s carpet industry. A total of 60 loom enterprises with 137 active looms were selected from December, 2006 to February 2007, from the Badhohi, Mirzapur and Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. As the issue of child labor is one of a very sensitive nature, the researcher had to cope with several obstacles during the fieldwork in the areas covered by the study. Out of the total 528 weavers working on 60 loom enterprises studied there are 17 „definitely children‟ of whom 76.47% are boys and 23.53% are girls. The figures for „probably children‟ working on the looms are 46. The analysis of the workforce composition and working conditions of weavers found that children continue to be involved in significant numbers in the production of handmade carpets. Children account for 7.57% of the total workforce. Most of the children working on looms are boys (82%). Among the children working on the looms, the majority (58%) of them belong to the family labor category. The proportion of child labor to the total workforce is higher in the Persian variety of carpets than in the other varieties. Analysis of distribution of child labor in different sizes of enterprises shows that employment of child labor is greater in the larger enterprises. Findings of the present study clearly indicate that compared to the 1990s there has been a decline in the magnitude of child labor in the carpet industry; however, this decline is not to the extent of claims made by the government and industry sources. There are multiple reasons for the decline in child labor.

This research study is intended to stimulate a broader discussion on the cause and consequences of child labour in agricultural sub-sectors in Myanmar. As one of the few systematic investigations into children working in agricultural sub-sectors, evidence will inform policy and programmatic strategy.
On the whole this research report:
• Collates and analyses new qualitative and quantitative data on children working in Myanmar’s agricultural sector, specifically through the documentation of three sub- sectors – Inland Fisheries, Beans and Pulses and Sugarcane:
• Documents common working arrangements and types activities carried out by child workers in the three sub-sectors;
• Defines and categorizes various types of child labour and identifies common forms of “hazardous” child labour in the three agricultural sub-sectors:
• Investigates the relationship between various social phenomena and the likelihood of a child to be involved in child labour, specifically household debt and access or propensity for schooling;
• Recommends programming and legislative activities aimed at reducing the harmful affects of child labour in agriculture.

Este documento, plantea un análisis de los enfoques de equidad social y de género, empleo digno y libre de trabajo infantil, condiciones laborales, sostenibilidad ambiental cambio climático, y reactivación económica, desde la perspectiva de la cadena de valor de Café. Evidenciando que ya existe una base jurídica, de leyes, acuerdos, convenios nacionales e internacionales, de los países de Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador, que promulgan acciones concretas a favor de la equidad de género y la erradicación del trabajo infantil en la cadena de café en la región. Sin embargo, no existe un cumplimiento pleno y efectivo del marco jurídico. A través de un proceso participativo se busca los espacios para diseñar “lineamientos” con el fin de eventualmente adoptar y aplicar buenas prácticas en la cadena productiva que respete la normativa jurídica en cada uno de los países. (Documento completo en WebSite de RESCA)

Child labor is a global problem. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 218 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 are employed worldwide. Among them, 152 million are 5- to 11-year-old victims of child labor; almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous environments and jobs; and 37 million, or 24 percent, are 15 to 17 years old. The situation is the worst in Africa. In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa, 19.6 percent, are child laborers, while the prevalence in other regions ranges between 3 percent and 7 percent. Although the problem is quite problematic in developing regions, even in developed regions it is still a problem to be solved. In Europe and Central Asia, 1 in 25 children, and in the Americas, 1 in 19 children are working.
The ILO's global estimates show that child labor is concentrated primarily in agriculture – 71 percent – which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17 percent in services; and 12 percent in the industrial sector, including mining. Additionally, the worst forms of child labor exist in all regions of the world. Overall, this is a metastasizing, global problem one would not expect in the 21st century.
Turkey has been trying to come up with a wider strategy to coordinate the public and the private for some time. As the most recent step, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım issued a public mandate last week, declaring 2018 as the year to act against child labor as a first step worldwide. In a statement released on Feb. 20, 2018, Yıldırım said that child labor has become a serious problem at the global and national levels, and that it is necessary for global institutions to take joint action with countries to address the lack of policies regarding the problem.