Child labor

In This Issue
Child labor: the hard reality
Global reaction to child labor
Child labor around the globe
What you can do
Read all about it!
The children at risk

Doan's story

Doan's world changed when his parents divorced not long after his fifth birthday. "Nobody took care of me. My father married a new wife, who did not want to care for me, and my mother went to China alone in search of a better life."

As a result, Doan left his hometown of Hai Phong, Vietnam and hitchhiked to several cities including Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Ho Chi Minh City and finally Hanoi. Living on the streets was tough: "When I felt hungry I would beg for food, and when I felt sleepy I would sleep under any bridge or in a corner of a market."

Young and vulnerable to exploitation, Doan was bullied by older children into committing crimes for them. "One time, I was forced by older kids to steal a motorbike in Hang Bai street and was unfortunately caught by the police who beat me nearly to death."

At other times when Doan was caught by the police he was sent to a Correction School, Compassionate House, or drop-in center where he struggled to comply with their strict rules after living independently on the street. He often ran away.

A counselor from Plan's Street and Working Children Project (SWCP) made contact with Doan and encouraged him to pursue vocational training to build a better life for himself. Through Plan's SWCP Doan was sponsored to attend a training course as a stone carver. He is now off the streets and shares a small room with other trainees in a ward in Hanoi.

"Like other Vietnamese workers, everyday I work 8 hours starting from eight in the morning till twelve with a siesta of two hours and four hours of work in the afternoon. I am very busy now but I like the work very much." Doan is now earning enough money to even send some home to his father and stepmother.

"I am proud of my work — I have become a stone artisan. My dream now is to save up enough money to buy a small house and get married in the future."

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Child labor: the hard reality

Child labor can be defined as any labor that interferes with a child's education, or is harmful to a child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

Working children have little or no time to attend school, play sports, or hang out with friends. Instead, they spend long hours working in hazardous and unhealthy environments. According to UNICEF, an estimated 246 million children worldwide are currently employed in activities that are hazardous, excessive or exploitative.

In 1996, after the U.S. National Labor Committee revealed that Kathie Lee Gifford's clothing line for Wal-Mart was being made by teenaged children in Honduras, the resulting scandal and publicity brought national attention to the use of child labor in garment factories around the world producing exports to the U.S.

The use of sweatshops and abusive child labor has dramatically increased over the past few years. Companies are using children as cheap labor and completely denying their basic rights. The Sweatfree Communities, a group of anti-sweatshop organizations, in their 2008 release pointed out a list of companies in the U.S. that are allegedly flouting labor laws and basic worker protections. These companies have been indicted in the "Sweat Shop Hall of Shame". These companies are accused of using children workers, paying poverty wages and inflicting long, hard hours of work under appalling conditions. Nearly all have used unjust, if not illegal, tactics to squash workers' basic right to organize.

According to a 2007 article in the British newspaper The Observer, children who had been sold into bonded labor were producing Gap Kids clothing under conditions close to slavery in a sweatshop in New Delhi, India. Ranging in age from 8 to 15, the child workers toiled 16 hours a day, hand-sewing clothing for no pay at all. The sweatshop was smeared in filth and excrement, and the children were subject to threats and beatings.

However, not all work done by children should be classified as child labor to be targeted for elimination. Children's or adolescents' participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, such as helping the family around home, assisting family business or earning pocket money outside of school hours is generally regarded as being something positive.(ILO)

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Global reaction to child labor

Child labor, as the statistics clearly demonstrate, is a problem of immense global proportions. As a result, the international community, governments, civil societies and media have been working to end exploitative labor and more specifically child labor.

Following its comprehensive research into the issue, the International Labor Organization (ILO) concluded that it was necessary to strengthen existing conventions on child labor. As part of its efforts, for instance, the ILO's convention No. 182 has helped to focus the international spotlight on the urgency of eliminating the worst forms of child labor.

One of the most effective methods of ensuring that children do not start working too young is to set the age at which children can legally be employed or otherwise work (ILO).

At a practical level, Pan USA, a child centered organization, has developed a hands-on approach to protecting children's rights and preventing economic exploitation by working closely with affected families and whole communities. This has helped raise awareness on child labor issues and other children's rights, including equal access to education and recreation for girls and boys in Vietnam, Togo, Uganda and Ecuador, to name a few.

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Child labor around the globe

The Asia and Pacific regions harbor the largest number of child workers in the 5 to 14 age group (127.3 million in total) — 19 percent of the children. In addition, at least 60 million children work under especially horrific circumstances, are forced into slavery, prostitution, pornography, or participate in armed conflict (UNICEF).

Besides the Asia Pacific region, 48 million children are working in Sub-Saharan Africa, 17 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, and more than 13 million in the Middle East and North Africa (ILO). Working children are also employed in the field of agriculture, manufacturing, social and domestic personal services, transportation, and construction.

In addition, millions of children are forced into debt bondage, 15 million of which live in India alone. Bonded labor exists when a family receives an advanced payment to hand a child over to an employer in order to pay off the parents’ debts (Children’s Rights - Child Labor 2004). In most cases, however, the child cannot work off the debt and the family is unable to get their child back.

In the USA, the United Farm Workers Union estimates that 800,000 children work in the agricultural sector. Working children are denied many of their fundamental rights, such as education, health care, and a safe and healthy environment. Children deprived of their rights, such as to education and to a loving, protecting family, often grow up unable to improve their own lives. Their families, in turn, often become locked into similar patterns of deprivation.

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What you can do

Donate now!
Want to prevent child labor?
Support organizations, like Plan USA, that seek to improve the lives of children in developing countries by helping families improve their income, by raising awareness about children's rights and by providing education and skills training. Become a Child Trafficking Solutions Sponsor.

You can shop with conscience by purchasing sweat-free products made with excellence in good working conditions. To see a list of sweat-free companies and products, go to Shop With A Conscience.

You can also start a YUGA chapter at your school and raise awareness in your community. For more information about starting a YUGA chapter, please visit the YUGA web page.

Join!
Join the YUGA Child Rights and Exploitation Campaign and the One Campaign: an historic pact for compassion and justice to help the world's poorest families overcome AIDS & poverty.

Fundraise
Want to help but don't know how? Fundraising for a cause is always a great idea. Help trafficked children around the world by raising funds to donate to Plan's child's trafficking solutions. For creative fundraising ideas, visit Plan USA's Fundraising Page.

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Read all about it!

On-line:
To learn all you can about child labor visit these informative websites:
United Nations Children's Fund
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
International Labour Orgranization
Child Labor Coalition
United States Department of Labor

National Child Labor Committee

For full texts about the international legal protection against child labor, visit:
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on Child Labor

Films:
For more information about child labor, visit our Film Library.

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The children at risk

Which children are more at risk?

Children living in poverty: While most families expect their children to contribute to family welfare in a variety of ways, families living in poverty depend much more upon their children for actual income. Many children are sold into bonded labor to pay off debts owed by their parents.

Street children: Children without families must fend for themselves. They often fall victim to exploitation by child traffickers and drug traffickers.

Children affected by HIV/AIDS: With more than 10 percent of children in some countries orphaned, extended families, communities and governments are stretched beyond their capacity to care for them (UNICEF). Children often have no option but to find employment to support themselves and their siblings.

Females: Although much progress has been made in this area, many cultures still view females as domestic laborers. Many girls who do attend school are subject to sexual harassment and prejudice and are either kept from school or drop out and end up in exploitative labor.

Children living in conflict zones: Children living in political and civil unrest are often forced into roles as child soldiers.

What is the Youth Engagement and Action (YEA) Program at Plan USA?
The YEA program at Plan USA links U.S. youth with dynamic opportunities for participatory involvement, real-world understanding and local action on global issues.

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