How does child labor affect education

Child labor hinders children’s education | Blog

Child labor hinders children’s education

We know that poverty often pushes children to work, yet when children leave school early to enter the labor force they are more likely to end up in occupations that limit their chances of breaking out of poverty.

June 12 is the World Day Against Child Labor and while the number of children 5-17 who work has declined by 30% since 2000, there are still 168 million child laborers worldwide according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). More than half, 85 million, are in hazardous work.

In the 2015 report Child Labour and Education – Progress, challenges, and future directions the ILO analyzes the role of child labor in keeping children away from school, as well as the lack of accessible, affordable and good quality schooling as a factor for children to enter the workforce. 

The findings outlined in the report include:

• Child labor lowers net primary enrollment ratios.
• There is a strong negative effect of child labor on school attendance. In some countries, school attendance rates of working children are only about half of those of non-working children.
• There is a significant negative correlation between levels of economic activity of children aged 7-14 years and youth literacy rates in the 15-24 age bracket.
• Rural working children tend to be among the most disadvantaged.
• Boys and girls often do different jobs. Girls are usually overrepresented in non-economic activities such as work in their “own household“. They also often bear the double burden of work outside and inside the house, often with little time left for schooling.
• For children who manage to combine work and education, performance at school often suffers.

We know that poverty often pushes children to work, yet when children leave school early to enter the labor force they are more likely to end up in occupations that limit their chances of breaking out of poverty.

The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal for Education rests on children being free to go to school rather than working to support their families, while ensuring decent work (SDG 8) and eliminating all child labor will be impossible without quality education for all children. Therefore, it is essential that we continue to work on exploring and addressing the links between education and child labor. 

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Five Reasons Why Eradicating Child Labor Is Crucial For Education

Photo by AsiaInspection.

June 12, 2016, marks the World Day Against Child Labor, and this year, child labor in supply chain is in focus. With over 168 million child laborers worldwide, this problem still remains grave. In addition to the disadvantages faced by many workers in poorer countries, such as hazardous working conditions, long hours, lack of mandated leave, etc., child laborers are denied a fundamental human right: the right to education.

In the daily work of AsiaInspection (AI), a global product safety, quality, and compliance provider, child labor is a critical factor in any social audit carried out for AI’s clients. Any indication of underage workers being present at a factory is enough to give a social audit a failing grade, and label the factory as non-compliant.

However, for any brand that discovers their supplier has been compromised, simply choosing a different factory may not the best solution. A more constructive way forward is to work with the factory to ensure that child laborers are put back in school.

In investigating child labor, AI’s process is not limited to identifying and reporting the problem. Coordinating their efforts with the brand, AI’s social auditors ensure the child laborer’s safety and create an environment in which they feel comfortable discussing their honest views on work and education. With an understanding of the underage worker’s family and economic situation, AI and the brand engage the help of NGOs to improve it.

The most common reason for child and underage labor is the family’s need for an extra provider. Because of this, one of the best ways to handle the problem is ensuring education for the child while securing the income they used to bring to their family. Some brands put pressure on their suppliers to replace the child laborer with an adult member of their family, or to pay the child’s salary while they receive their education.

People often restrict their idea of child labor to very young children. However, workers in their early teens are equally vulnerable, and their being underage is not always immediately apparent. The International Labour Organization sets the minimum working age at 15, and rules that no-one under 18 should be involved in hazardous work.

Another key aspect of the definition of child labor by the ILO is “work that deprives children of the opportunity to attend school.” Indeed, child labor is incompatible with education, and here are five reasons why:

1. Child labor is a barrier to education access and enrollment

Even in communities where schools are available, child labor is often perceived as the best use of the children’s time. Recent studies confirm that child labor is negatively correlated with school enrolment and delays school entry. For example, in Cambodia, a child is 17% less likely to enter school at the enrolment age. Child labor also increases drop-out rates, as poverty forces many children out of schools and into paying jobs.

2. Child labor is a barrier to learning

In countries where child labor is common, children who combine work and school are disadvantaged compared to children in full-time education. Limited time and exhaustion from work greatly impairs their participation, and they are much less likely to receive the full benefits of the education available to them. A 2014 study of sixty countries showed that working children face an attendance disadvantage of 10% to 30% compared to their non-working counterparts (Policy Paper: Out-of-school Children and Child Labor. Global March Against Child Labour, 2014). Statistically, working children have lower test scores, poorer attendance rates, and are more likely to repeat grades.

3. Child labor traps children in poverty

Entering the workforce too early diminishes a child’s lifetime earning potential. Child laborers have very limited ability to take advantage of educational opportunities that would help them receive better-paying jobs as adults. As a result, someone who started working as a child may remain in a low-paying and hazardous job for the rest of their life, failing to improve their own economic position and that of their future family.

4. Child labor has consequences for the next generation

As a logical consequence of the above reason, child labor can perpetuate inter-generational cycles of poverty. Parents who entered the workforce early at the expense of schooling are more likely to compel their children to do the same: for economic reasons, as well as due to the acquired expectation that turning their child into an earner is more important than giving them an education.

5. Education and child labor are co-dependent challenges

Without access to quality and free education, many families and children themselves will view work as the better option – if the benefits of education aren’t obvious, or school tuition is not affordable. However, simply offering good education options is not enough to tackle all child labor problems. Economic incentives must be offered for children to stay in school instead of dropping out early, and awareness of the importance of education must be raised among all family members.

While child labor is a deeply entrenched, multidimensional problem that requires complex solution, one thing remains clear. As long as child labor exists, universal primary education cannot happen, and simultaneously, until all children have access to free and quality education, child labor will persist.

“Cutting ties with a non-compliant supplier can help a brand’s reputation, but will contribute little to the bigger picture, at AI, we aim to work together with brands, supplies, and NGOs to ensure education for children and secure their future.” – Sébastien Breteau, CEO, AsiaInspection.

¹ http://globalmarch.org/sites/default/files/Policy-Paper.pdf

Child labor in Europe: a continuing challenge

© 2013 Volunteer Weekly

Many observers believed that child labor in Europe was a thing of the past. However, there is very strong evidence that child labor is still a significant problem and that it may increase with the advent of the economic crisis. Governments should monitor this situation and use the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Social Charter as recommendations for preventive and corrective action. nine0003

In times of economic downturn, vulnerable people always suffer more than others. Therefore, the association between a decline in economic growth and an increase in child labor is not surprising. Due to the recession, many European countries have drastically reduced social assistance. And as unemployment rises, many families have found no other solution than to send their children to work.

Harmful and dangerous work

The prevalence of child labor in developing countries is a well-known problem: according to the International Labor Organization, more than 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are currently working. However, when we began to analyze the situation in Europe, we found in my Office that there was very little information on this subject. In fact, it seems that this topic is taboo. However, we were able to gather enough information to paint a rather bleak picture. nine0003

According to UNESCO, 29% of children aged 7-14 work in Georgia. In Albania this figure is 19%. The government of the Russian Federation estimates that up to 1 million children work in the country. However, data are not yet available for most other countries. In Italy, a 2013 study shows that 5.2% of children under the age of 16 are employed.

Many of those children who work throughout Europe are engaged in highly hazardous work in agriculture, construction, small businesses or on the street. This is reported, for example, for Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and Montenegro. Working in agriculture can involve dangerous equipment and tools, carrying heavy loads, and using harmful pesticides. And working on the streets leads to the fact that children are harassed and exploited. nine0003

In Bulgaria, child labor appears to be very common in the tobacco industry and some children work up to 10 hours a day. According to reports from Moldova, directors of schools, farms and agricultural cooperatives have signed agreements that require students to help with the harvest.

Other countries at risk are those that have been hit hard by austerity measures: Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Portugal. Quite a few children are reported to work long hours in the United Kingdom as well. nine0003

Roma children are at particular risk throughout Europe. Another particularly vulnerable group is unaccompanied migrants under the age of 18 coming from developing countries.

What to do

• Governments urgently need to focus on child labor issues, investigate, collect data and monitor. Most countries have legislation in place but do not track current practice. nine0032
• The guiding principle should be the best interests of the child, as provided for in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the standards of the European Social Charter.
• Authorities should carefully assess the potential impact on child labor of budget cuts in education and training.
• They should also analyze the impact on child labor due to cuts in social services and family support: the main reason why children are forced to work is poverty. nine0032
• Labor inspection institutions should be able to carry out their work properly.
• States must actively combat the sale of children for forced labor and exploitation. Those seven member states of the Council of Europe that have not yet ratified the Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings should do so, and all member states should cooperate with the GRETA monitoring group.

What will be the future of these children? nine0010