A. Congressional Mandate

In the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1994, Public Law 103-112, the Committees on Appropriations, U.S. Congress, directed the Secretary of Labor to undertake a "review to identify any foreign industry and their host country that utilize child labor in the export of manufactured products from industry or mining to the United States." Congress further instructed the Secretary to "utilize all available information including information made available by the International Labor Organization and human rights organizations."

For purposes of the study, the Department used as its definition of child labor the international standard. That standard is contained in the International Labor Organization's Convention 138 on Minimum Age for Employment (1973) which provides as follows:

The minimum age . . . should not be less than the age of compulsory schooling and, in any case, shall not be less than 15 years. Convention 138 allows countries whose economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed to initially specify a minimum age of 14 years and reduce from 13 years to 12 years the minimum age for light work.

There is no explicit definition of "light work" in the Convention, other than it not be likely to harm the health or development of young persons, and that it not prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocational orientation or training programs approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received.¹

To carry out this task in a timely and effective manner, the Department of Labor established an International Child Labor Study staff and developed a study strategy, which is described in detail in Appendix A entitled "Background and Methodology." The staff in preparing this report has sought to draw on as wide a range of sources as possible, including: the International Labor Organization, UNICEF, human rights and other non-governmental organizations, American embassies abroad, labor organizations, foreign governments, businesses, academics, journalists, special country studies, and field visits. The Department of Labor also held a public hearing for this study on April 12, 1994.

B. Findings: Patterns and Trends

1. Scale of the Problem

Statistics on child labor are in general fragmentary and suspect. Many governments, especially in the developing world, lack an adequate system for obtaining accurate data on child labor. Moreover, they are reluctant to document activities which are often illegal under their domestic laws, violate international labor standards, and are perceived by many as a serious failure in their public policy.

Nevertheless, the International Labor Organization has estimated the total number of child workers to be between 100-200 million. According to the ILO, more than 95 percent of all child workers live in developing countries. As the world's most populous region, Asia accounts for more than 50 percent of child laborers. However, Africa has the highest percentage of children working, roughly one in three. In Latin America, an estimated 15 to 20 percent of all children work.

Child workers are found in a wide range of economic activities. The largest numbers work in family-based agriculture, in services (domestic servants, restaurants, and street vending), prostitution, and in small-scale manufacturing (carpets, garments, furniture, etc.). Most children work in the "informal" economy, which is generally not regulated by national law, rather than in the formal economy, although subcontracting in such industries as garments, shoes, and carpets often makes a distinction between formal and informal difficult to determine.

2. Export Industries and Child Labor

Only a very small percentage of all child workers, probably less than five percent, are employed in export industries in manufacturing and mining. And they are not commonly found in large enterprises; but rather in small and medium-sized firms and in neighborhood and home settings. Those export industries which most commonly employ children include garments, carpets, shoes, small-scale mining, gem-polishing, food-processing, leather tanning, and furniture. In some cases, government polices to promote exports of low-skilled, labor intensive products, such as garments and carpets, may have resulted in an increase in the demand and use of child labor. Without strong international pressure and corresponding international assistance, child labor is likely to continue.

Quantifying the extent of child labor in a particular export industry in a particular country can seldom be done with specificity. Complex subcontracting arrangements with layers of middlemen between the exporter and the primary production unit frequently hide or at least disguise the use of child labor. Further complicating any serious analysis is the fact that in some industries, for example in the garment and shoe industries, parts fabricated by children in one country are sent to a second country for assembly before being exported to the United States. Although these flows are no doubt significant and merit further investigation, tracing them in this study was beyond current resources and capabilities.

3. Conditions of Employment

There is a consensus among experts that child workers are generally less demanding, more obedient, and less likely to object to their treatment or conditions of work. They can easily be taken advantage of and more often than not are. The great majority work long hours for substandard wages under unhealthful conditions. They have few if any legal rights, can be fired without recourse, and are often abused. While a few may be relatively well off compared with their peers, almost all are deprived of an adequate education and options for future work. They also may face exploitation by adult co-workers who force children to take on some of their tasks.

4. Contributing Factors

The reasons why children work are many and often complex. Those seeking to explain the use of child labor frequently point to traditional patterns of economic life and maintain that child labor is a time-honored and inevitable fact of life. They view poverty and survival as the driving forces and can envisage a significant reduction in child labor only in the context of industrialization and rapid economic development.

Advocates for children's rights and other expert observers often challenge this analysis as too simplistic. They note that economic and social conditions vary from region to region and country to country. They argue that while poverty may be one very important contributing factor, other factors must also be taken into consideration. Depending on the specific country, they point to:

Economic Self-Interest - Factory owners who overwork, underpay, and otherwise take advantage of vulnerable child workers.

Public Indifference - Politicians, media, non-governmental organizations, and other opinion makers who collectively treat child labor as a non-issue.

Public Policy - Inadequate resources devoted to primary education and export promotion policies that support firms and industries without regard to their impact on child labor.

Government Inadequacies - Labor inspectorates that lack authority, expertise, numbers, and accountability.

Government Corruption - Government officials who not only condone but in many cases personally benefit from child labor.

Societal Prejudice - Majority groups which consider child labor among less privileged groups part of the natural order.

In summary, children work for a variety of reasons. Some work simply to survive. Others, in the absence of free and compulsory schooling, lack a meaningful educational alternative. Tragically too many children - those in bonded labor - work to repay debts incurred by their parents. Still others are kidnapped, or recruited by unscrupulous agents to work away from home as a source of cheap labor in many industries. Nonetheless, most apologists for child labor cite poverty as the cause. However, the amount of money earned by most child workers is generally a small contribution to the family income. Although children work because they are victims of poverty, by working instead of being educated, they tend to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.

5. Responses: Governments, Nongovernmental Organizations, International Organizations

Governmental responses to the problem of child labor vary as greatly as do the industries in which children work. Some governments enact exemplary laws abolishing or at least regulating child labor. Others create a maze of regulatory schemes governing the employment of children fraught with loopholes and exceptions, too confusing to navigate, or with no intent they be enforced. There are governments which deny the existence of child labor and thus lack any initiatives to curtail the exploitation of child workers. There generally are no labor force statistics on economically active children under the age of 12, since almost everywhere this is illegal activity.

Too many governments contend that they lack the financial and other resources to successfully battle the exploitation of child labor. It can be said, however, that many lack the political will to enforce child labor laws, train labor inspectors, and implement health and safety regulations. Even in the area of compulsory primary education, where the relationship between the strength of the educational system and the lower levels of economic exploitation of children is commonly accepted, governments often fail. In such cases, non-governmental organizations with much fewer resources, attempt to fill the gap.

On the other hand, a number of governments are cooperating with international organizations such as UNICEF and the ILO to establish plans of action to combat child labor. In certain cases, this includes conducting national surveys on child labor, establishing more schools and non-formal education programs for children, and publicizing the hazards of child labor. There are critics who caution that governmental agreements with international organizations to develop anti-child labor programs use this relationship to deflect attention from the child labor situation in their countries. Nevertheless, cooperative programs with international organizations as well as local labor or non-governmental organizations represent progress. The Department of Labor has also learned of projects between Labor Ministries and members of the business community to set up day care centers, schools and health facilities for child workers.

C. Strategy Debate: Abolish or Regulate Child Labor

Advocates for children's rights in the International Labor Organization, UNICEF, and various non-governmental organizations are divided as to the best strategy to address the problems of child labor. Many advocates recommend abolishing all child labor immediately; they argue that in the long run, developing countries would benefit both economically and socially from a public policy of strict enforcement of both compulsory education and minimum age laws. They maintain that many countries actually have the resources for greater investment in education but lack the necessary political will. They believe that strict enforcement of both compulsory education and child labor laws would be much easier to administer than a more differentiated system and would reduce opportunities for corruption.

Other advocates for children's rights - probably a majority - believe that the immediate abolition of all child labor is unrealistic and, in many cases, contrary to the interests of the children themselves. They recommend first abolishing the most abusive forms of child labor, and, in order to avoid a situation in which a reduction of child labor in one sector of the economy will simply lead to an increase in another, governments then should strictly regulate remaining forms of child labor to provide appropriate protections and benefits for those who must work to survive. They believe that the issue of child labor, especially in the more impoverished countries of the developing world, cannot be viewed in isolation but must be addressed in the broader context of social, economic, and educational development as a whole.

Policy differences aside, advocates for children's rights agree that certain abusive forms of child labor cannot be properly regulated but must be entirely abolished. These include child prostitution, bonded labor, and hazardous working conditions. Advocates view all these as unequivocally harmful, an exploitation of children, and urge governments and the world community as a whole to take immediate corrective action. Indeed, article 3(1) of ILO Convention 138 states that no one under 18 shall be admitted to employment or work "which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals of young persons. . . ."

D. Regional Overviews

1. Asia

Children are found all over Asia working in factories and workshops where they clean and pack food, weave carpets, sew and embroider garments, glue shoes, carry molten glass, cure leather, and polish gems, to name a few. Children are also the "invisible" workers in sub-contracting systems whereby they work in homes, small village workshops, or in tiny sheds. The International Labor Organization estimates that at least half of all child workers are found in South and Southeast Asia.

Conditions in these industries range from crowded garment factories, where the doors are locked and the children work for 14 hours, to small dusty earthen huts which can seat four children to a loom, knotting carpets in a pit for hours on end. At its worst, conditions, such as in glass factories, are medieval. Temperatures are unbearably hot, glass shards line the dirt floors where children and adults walk barefoot, and children carry heavy and piping hot rods of molten glass from one station to another.

Due to the sheer enormity of its population, and the large number of labor-intensive export industries, Asia boasts perhaps the highest percentage of children working in industries which export to the United States. Simultaneously, a thriving non-governmental sector monitoring and publicizing the exploitation of child labor has developed. The combination of these factors has led to an increase in information on working children and the establishment of programs to support their health and welfare.

2. Africa

Unlike Asia, research on child labor in Africa is meager, particularly in export industries. Less national or international attention has been paid to children working in Africa, and trade between the United States and African countries in products typically made by children is minimal.

The ILO estimates that 25 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 work in Africa, and in some countries, close to 50 percent of children under 14 work. Most children hard at work in Africa sell and trade food on the streets, wash cars, work at kiosks, serve as domestic helpers, tan and dye raw leather products, fetch water, collect firewood, herd animals, and harvest crops on family farms or commercial plantations.

Only a minute portion of economically active children participate in the manufacturing or mining of products exported to the United States. Yet, the Department of Labor has learned that children are sewing garments, working in gold and diamond mines, weaving carpets, mining chrome, and processing sisal - all for export. Although the number of children employed in export sectors is still relatively small in Africa, there are fears that with growing industrialization and urbanization, the exploitation of child labor in the formal sector will grow.

3. Latin America

In most of Latin America child labor has only recently become an issue of concern. The growing volume of trade from many countries has opened their labor practices to international scrutiny and inspired nations to look more closely at child labor in their export industries. The ILO estimates that between 15 and 20 percent of children in Latin America work. Child labor in the manufacturing and mining sectors can generally be found in home-based garment and shoe part production, small-scale mining in remote areas, and to a lesser extent, in the maquiladoras of Mexico and Guatemala.

In Latin America, most children in export industries work in subcontracting enterprises. They are often not paid, or paid by the piece. Many of the children work with their parents in conditions that are generally poor and sometimes hazardous. Sub-contracting arrangements are also commonly found in small-scale mining operations. Children may be found in all aspects of the mining process including extraction, transport and separation of ore. In some instances, children are used to dig small tunnels and to mine in spaces that are too small for adults. Products of these mines, such as gold, emeralds, coal, cassiterite (tin ore), iron, and silver are sometimes exported through a larger mining company.

4. Europe

In comparison with other regions, Europe has relatively few examples of child labor in export industries. The high level of economic development, the implementation of advanced educational requirements and the conscientious enforcement of child labor laws generally eliminates child labor. Exceptions to these generalizations may be found in some of the southern European countries. Reports of more serious problems do appear in the press from time to time involving various immigrant communities.

So far there is no credible evidence that children in Central and Eastern European countries are currently working in the formal sector in general or in the export sector in particular. Nevertheless, given the deteriorating economic and social conditions in the area and the large number of children already working in the informal sector, the potential for increased child labor in the formal sector is very real and merits careful monitoring.

E. Introduction to Country Profiles

The Committees on Appropriations specifically sought information on child labor in industries and their host countries which export to the United States. Throughout the research process, the International Child Labor Study asked embassy officials to report on trade data related to manufacturing and mining industries. Trade research also was conducted using the U.S. Department of Commerce report, "U.S. Merchandise Trade: Exports and General Imports by Country," and the Piers Imports Database, Journal of Commerce 1994. Where an industry was identified as manufacturing products using child labor, the International Child Labor Study attempted to determine whether such products were being exported to the United States. On the whole, no industry utilizing child labor was struck from the report solely because the amount of exports to the United States was below a certain level. If there was any amount of imports, the industry and country were included. On the other hand, it was outside the scope of the project to determine whether 1) a particular product made by children was exported to the United States; 2) which companies manufacture, export or import the product; or 3) where in the United States such a product is sold. Thus, no names of companies are cited in the report.

Many allegations contradicted one another, both in matters of fact and conclusion. In other instances, patterns clearly emerged. In many cases, allegations could not be substantiated with the resources available. In other cases parallel allegations by separate organizations provide widely different estimates on the number of children actually employed in a particular industry, with the difference between the estimates often greater than some of the estimates themselves. Thus, where it was determined that credible assertions of child labor existed, it was reported. Where contradictory evidence was found, it was noted. Where little information is known, but enough evidence suggests the existence of child labor, the report states that more research is needed. Where there is clear evidence of child labor, either through the preponderance of reports or eyewitness testimony, the report identifies that an industry employs children.

Finally, a number of countries are profiled in the report and the use of child labor in their export-oriented industries described in detail. The choice of which countries to highlight more often reflects access to credible information, combined with an active export sector, and not a judgement that any particular country values its children more or less than another. There are certain regions where facts about child labor have been documented for many years, and thus more information is available to report. There are other areas where it is believed that child labor in the export sector exists, but access to credible information has been difficult to compile due to 1) the limited time available to collect data; 2) the systematic intimidation of persons investigating situations of child labor; or 3) a lack of attention given the topic by indigenous groups.

In accordance with the mandate to identify industries and their host countries which utilize child labor in the manufacturing or mining of products exported to the United States, the Department of Labor has gathered credible information on the following countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Lesotho, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Tanzania, Thailand, and Zimbabwe.

F. Conclusion

The International Labor Organization, in its testimony at the Department of Labor's hearings, described the complexity of child labor and issued an important challenge: "Few human rights abuses are so unanimously condemned, while being so widely practiced as child labor . . .There is no quick fix . . .Working children, all over the world, deserve better."

By gathering information about products routinely used in our daily lives that are produced by the sweat and toil of children, this report may be a vehicle to better understanding the magnitude of the problem and developing solutions to bring this continuing human tragedy to an end.

¹General Survey of the Reports relating to Convention 138 and Recommendation No. 146 concerning Minimum Age, Report III (Part 4 B)(Geneva: International Labor Organization, 1981) 73.