Child Labor Research Articles

Estimating the prevalence of child labour in the cocoa industry via indirect elicitation methods: a mixed-methods study

Data from children suggest that the prevalence of child labour in the cocoa industry in Côte d’Ivoire is a worrying 38%. However, while surveying children has the potential to reduce sensitivity biases such as social desirability bias, it presents significant ethical dilemmas and may also be associated with other reporting biases, making accurate estimates of child labour difficult. To address this, we collected data from 1741 cocoa producers to assess whether parents could provide more accurate estimates using indirect survey methods. We compared direct questioning with a list experiment and a novel non-verbal method (‘colorbox’). We found higher prevalence rates of child labour using indirect elicitation methods, but lower than those obtained from children’s surveys. Qualitative in-depth interviews revealed motivations for underreporting, including fear of legal consequences and mistrust of stakeholders. Indirect methods alone are not sufficient to correct for underreporting when child labour is collected from parents. Future research should prioritise direct data collection from children and address ethical concerns to obtain more accurate estimates of child labour.

Exploring influences on child labour disclosure: the role of sustainability policies and stakeholder engagement

Exploring influences on child labour disclosure: the role of sustainability policies and stakeholder engagement

The Swiss Legislation on Business and Human Rights: A Reform Needed Towards Harmonization with EU Law

AbstractThis article examines the disparities between the (existing and planned) business and human rights (BHR) legislations in Switzerland and the European Union (EU). More specifically, (i) the key differences that exist between the Swiss and EU BHR legislations are identified, and (ii) the proposed amendments to the Swiss BHR legislation to reach the desired harmonization with the EU framework are put forward. The Swiss BHR legislation, implemented in stages on 1 January 2021 and 1 January 2023, encompasses provisions related to ‘transparency on non-financial matters’, ‘transparency in raw material companies’, and ‘due diligence and transparency in relation to minerals and metals from conflict-affected areas and child labor’. The EU BHR legal framework, however, has undergone a major overhaul, with the recent adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD) that introduce additional obligations. These EU regulations have (or will have) important extraterritorial effects, including on Swiss undertakings operating—directly or indirectly—in the EU. To prevent Swiss companies from being subject to a diverse array of regulations (with an increased risk of sanctions in case of non-compliance), a reform of the Swiss BHR legislation is needed to ensure harmonization with EU BHR legislation. This article also serves as a resource if full equivalence between them is sought.

SHARENTING E EXPLORAÇÃO DO TRABALHO INFANTIL

ABSTRACT The act of parents sharing information and images of their children on the internet, a practice known as sharenting, has become increasingly common but also raises a series of controversies. This trend involves the constant exposure of children’s private lives on social media, sparking debates on privacy, security, and children’s autonomy over their own image. Thus, the present research aims to analyze the impact of sharenting on children’s exposure to child labor exploitation. The study seeks to demonstrate how digital overexposure can open doors to the economic and psychological exploitation of these children, who are often involved in activities that go beyond mere entertainment and start to constitute labor. Accordingly, the study will investigate the potential legal and social implications of this practice, based on a qualitative literature review focused on analyses of current legislation, case studies, and reviews of academic literature. The expected outcomes include identifying the risks associated with the practice of sharenting, along with proposals for regulation and greater awareness of children’s rights in the digital environment.

Socio-Economic Implications of Displacement on Children in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

This study examined the socio-economic implication of displacement on children in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. It specifically identified the concerns of children in the IDP camps in Guma LGA of Benue state; ascertained the various agencies addressing these concerns and, investigated and prioritized the identified concerns of these children to proffer the needs assessment to address these. This is undertaken given that in the aftermath of farmers' and herders' conflicts, children bore the brunt of the disruptive effects of the upheavals that undermined their survival rights. The study adopted a survey method that sourced primary data through the use of a structured questionnaire and employed descriptive statistics for analysis. The findings indicate that there are unaccompanied children in the camp who are not catered for. There is inadequate medical care for the children, raising concerns about malnutrition, infectious diseases, safe delivery, and infant mortality. School drop-out is also a concern as it leads to the risk of child labour, poor skills development, and vices. The study recommended that a proper record of all internally displaced persons across all indices of demographic and socioeconomic data should be taken for adequate planning and logistics. There should be effective psychological treatment for the children to help their psycho-social integration with the larger society. Access to medical care should be improved for the children and education services should be all-encompassing for the children to eradicate the school drop-out rate.

Two birds, one stone: minimum wage and child labor

PurposeThis paper investigates the impact of quasi-exogenous and substantial increases in the minimum wage on child labor outcomes in Türkiye. The study aims to provide empirical evidence on how minimum wage policies affect child labor outcomes in a developing country context, with a focus on gender and age differences. It seeks to understand whether minimum wage increases lead to a reduction in child labor and whether the impact is different for various demographic groups.Design/methodology/approachThe research employs a difference-in-differences methodology using data from the 2012 and 2019 Child Labor Force Survey in Türkiye. The treatment group consists of children from households with minimum wage earners, while the control group comprises children from other households. Various labor market outcomes are analyzed, and robustness checks are performed.FindingsOur findings indicate that while the overall effect of minimum wage increases on child labor is statistically insignificant, there are notable heterogeneous impacts across different demographic groups and employment sectors. Specifically, we observe a significant reduction in the employment probability of girls under the age of 15 and unpaid family workers. Additionally, the likelihood of younger children being wage earners decreases, and the minimum wage increase reduces employment in the agriculture and services sectors for certain subgroups. The impact is also more limited for children in single-adult-worker households.Social implicationsThese results underscore the varying effects of minimum wage policies on child labor and highlight the importance of considering demographic and sectoral differences in policy formulation. Policymakers should complement such policies with income-generating programs and targeted education initiatives to address child labor issues more comprehensively and sustainably.Originality/valueThis study fills a critical gap in the limited international literature on the causal effects of minimum wage policies on child labor incidence. One notable exception, Menon and van der Meulen Rodgers (2018) have explored the impact of minimum wage on child labor in India using regional variation, our study uniquely analyzes the effects at the household level in Türkiye. This approach provides valuable insights into how minimum wage changes affect child labor outcomes in a developing economy context with a high prevalence of minimum wage earners. It also contributes to the broader economic understanding of child labor and household income dynamics.

How to Tackle Increasing Child Labor in Uganda

How to Tackle Increasing Child Labor in Uganda

Exploring Education-Induced Bargaining Power of Women on Household Welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa

Women’s education and empowerment have engaged the interest of policymakers and academics for many years. We employ individual-level data from Ghana and Uganda in this paper to offer a comparative analysis of the impact of women’s education and empowerment on six household welfare indicators: child labor, child school enrollment, female labor force participation, fertility rate, household food expenditure, and nutrition intake. Comparing the two countries is insightful due to their distinct socio-economic structures and cultural contexts, which might influence the dynamics of women’s empowerment differently. The study utilizes the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Instrumental Variables (IV) regressions and provides a battery of robustness tests. The empirical results show that in a household, the woman’s and man’s education levels are significant determinants of household welfare. However, contrary to common assumptions, the woman’s education does not have a stronger effect than the man’s, and her relative bargaining position has negligible effects on the welfare indicators studied, at least for the cases of Ghana and Uganda. Further sensitivity checks support these findings, suggesting that female education can improve household welfare, but its impact may not necessarily operate through enhanced bargaining power within the household.

Child Rights, Abuse and Mitigating Options in Nollywood Films: A Study of <i>Wives on Strike</i> and <i>Itoro</i>

Child rights are those fundamental privileges that contribute to the overall development of children in society. The increasing rate of child abuse impinges on the rights of children resulting in numerous negative effects that are harmful to their growth and well-being. Although some Nollywood films portray the problem of child abuse in society, not much has been done to examine the rights of children and how these rights are violated as a result of cultural and social factors that condition the well-being of children. The study examined the representation of child rights, abuse and mitigating options in Omoni Oboli’s <i>Wives on Strike</i> (2016) and Precious Adeyemi’s <i>Itoro</i> (2017). These Nollywood films were selected through a purposive sampling technique because the have thematic importance relevant to the problem of the study. James Garbarino’s Social Habitability theory was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. Findings revealed that child labour and marriage are dominant abuses of children and teenagers in Nigeria with adverse consequences on their development. It also revealed that the girl child is at the greatest risk of abuse due to cultural and social factors. The study recommended further exposition of this crime, especially other forms of child abuse by Nollywood film practitioners to mitigate its scourge because the future of every nation depends on children.

Selected social impact indicators influenced by materials for green energy technologies

The social risks of green energy transition are underexplored. One of the important questions is which materials used in green energy technologies offer the greatest social benefits, such as ensuring decent living conditions, and which pose the most social risks. To address this issue, we develop a dynamic material-energy flow model integrating system dynamics, social life cycle assessment, and geometallurgical approaches. The analysis focuses on critical materials: Rare Earth Elements, Nickel, Silicon, Graphite, Magnesium, Gallium, Germanium, Indium, Aluminum, Cobalt, Lithium, Zinc, and Tellurium used in wind turbines, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar photovoltaic panels. We assess their social impact on work safety, gender equality, informal employment, labor income share, employment rate, and child labor—key issues addressed by Sustainable Development Goals 1, 5, and 8. Here we show that Aluminum production for electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panels generates the most jobs and income opportunities, while extraction of Cobalt, Lithium, Silicon, and Zinc carry the highest social risks.

Exploring Synergies Between Community Mobilisation and Cash Transfers in Bangladesh

This article presents insights from the Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA) social protection cash plus intervention in a low‑income neighbourhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Adopting a novel methodology, we use community mobilisers’ monthly narrative reports, so-called ‘micronarratives’, to understand synergies between implementation and outcomes of community mobilisation activities (the ‘plus’) and cash transfers. We find that households face many intersecting problems, including health issues, low income, and indebtedness, and community mobilisation lays a foundation for households to be heard and become more resilient in the face of these problems. The introduction of cash transfers facilitated individuals and households to act on the advice and ideas offered by the community mobilisers. Households became more willing to speak with community mobilisers even when they explained that the cash transfer was unconditional on their counselling service. Some households started income-generating activities with their savings.

The Longlasting Program Keluarga Harapan as Conditional Cash Transfer in Indonesia: The Existing Problems and the Policy Recommendations

Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) is a conditional cash transfer program in Indonesia that requires beneficiaries to meet certain requirements such as school attendance and health checks. Adopted from similar models in Latin America, PKH aims to reduce short-term poverty and invest in the health and education of future generations. Since its launch in 2007, PKH has operated in various regions with different poverty and infrastructure issues. PKH faces several challenges, including mistargeting of beneficiaries and burdensome bureaucracy for the poor. To address this, improvements to the targeting system and simplification of document procedures are recommended. The program has also contributed to reducing stunting through improved nutrition and health education, although health facilities need to be improved. In the education sector, PKH has succeeded in increasing school enrollment and attendance, but has not significantly reduced child labor. In terms of livelihoods, PKH encourages beneficiaries to shift to non-agricultural jobs, although often only casual labor. This study uses descriptive and explanatory designs to describe and explain the evolution of the PKH policy from 2007. Descriptive design is used to describe policy changes that occurred during the period, while explanatory design is used to explain the factors that influence policy changes and their impact on program effectiveness. The results found that there were problems with PKH facilitators including insufficient numbers, high workloads, and low salaries, which affected their effectiveness. To improve the performance of facilitators, new recruitment, regular training, and increased salaries and working conditions are recommended.

Debunking the corporate paint shop: Examining the effects of misleading corporate social responsibility claims on social media

Misinformation thrives on social media, prompting much research into social media interventions such as debunks. This paper tests debunking’s effectiveness against an understudied but prominent form of online misinformation: misleading organizational claims of corporate social responsibility, or CSR-washing. British participants ( N = 657) took part in a preregistered experiment with a 2 (debunk: present, absent) x 3 (CSR-washing: greenwashing, bluewashing, purplewashing) between-subjects design. They saw an Instagram ad from a fictional clothing company that showcased its dedication to environmental sustainability, gender equality in the workplace, or the elimination of child labor. Half of the participants then received a debunk. Unlike most previous research which showed continued influence of misinformation after debunking, we found that the debunks were very effective: they reversed the persuasive effects of CSR-washing, resulting in negative brand attitudes and low purchase intentions. Several explanations for this finding are discussed, highlighting CSR-washing’s distinctiveness from many other forms of misinformation.

Psychosocial deprivation as a problem of subjectivity of the pandemials: Socio-psychological and pedagogical problems of digital education

Introduction. Researchers around the world note that in modern education, the normal operation of educational institutions and, moreover, academic performance, due to the 2020–2022 education crisis remains out of reach for many students, their teachers, as well as their parents. An entire generation of «pandemials», minors and young «children of the lockdown» lives with the scarring of deprivation and distress received during the lockdown period. This generation, thanks to the «experiment» carried out on them, the main process of which was psychosocial deprivation, found itself facing the threats of desubjectivizing: failure and flunking, lack of education and unemployment, crime and impoverishment, exploitation and violence, accumulation of losses. At the same time, almost none of those who conducted the «experiment,» contrary to declarations, are going to compensate by returning lost opportunities, but intend to continue, introducing and legitimizing the so-called «distance learning».Purpose setting. The purpose of the study is to understand the phenomenological analysis of pedagogical and socio-psychological problems of digital education and phenomenon of psychosocial deprivation of modern schoolchildren and students in the situation of the macrosocial crisis (lockdown) of 2020–2022 as a process associated with a interruption of the formation and development of students’ subjectivity.Methodology and methods of the study. The research method is a phenomenological analysis of the psychosocial deprivation of modern schoolchildren and students in a situation of a macrosocial crisis (lockdown) as the leading problem of modern education in Russia and the world related to interruption of the formation and development of students’ subjectivity. Results. Psychosocial deprivation experienced by «children of lockdown» is a systemic, long-term and multidimensional limitation / deprivation of a developing / maturing person of the opportunity to satisfy educational and other psychosocial needs. Thanks to the lockdown and other events of 2020–2022, schools and universities faced previously unknown mental health problems (their own and those around them), were forced to deal with them and the following problems in the form of increased violence and other forms of deviant behavior, diseases and injuries, problems of desubjectivizing (asubjectivity). There has been and continues to be a growing number of negative coping strategies, including child labor and early/unequal marriages, prostitution and early motherhood, replenishment of gangs by children, teenagers, youths, etc.Conclusion. The lockdown has become a new phenomenon for many communities and their members, for modern science and art, and has given rise to numerous discussions about the psychosocial and moral and legal status of the measures proposed by WHO and implemented by the states to combat the «pandemic» declared by WHO. Lockdown children became victims of more or less total and long-term psychological, or rather psychosocial, deprivation – they were limited in their ability to fully interact with other members of the community, including teachers and other students, they were closed within the framework of the family and home. The study of the features and consequences of deprivation of lockdown children is the most important area of modern education research, which will not only outline individual steps and technologies for helping children, but also formulate the necessary measures to protect education as a sphere of cultural reproduction, support for human development, care of older generations for the younger ones in general.

Child Separation and the Stolen Generation of Brazil: Indigenous Peoples’ (Un)Freedom in Amazonia

Abstract This article examines questions pertaining to Indigenous people’s citizenship status, the problematic definition of orphanhood, rule of law, and structural racism in Brazilian society. The definition of orphanhood was articulated in a way that allowed for the extralegal abuse and racialized exploitation of labor to continue long past the legal end of Indigenous slavery (1755). Indigenous persons’ legal status, the definition of orphanhood, and guardianship laws worked together to legitimate the permanence of child separation as a means for wealthier Brazilians to get free child labor. The article uncovers the ambiguities in defining Indigenous people’s legal status, making citizenship status a subjective determination contested on a case-by-case basis. With this foreground understanding, the article presents the practice of child separation and the created discourse to legitimize Indigenous, Black, and mixed-race children as unpaid criadas de casa (housemaids).

Contextual analysis of child labor laws and educational rights for children in Pakistan with a focus on KPK province

Child labor is defined as the exploitation of children in any form of labor that destructively affects the child's mental, social, and physical health and creates hurdles to obtaining a regular education. This study was conducted to investigate the main socio-economic factors contributing to child labor and barriers to education and analyze the practical implications of child labor laws in Pakistan. The study area in this study is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, Pakistan. The primary data were collected through an online questionnaire survey from teachers, school administrators, government officials responsible for enforcing child labor laws and educational policies, and representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), while personal observations and interviews were used for the collection of data from child laborers, parents or guardians of child laborers. A total of 80 teachers or education experts, 70 children and their guardians, 30 policymakers, and 20 social workers were participants in the data collection process. The outcomes of this study concluded that about 78% of participants lacked awareness of these laws, while 71% perceived them as ineffective. The socioeconomic factors contributing to child labor are quantitatively assessed, with poverty identified as the primary factor (65%). The statistical analysis indicates that the socioeconomic factors have a significant contribution to the implementation of child education laws in Pakistan (a p-value lower than the level of significance (0.05). Discrimination based on gender or social status, high cost of education, and insufficient qualified teachers are significant barriers to providing quality education for children in Pakistan. This study recommends promoting inclusive education and strengthening social welfare programs to support their efficacy in combating child labor and ensuring access to quality education for all children in Pakistan.

Social Life Cycle Assessment of Cocoa Production: Evidence from Ivory Coast and Ghana

Cocoa is a natural resource that plays a very important role globally, being one of the most produced and traded commodities. As a labour-intensive product and considering that its cultivation involves about 50 million people globally, it seems significant to explore its social sustainability. In light of this, this research aimed to map social risks within the cocoa supply chain from a life cycle perspective. Therefore, the Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) was used, following the PSILCA database, considering the two most influential countries in its production, i.e., Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. The results showed that there could be a very high risk that more than half of the cocoa globally is produced through child labour and with wages too low to guarantee workers a decent living, returning incomes of $30–38/month. Forced labour is much less frequent than child labour, while cocoa from Ghana may induce a high risk of improper work, considering the 30.2 h per week worked by farmers. This is mainly due to the low association power of 10–16%, which reveals a high risk that workers may not organise themselves into trade unions. Finally, at 23–25%, there is also a very high risk of discrimination due to the high presence of migrant labour. Therefore, the S-LCA results showed that the cocoa industry is still characterised by socially unsustainable sourcing.

The Role of the Informal Economy in Child Labour in Rural India

This research paper delves into the heartbreaking reality of child labour within India’s informal economy, where millions of children are forced to abandon their childhoods for work. Despite laws designed to protect their rights, countless young lives are caught in a web of exploitation driven by poverty and a lack of opportunity. This study reveals the complex factors that lead children into labour—such as economic hardship, inadequate access to education, and societal norms that often overlook their suffering.

Discerning personhood through lena‐dena: Disability professionals, ethics, and communication

AbstractThis article looks at practices of discernment in disability spaces in India by analyzing (hierarchical) relational contexts in which disability professionals and disabled people in India interact. We argue that discernment, which we explore through lena‐dena (giving and taking), allows us to analyze the ethical stakes of processes of communication, interpreting, and facilitation. Vaidya analyzes how special educators make broad discernments about intellectually disabled people by interpreting their unconventional and nonlinguistic communicative cues. In contrast, Friedner examines how speech and language therapists that work with deaf children make narrow discernments regarding what counts as language and perform the labor of training deaf children to communicate in the normatively correct way—that is, using speech. While disability professionals produce specific kinds of personhood for disabled people through their practices of discernment, they also end up discerning themselves in the process as professionals with difficult yet rewarding jobs. We conclude by discussing a program for individuals with intellectual disabilities where both authors conducted ethnographic research wherein disability professionals discerned disabled people as having social needs and desires on par with nondisabled people and created enabling environments, scaffolded activities, and facilitated conversations to produce and enable complex personhood for them.

Business as usual: framing labour exploitation in the UN global compact

ABSTRACT International governmental organizations have brought issues of forced labour, child labour, and human trafficking into the realm of corporate social responsibility with voluntary principles and guidelines for businesses to follow. Such efforts have been characterized differently by world society scholars, who see them as mechanisms for the diffusion of global norms, and critical scholars, who seem them as reflections of corporate power. I contribute to this debate by analyze framings of labour exploitation in the United Nations Global Compact’s written and verbal communication, exploring what is being conveyed. I find that the texts emphasize western businesses as the ‘real’ victims, threatened by human traffickers, suppliers, and consumers, while workers themselves are de-centered. The findings lend weight to critical scholars’ views, suggesting that the framings reflect business interests and support a status quo in which the political economy of labour exploitation can continue.