Child work in Pelotas, Brazil: occupational profile and contribution to family economy

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Child work in Pelotas, Brazil occupational
profile and contribution to family economy
Federal University of Pelotas Degree in
Epidemiology School of Medicine - Dept of Social
Medicine

• 12th World Congress of Public Health
• Istanbul, 27 April 1st May, 2009

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Authors

• Luiz Augusto Facchini
• Anaclaudia Gastal Fassa
• Marinel DallAgnol
• Maria de Fátima Santos Maia

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Brazil - Location of the country of study
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PELOTAS, RS (Southernmost state), BRAZIL
PELOTAS
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Objective

• To assess the economic contribution of child work
  to the family budget in urban poor sectors of
  Pelotas, Southern Brazil

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• Introduction

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Introduction

• Child work is a global problem with huge
  magnitude
• Particularly in poor in medium income countries
  where live 96 of children and teens who work
• ILO, 2002

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Introduction

• All over the world
• 352 millions working children and teens
• ILO, 2002
• In Brazil
• 5 millions working children and teens
• Brazil, PNAD/IBGE, 2001
• Boys 3 570 216
• Girls 1 912 299

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Introduction

• Most of the kids and almost half of the teens
  work in inadequate activities for their ages
• 88 of the kids from 5 to 14 y.o.
• 42 of the teens from 15 to 17 y.o.
• That need to be eliminated in respect to the
  international conventions and standards from ILO
  and approved by many countries, including Brazil
• 138 minimum age
• 182 worst type of work
• ILO, 1998 e 2002

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Introduction

• The fight against child work has been increasing
  in the last decade, showing expressive advances,
  in many countries, like in Brazil
• ILO, 2006
• The interventions are done in a global context,
  through
• International economic pressures
• embargo, prohibition, discrimination of CW
  products
• National policies
• addressing the international conventions and
  agreements

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Introduction

• But the adequate policy design to control and
  eradicate CW depends of the quality of the
  theoretical debate and the evidences about the
  problem
• What increases CW and what are their
  consequences?
• Which interventions can eradicate CW without
  affect negatively the kids?
• A policy well intentioned, but badly designed can
  increase the poverty to child workers, with
  negative consequences to child health and
  well-being
• Basu and Tzannatos, 2003.

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Introduction

• In Brazil, CW decreases 30 in the last decade
• Particularly as a result of the national program
  to eradicate and prevent the problem
• With the improvement in the social respect of the
  child and teens rights
• (ILO, 2006)
• However, the reduction of child labor was
• bigger among teens - 15 to 17 y-o
• lesser among 10 e 14 y-o
• (IBGE/PNAD, 2005)

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Introduction

• Brazil
• We have some evidences about an increase in the
  number of child workers from 10 to 14 y-o
• 122,000 kids and teens from 5 to 15 y-o started
  to work in 2005
• 10,3 more than in 2004
• IBGE/ PNAD, 2005
• ILO, 2006
• The work is still a daily reality to a
  significant proportion of children and teens
• 13 from 5 to 17 y-o
• 19 from 10 to 17 y-o

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Methodology
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Methodology

• Cross-sectional, population-based study in
  Pelotas, Southern Brazil (state of Rio Grande do
  Sul)
• Mid-size city (350,000 inhabitants)
• Household questionnaire
• Population under study
• Urban children teens from 6 to 17 years-old
• Living with their families in poor neighborhood
• Sample size estimation
• Prevalence of child labor 10
• Minimum prevalence of health problems 3 in
  non-workers children
• 15 to control confounding
• 10 to control lost
• Total 4,390 subjects

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Child Labor

• Rio Grande do Sul
• 1/2 million children
• (10 to 17 years old)
• Source IBGE/PNAD, 1993
• Pelotas
• 5,000 children
• (6 to 17 years old)
• Source our estimation

• Pelotas

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Methodology

• Defining child work
• Work in the day of the interview ever
• performed by persons younger than 18 years-old
• that contribute to the production of a marked
  product, good, or service
• including activities done for pay or not, formal
  (retail) informal (yard cleaner, rag-pickers)
• also including household work performed in the
  parents home when it can be assimilated to an
  economic activity (cleaning, cooking,
  baby-sitter)
• Assessing economic contribution
• Amount of income from children teens regarding
  to current paid work
• Amount of income from all adults in the family
• Proportion of child income/family income
  proportion of family budget paid by children
• exclusion
• Household work at the family home without payment

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• Results

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Studied sample

• 3,171 households
• 22 low income census tracts
• 4,924 subjects from 6 to 17 y-o
• Lost 7.5
• Demographic profile
• male 51
• white 76
• In the school 95

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Child work prevalence

• Ever worked 21 (1,014)
• Currently working 9.7 (476)
• Looking for work 3.4 (169)

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Workers profile (n476)

• Age
• 6 to 9 5.3
• 10 to 13 25
• 14 to 17 70
• Sex
• boys 71
• girls 29
• p
• PR 2.4
• CI951.9-2.8

• Insertion in the work
• Informal 88
• Formal (from 14 to 17 y-o)
• 10 - boys
• 17 - girls
• p0.02
• PR 1.23
• CI951.0-1.5).

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Child work, age sex

• Child work x age
• 6 to 9 y-o 1.5
• 10 to 13 y-o 7
• 14 to 17 y-o 21

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Type of work (N472)
Retail and household service more prevalent among
girls, in all age groups
Industry, construction non-household service
highly prevalent among boys, in all age groups
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Frequent jobs for children (n476)

• 10,1 stonemason assistant
• 9,5 restaurant, markets and groceries assistant
• 9,2 seller
• 6,5 yard cleaner
• 6,1 nanny
• 5,3 maid (household activities)

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Prevalence of child work by child age adult
income
mw minimum wage 1 mw is about USD 100
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Working hours

• Working hours weekly
• 40 hours or more 40
• Through 13 anos y-o
• girls 42
• boys 21
• (p0.04).
• From 14 to 17 y-o
• girls 43
• boys 43
• Night work (10 h/week) 16

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Children Wage per Month in US dollars (N472)
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Income x age sex

• Payment in money
• boys 77
• girls 65
• (p
• 6 to 13 y-o difference non-significantly
• 14 to 17 y-o
• The proportion of girls working without payment
  was two folds greater than boys
• (p

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Income x age sex

• Monthly average income
• boys R 79.00
• girls R 54.00 (p
• 14 to 17 y-o
• boys R 102.00
• girls R 65.00 (p
• 10 to 13 y-o
• boys receiving than R 60.00 monthly were 2
  times greater than girls (p
• 14 to 17 y-o
• boys (32) receiving than R 120.00 monthly
  were about 3 times greater than girls (11)
  (p

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Contribution to family income

• Average contribution
• boys 19
• girls 15
• (p0.20).
• Average contribution to family income
• 3 from 6 to 9 y-o
• 14 from 10 to 13 y-o
• 20 from 14 to 17 y-o

• Average contribution 18 of family income
• 50 of working children
• 10 of family income
• 25 of working children
• 25 of family income

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Family support provided by child paid workers in
US dollars (N397)
Basic expenses rental, electricity, household
appliances, household improvements, food,
clothes, transportation, health and school
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Family support provided by child paid workers in
US dollars by Age and Gender (N397)
Age (years old)
6 to 9
10 to 14
15 to 17
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Contribution to family income by age sex

• from 6 to 9 y-o
• similar for boys and girls (3).

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Contribution from children to family income by
adults income
p 38
Contribution from children to family income by
adults income child gender

• Independently of the family income of adults
• Girls the majority didnt contribute to the
  family income and didnt receive a money payment
• Boys the majority did a contribution 25 of
  the total family income
• If the family income of adults was between 3 and
  6 minimum wage
• 24 of the boys and 7 of the girls did a
  contribution 25 of the total family income
  (p0,03)
• If the family income of adults was greater than 6
  minimum wage
• None girl and only 1 of the boys did a
  contribution 25 of the total family income
  (p0,18).

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Family income x frequency to school children
contribution to family income

• Contribution of 25 or more of the family income
  frequency to school
• Out of the school 46
• In the school 27
• p0.10
• Adults income weekly working hours 40 h
• through 6 minimum wage
• 50 of working children
• More than 6 minimum wage
• 30 of working children
• p

• Children out of the school in the year previous
  to the interview according to the familiar income
• 3 to 6 minimum wage 16
• 6 minimum wage 5
• p

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Money Impact of Child Work

• The average difference of R 61.00 R 732,00 in
  the family income each year, that correspond to a
  new refrigerator, or a washing clothes machine

• Average family income (monthly)
• with CW R 746.00
• without CW R 691.00
• 9 bigger

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• Discussion

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Discussion

• The proportion of economic contribution of child
  work to the family budget increased with the
  reduction of adults income
• The average contribution of child work to the
  family income was similar with some findings in
  Latin America and Asia
• Facchini et al. (1998), Pelotas, average 18
• Cartwright Patrinos (1999), Bolívia, average
  21
• Usha and Devi (1997), Tamil Nadu (India), average
  20
• Swaminathan (1998), Gujarat, India, 40 of kids
  contributing with 10 to 20

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Discussion

• The reduction in adults income increases
• the proportion of teens out of the school
  (p
• the number of working hours per week for children
  and teens (p
• The poverty of adults is critical to CW because
• The parents cant get enough money to warrant the
  family needs
• The kids are strategic work force to minimize the
  impact of adults unemployment, family crisis
  (dead, divorce, breakdown, ...), a frustrated
  harvest, problems to pay loans
• Galli, 2001

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Discussion

• Low income and institutional frailty are very
  important risks to increase CW not only in
  Brazil, but globally
• Fausto et al., 1996 Graitcer et al.,1998
  Unicef, 1997 Edmonds Pavcnik, 2005
• Our findings showed that in poorer families,
  working children and teens
• Start to work earlier
• Are more essential to increase family income
• And are at great risk to be out of the school
• Hopefully, CW can be reduced by social and public
  policies
• The Global Report 2006 of ILO present some
  relevant advances in the last years, as we have
  seen in Brazil

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Discussion

• But we need more integrated policies that put
  together efforts against CW and benefits to the
  whole community, to support the social demands of
  families and kids
• School, sports, culture, food, transportation,
  household, environment
• Fellowships and economic incentives
• Workshops and community centers (arts, IT, music,
  handrcrafts, language, trips), health centers
  (family and integral health programs)
• Furthermore, the efficacy and effectiveness of
  these policies to reduce, prevent and eliminate
  CW need to be continuously assessed
• Edmonds Pavcnik, 2005

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Thank you!