Costa Rica and Guatemala: An Analysis of Child Labor

1
Costa Rica and Guatemala An Analysis of Child
Labor

• LER 554 - Professor Aguilera - 9/24/2008
• Raven Johnson
• Maria Morozowich
• Jessica Velasco
• Dorothy Wawrzak

2
Objectives

• Introduction to Central America
• Child Labor in the world
• Child Labor in
• Costa Rica
• Guatemala
• Conclusions

3
Introduction to Central America

• Can anyone describe the location of Central
  America?
• Name 3 countries in the region.

4
Introduction to Central America

• Central America is often referred to as either
  the southern most tip of North America,
  connecting North America to South America or a
  region all its own
• The countries that make up Central America are
• Belize
• Costa Rica
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Nicaragua
• Panama

5
History of Central America

• Originally occupied by the Mayan and Aztec people
• Following Christopher Columbus expedition, Spain
  ruled (and inhabited) nearly all of Central
  America (barring British Honduras, present day
  Belize)
• In 1821, there was a rebellion and Spain was no
  longer in control
• That same year, the Federal Republic of Central
  America was formed, but it was short-lived (17
  years)

6
Do you know
Which of these countries is the largest, by
population?
Guatemala at over 12.7M residents
Which of these countries is largest by area?
Nicaragua at nearly 130k km
7
Costa Rica
8
Costa Rica - República de Costa Rica
Population 4,191,948
Monetary Unit Colón
Languages Spanish (official), English
Literacy 94.9
GDP/PPP (2007 est.) 45.77 billion per capita 10,300
Real growth rate 6.8
Inflation 9.4
Unemployment 4.6
Exports 7.005 billion coffee, bananas, sugar, pineapples textiles, electronic components, medical equipment
Imports 9.69 billion raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum
Major trade partners U.S., Netherlands, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, Brazil
Foreign Relations Costa Rica is an active member of the international community and, in 1993, proclaimed its permanent neutrality. Its record on the environment, human rights, and advocacy of peaceful settlement of disputes give it a weight in world affairs far beyond its size.
9
Guatemala
10
Guatemala - República de Guatemala
Population 13,002,206
Monetary Unit Quetzal
Languages Spanish 60, Amerindian languages 40
Literacy 71
GDP/PPP (2007 est.) 62.53 billion per capita 4,700
Real growth rate 5.7.
Inflation 6.8.
Unemployment 3.2
Exports 7.468 billion coffee, sugar, petroleum, apparel, bananas, fruits and vegetables, cardamom
Imports 12.67 billion fuels, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, grain, fertilizers, electricity
Major trade partners U.S., El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, South Korea, China
Foreign Relations Guatemala's major diplomatic interests are regional security and increasingly, regional development and economic integration.
11
Which facts are real in Guatemala?

1. An average woman in Guatemala works more than any
   other women in the world
2. Major transit country for cocaine and heroin in
   Central America
3. Guatemala was ranked to have the 2nd highest
   concentration of ozone in the world in 2007
4. Organizing a union in Guatemala is
   life-threatening
5. People steal children so they can give them in
   adoption to foreigners

12
Child Labor

• Definition Labor that is performed by a child
  who is under the minimum age specified for that
  kind of work (as defined by national legislation,
  in accordance with accepted standards), and that
  is thus likely to impede the childs education
  and full development

13
Types of child labor

• Agriculture
• Domestic work
• Bonded child labor (when a family receives and
  advanced payment to hand a child-boy or girl-over
  to an employer)
• Forced or compulsory recruitment for use in armed
  conflict
• Trafficking (transportation of drugs, sexual
  exploitation, etc)
• Street work (clowns, fire-kids, shoes, etc)

14
Child Labor in the World

• 218 million children ages 5 to 17 work in
  developing countries
• Of those, 5.7 million are from Latin America and
  the Caribbean

15
Do you know

• What is the minimum working age in Costa Rica?
  Guatemala?

Costa Rica - 15, Guatemala - 14
Which of the two countries has a higher rate
of child labor?
Guatemala
16
Child Labor Statistics

Child Labor (5-14 years) 1999-2006 Child Labor (5-14 years) 1999-2006 Child Labor (5-14 years) 1999-2006 Child Labor (5-14 years) 1999-2006
Total Male Female
Costa Rica 5 6 3
Guatemala 29 25 32

• Definition Percentage of children 5-14 years of
  age involved in child labor. A child is
  considered to be involved
• in child labor under the following
  classification (a) children 5-11 years of age
  who did at least one hour of
• economic activity or at least 28 hours of
  domestic work during the week preceding the
  survey, and (b) children
• 12-14 years of age who did at least 14 hours of
  economic activity or at least 28 hours domestic
  work during the
• week preceding the survey.

17
Costa Rica Child Labor Facts

• Reported 67,000 children work
• The majority of working children were found in
• the agricultural sector (57.0 percent)
• services (30.9 percent)
• manufacturing (7.3 percent)
• other sectors (4.8 percent)
• The rate of child work is higher in rural than in
  urban areas.

18
Costa Rica Child Labor Facts

• Minimum age for full-time employment is15 years
  of age
• Other standards
• Adolescents under 18 years are prohibited from
  working for more than 6 hours a day or 36 hours a
  week.
• Children 12 to 18 years old may work longer hours
  in agriculture and ranching, within the
  limitations established for the general workday
  schedules.
• Violations of minimum age and child labor
  standards are punishable by fines.

19
Costa Rica Child Labor Eradication

• 2006-2007Child Labor Improvements
• 10.9 to 8.7
• May 2006 Economic subsidies for poor
  adolescents in the formal and non-formal
  education system to reduce child labor
• 2005-2010 - Second National Action Plan for the
  Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor and
  Special Protection of Adolescent Workers

20
Costa Rica Child Labor Eradication

• USD 5.5 million USDOL-funded regional Child Labor
  Education Initiative Program implemented by CARE
• 2006 - USDOL-funded ILO-IPEC-implemented USD 3
  million regional project to combat child labor in
  commercial agriculture ended

21
Guatemala Child Labor

• The highest incidence of child work in Latin
  America
• Over 1 million children work
• Typically poor indigenous boys from rural areas
• Record declines in garment maquilas, but problem
  still persists especially in more rural areas and
  with work done at home.
• Agriculture is the highest employer of children,
  and children commonly work unpaid for their
  families

22
Guatemala Related Laws

• Minimum age for work is 14, but younger children
  may be granted authority
• Inadequate enforcement of laws results in many
  unauthorized child workers.
• Shortage of labor inspectors, weakness of labor
  court system
• Education is compulsory until age 14, but the law
  is no enforced
• Illiteracy rate 52, up to 85 in rural areas,
  90 among indigenous children

23
Guatemala Programs and Efforts

• President of Guatemala recently reunited with the
  Labor Ministry and other social organizations
• US aid and improvements to Ministry of Labor
• Task Force for Protection of Child Workers
• Translating child worker rights and other laws
  into indigenous languages
• Various NGOs that do advocacy work, research, and
  social programs designed to address problems
  (focusing on street children)

24
Other Solutions to the Problem

• Combating exploitive child labor through
  education in Central America (CA-Primero
  Aprendo) Implement creative and innovative
  approaches
• provide educational opportunities for children
  engaged
• encourage retention in, and completion of
  educational programs, and
• expand the successful transition of children in
  non-formal education into formal schools or
  vocational plans

25
Conclusion Questions

• Countries in Central America were once very
  similar as a set of developing nations with
  similar economic and social problems
• Guatemala remains much this way
• Costa Rica has improved dramatically and this can
  be seen clearly in the recent successful efforts
  to eradicate child labor
• Guatemala still struggles - what lessons can we
  learn from this case study?

26
Gracias!!
27
Sources

• http//www.hrw.org/children/labor.htm
• http//info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/7630
  9/dc2002/proceedings/pdfppt/guatemalachild.pdf
• http//www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/sweat/g
  uatemala.htm
• http//www.childinfo.org/labour_countrydata.php
• http//www.unicef.org
• http//www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107596.html
• A Brief History of Central America by Hector
  Perez-Brignoli
• www.nationalencyclopedia.com
• http//www.dol.gov/ilab/map/countries/costa_rica.h
  tm
• http//www.ilo.org
• www.costaricapages.com
• www.hartford-hwp.com/archives