Child laborit is when a child starts working when he is under 16 years of age. This practice is prohibited in Brazil and can lead to the arrest of parents or guardians, as well as the person who hired the child.
In Brazil, more than 3 million children and adolescents work, with more than 1 million and 600 thousand of them under 16 years old, according to the 2010 IBGE Census. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), throughout Latin America, one in every ten children and adolescents is in the condition of child labor. But why can't a child work?
Very simple, because this is the period of growth and learning, in which the child needs to dedicate himself to studies and enjoy his childhood, to increase his reasoning ability. If the child uses his time to work, he may not study and play or have his income compromised.
Most child labor is concentrated in the Northeast and mainly affects black children. However, you don't have to go far to find this situation, there are many children working in cities, selling sweets at traffic lights, doing household chores in exchange for housing and many others cases.
Much of child labor is caused by families' lack of financial conditions to support themselves. This can be avoided by improving the living conditions of these people, through measures such as the increase in salaries, the increase in the number of jobs, the carrying out of assistance programs, among others.
Many children have to work to help support their families²
Another common case of occurrence of child labor is indoors. Many children end up having to carry out a very large load of household chores, which can also be configured as a criminal offense. If the child only helps the parents to organize their own home, as an educational task, it does not constitute child labor and, therefore, it is not a crime.
And you: do you know any child subjected to the condition of child labor?
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¹ Image sources: says and Shutterstock.com
