WUNRN
ILO - International Labour
Organization
SOCIAL PROTECTION POLICIES CRUCIAL TO TACKLE CHILD LABOUR - ILO - GIRLS
Measures
such as cash transfers or health insurance programmes can sometimes determine
whether a child spends the day studying and playing, or working and being
deprived of a fair chance at a decent future.
Direct Link to Full 77-Page Report:
29 April 2013 - GENEVA – A report by the ILO’s International
Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), says that
social protection policies can play a key role in the fight against child
labour, which currently affects some 215 million children worldwide.
The World
Report on Child Labour: Economic vulnerability, social protection and the fight
against child labour, is a new ILO study which reviews relevant
research on how different types of social protection measures can help combat
child labour. These include cash transfer schemes, social health protection and
income security in old age.
For example, Brazil’s Bolsa Familia cash transfer programme – which pays
families a certain amount per month provided their children go to school – has
played a key role in the reduction of child labour both in rural and urban
areas.
In Cambodia, child labour was down by ten per cent following the introduction
of the Education Sector Support Project scholarship programme – which also
involves cash transfers.
The report, which is the first in a series, cites a study in Guatemala showing
that children from households where at least one member is covered by health
insurance are about 4.5 per cent less likely to work.
Income in old age was also analysed by the authors: In Botswana, Malawi,
Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, for instance, 50-60 per cent of
orphans live with their grandparents. In such households, the degree of income
security in old age plays a significant role in limiting child labour.
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Child labour: Facts and figures |
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215 million children are
involved in child labour. These figures are from the latest Global
Report (2010). New figures are expected to come out in September
2013:
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“This report contributes to a better understanding of the
underlying economic and social vulnerabilities that generate child labour,”
said Constance Thomas, IPEC Director.
“It clearly shows that investing in social protection through
nationally-defined social protection floors is a crucial part of the response
in the fight against child labour, which also includes access to decent jobs
for adults and education for children.”
According to ILO estimates, more than 5 billion people – about 75 per cent of
the global population – do not have effective access to comprehensive social
protection.
The report says that extending social protection in line with the ILO
Recommendation on social protection floors, adopted less than a
year ago, should be a key part of national strategies to tackle child labour.
National social protection floors should include at least a basic level of
income security throughout the life cycle, as well as access to essential
health care.
The authors also recommend introducing child labour-specific measures in social
security systems, strengthening national legal frameworks and capacity, as well
as reaching out to vulnerable groups of children such as those living with HIV,
migrant children, children from marginalised ethnic minorities, indigenous and
other economically and socially excluded groups.