Child Labor In Latin America

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Child labor in Latin America Child labor is something that unfortunately occurs all over the world. Child labor is defined as “work that harms children or keeps them from attending school” (https://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu). Millions of children are taken advantage of whether it is working long hours, receiving extremely low pay, or not having a safe working environment. Child labor is caused by a variety of reasons such as poverty, maternal and parental illiteracy, and unstable laws relating to child rights. Child labor is a major problem in Latin America, which needs to be stopped immediately.
A multitude of children are being required to work to support their family, which may cause them to take jobs that are not safe. Roughly 14 …show more content…
“Parents in indigenous societies in rural Guatemala prefer that their children work because they believe that manual labor is an important part of the education process, teaching children to become hard working adults” (Tauson 32). That is why countries like Guatemala, Ecuador, and Peru which all have large native populations take up the majority of the labor force. This impacts the local community because in order to prevent the increase of child labor in Latin America parents will have to go against their cultural beliefs, which is that children have to work in order to be successful. Even though it may not be easy it is crucial for the well being of the children in Latin America. Child labor also affects the local community in a societal way. The more hours a child is put to work the less time he/she is in school and getting an education. By not attending school it can cause the child to not get a well paying job in the future, or learn how to fit into society. “The more a child works, the less education he/she receives. Low national education levels are negatively correlated with infant mortality, poor health, high birthrate, and low life …show more content…
Unfortunately, local agencies are not able to effectively deal with the problem despite trying. “Due to the many categories and classifications of child labor, as well as its far-reaching causes, child labor in Latin America is difficult to combat” (Tauson 31). The International Labor Organization (ILO) is an international governmental organization that is trying to put an end to child labor in Latin America. In order to do this effectively and efficiently the ILO has formed the Interagency Group on Child Labor (GITI) to help eliminate child labor. The GITI is mainly focused on eradicating the most severe forms of child labor in Latin America by 2016. “The main objective of the GITI is to work jointly to promote, as a matter of urgency, the elimination the worst forms of child labor by 2016, intensifying actions for prevention and eradication of child labor in the action plans of the group’s member agencies” (http://www.unesco.org). Furthermore, the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is working with NGO’s to abolish child labor. For example, the IPEC is working with an NGO called AIDECA in Peru, which is targeted to eliminate child labor in the brick sector near Lima. “AIDECA has developed a plan for a new kind of kiln and production system that combines efficiency with ease of operation, low maintenance costs and low energy consumption”
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