The number of children and adolescents involved in child labor increased by 7% in 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic level
In 2022, in Rio – In Brazil there were 2,103 million children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17 who carried out some type of work, of which 1,881 million were in a situation of Child labor which should be eradicated. Over 700 thousand carried out some economic activity in conditions of risk to their physical integrity and health. The data come from the continuous national household sample survey (Continuous Pnad) published on Wednesday 20th by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The survey highlighted an interruption in the path to reducing child labour, which should be eliminated in all its forms by 2025, according to the target set in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of United Nations (UN). Although the population of this younger age group has declined in recent years in the country, the number of children and adolescents in child labor situations increased by 7% in 2022, compared to the pre-pandemic level observed in 2019.
After three consecutive years of decline in the survey’s time series, the number of children and adolescents involved in child labor rose from 1,758 million in 2019, when they represented 4.5% of the population aged 5 to 17, to 1,881 million in 2022. Share of the population in this age group equal to 4.9%, 123 thousand more in this situation.
“What we know is that during this interval there occurred a pandemicwhich had repercussions on the labor market as a whole and could also have influenced the condition of child labor, increasing the number of children in this situation”, recalled Adriana Beringuy, Work and Income coordinator of the IBGE. “Between 2016 and In 2019, there was a significant trend towards a reduction in child labour.”
Inspection and punishment actions for irregularities can also influence the results, the researcher added. He points out that not all work done by children and adolescents is considered child labor (which must be eradicated). Among the criteria taken into consideration by the IBGE in the investigation is the fact that Brazilian legislation prohibits any form of work up to the age of 13.
In older age groups there are rules regarding, for example, the existence of a formal employment relationship, limits on weekly working hours and compulsory schooling. From 14 to 15 years of age it is allowed to work in the form of an apprenticeship. From 16 to 17 years of age there are limitations to unhealthy and dangerous night work. “Work for self-consumption also characterizes a child labor situation, for example when the teenager has to undertake a grueling journey,” Beringuy explained.
In 2022, child labor – carried out both in economic activity and for family self-consumption – amounted to 449 thousand children aged 5 to 13, 444 thousand adolescents aged 14 and 15, and 988 thousand adolescents aged 16 and 17.
Among the 1.9 million who exploited child labor, 1.414 million carried out an economic activity (including 228 thousand children up to 13 years old) and 467 thousand worked only for self-consumption (including 222 thousand children).
In 2022, 386,000 children and adolescents worked 40 hours or more per week. “This trip takes these children and adolescents away from studies, for example from studying and leisure, which are activities at this time of life,” Beringuy said.
The economic activity that absorbed children and adolescents the most was domestic services, co-opting 42.6% of workers in this age group, followed by trade (27.9%) and agriculture (22.8%) . “Domestic work in Brazil is illegal for minors,” reiterated the IBGE coordinator.
Two-thirds of those affected by irregular work were black and male. Of the total number of children and adolescents involved in child labor in 2022, 34.9% were women and 65.1% were men; 66.3% were Black or mixed race, and 33.0% were White. Among these children and adolescents, 12.1% were not studying. “The estimate indicates that a portion of these people lose the ability to attend school when they are forced into child labor,” Beringuy assessed.
Risky work
In 2022 there were 756 thousand people between the ages of 5 and 17 who carried out occupations considered the worst forms of child labour, i.e. at risk of accidents or harmful to health. This group represents 46.2% of the age group employed in economic activities (1.6 million people). Among children who work in some economic activity, 69.4% work at risk.
The average real income of people aged 5 to 17 who performed economic activities in a child labor situation was estimated at R$716 in 2022. Men received R$757, while women earned 84.4 % of this amount, R$639. or race, black children and adolescents received R$660, compared to an average of R$817 obtained by whites. Income increased with age: R$246 in the 5- to 13-year-old group; R$618 for children aged 14 to 15; and R$799 for children aged 16 to 17.
Approximately 76.6% of 16- and 17-year-old adolescents working in economic activities were informal, equivalent to 810 thousand informal child workers, the highest percentage of informality for this group since the start of the historical series in 2016.
Receive social benefits
In 2022, 582 thousand children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 were economically active and lived in families with income from government social benefits. This contingent represented 35.6% of this age group who carried out economic activities. In the group aged 5 to 13, more than half (56.1%) of the working children lived in beneficiary families, a share which fell to 38.9% in the group aged 14 to 15 and to 30.1% in the group aged 16 and 13. 17 years.
“Since child labor is a situation of precariousness or vulnerability, families that have a population in a child labor situation could find themselves in a vulnerable situation,” explained Adriana Beringuy.
Agricultural activity was the one most carried out by working children living in families receiving social subsidies from the government: 33.7%.
Source: Terra
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