Child Labor Laws in Brazil
The practice of using children as workers is not a new concept. Children have labored in fields and factories for centuries, producing goods and services that have supported the global economy. In this context, it is often argued that the cessation of using child labor would have detrimental, and possibly catastrophic, consequences on the worldwide marketplace. The debate over the legality and morality of child labor frequently centers on Third World countries, such as Brazil.
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Facts
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As of the year 2000, there were an estimated 2.5 million children engaged in work-for-hire labor in Brazil, a decrease of nearly 2 million as compared with 1996 estimates, according to an International Labor Organization Report. Despite the institution of national child labor laws as early as 1891, Brazilian children have worked in some capacity for more than a century. The threat of economic sanctions by the international community in the 1990s focused more attention on this issue.
Use
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The majority of children in Brazil have worked in some form of agricultural endeavor, such as picking fruit or harvesting crops for the textile industry. The sisal plant has been a major component of Brazilian exporting for many years. The leaves of this plant are used to make handbags, rope, rugs and other textile products. The international fruit trade also relies heavily on yearly harvest yields in Central and South America, which has created a generational labor force exclusively dependent on fruit-harvesting in countries such as Brazil.
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Changes
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Pressure from international community, especially the United States, resulted in a revision of child labor laws in 1996 by the Brazilian government. This pressure was in part a result of international forums and programs that focused on the lack of alternatives available to families who saw no other means of economic support other than supplemental income derived from child labor. The implementation of state-sponsored educational scholarships resulted in an increase in the numbers of children attending school rather than working.
Opposition to Child Labor Law Revision in Brazil
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Arguments against changing the cultural labor practices that have existed for centuries point to the lack of feasible economic incentives to reduce the child labor force. The reliance of local manufacturers on lower labor costs to remain competitive has been cited as one of the overriding reasons that children are employed. Additionally, proponents of child labor question the motives of foreign concerns that may wish to eliminate regional competition to gain control of global markets.
Continued Focus
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Although those industries that are a major part of Brazil's economic status, such as agriculture and manufacturing, will continue to employ adolescents under newer guidelines that require fewer hours and higher wages, national policies regarding import and export standards may present some resistance to drastic changes. The global economic climate as of 2009 suggests that despite the growing demand for the revision of child labor laws in Brazil and other emerging countries, financial conditions may continue to force employers to populate their workforces with children.
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