*{No Time to Play: Child Workers in the Global Economy (ICFTU Website)
No time to play: child workers in the global economy
1996
Foreword 
PART I Child workers in the global economy 
What is child labour? 
Why is child labour increasing? 
Child labour and international trade - the Social Clause 
PART II Area case studies 
Asia and the pacific
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines,Thailand 
Latin America and the Caribbean 
Brazil, Chile , Colombia, Dominican Republic,Ecuador,Peru 
Africa
Mauritania , Zimbabwe 
Europe, USA and Canada
United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Spain, USA and Canada 
PART III Action to stop child labour 
National action, International action 
Bibliography 
Foreword 

This report, which has been produced in connection with the 16th ICFTU 
World Congress, deals with the global scandal of child labour, a 
phenomenom which governs the lives of up to 200 million children around 
the world. Children from the ages of four and five are to be found working 
in all sorts of industries, often under the most appalling conditions. 
They are usually paid a pittance or even nothing at all, exploited in the 
name of profit and discarded when they have outlived their usefulness. 
Most working children have no option - there are not enough schools, their 
communities are beset by poverty and their parents are usually unable to 
find a job.
 
Child labour is a symptom of unrestrained market forces and the growing 
divisions of wealth within and between countries. As the world moves 
towards a truly global economy, we are presented with a clear choice 
between sustainable, equitable economic growth and the kind of cutthroat 
competition which all too many governments and employers seem to prefer. 
The pages which follow provide stark evidence of the scale and the nature 
of the problem, including the growth in child labour caused by unregulated 
global trade. There can be no better illustration of the need for rules to 
govern trade between nations than the devastating effects of the actions 
of some of the world's most powerful interests on the most vulnerable 
people in any society.
 
The ICFTU, supported by many governments and nongovernment organisations, 
is campaigning for the introduction of a Social Clause in international 
trade agreements, especially at global level involving the International 
Labour Organisation and the World Trade Organisation. This clause would 
punish those who continue to profit from child labour, slavery, 
discrimination and repression of unions while rewarding those countries 
which respect basic rights, with access to global markets. 
This report is part of the on-going international trade union campaign 
involving the ICFTU, International Trade Secretariats and our national 
affiliates, to expose the increasing abuse of children for economic 
advantage. The products of this dirty trade are on sale today in shops all 
over the world. We all have our own part to play in eliminating child 
labour, to give the children a chance to learn and to play, and to ensure 
that their communities and their countries can reap the benefits of 
sustainable economic development where people are put before profit. 
ICFTU General Secretary}

*partie=titre Part I CHILD WORKERS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY *partie=nil  

Of all the benefits of economic development, providing a sound education 
and a healthy, secure future for the children of the world is perhaps the 
most important. Yet at the end of the 20th century, tens of millions of 
children are being exploited in work across the globe, and the numbers are 
growing. 

This report looks at the causes of and solutions to the tragedy of child 
labour. Summaries of national case studies from 20 countries are included, 
based on official government reports and work carried out (often at 
considerable personal risk) by local trade unionists and community 
organisations. These studies show that there are common political and 
economic characteristics of child labour, which must be addressed by 
national governments and by the international community. 

It is not possible in a document of this length to cover every detail of 
the subject or to look at each of the many countries where child labour is 
a serious problem, but it does show that child labour can and must be 
tackled, and perhaps most importantly, it tries to show what child labour 
means to the children who suffer. 

Child labour is a global problem which requires global solutions. 
Governments and employers must join unions and the non-government 
organisations to make sure that in the 21st century, child labour is a 
thing of the past, not a current reality. 

*partie=titre WHAT IS CHILD LABOUR? *partie=nil  
Child labour is defined as work regularly done by children under the age 
of 15 with some very limited exceptions (these are set out in ILO 
Convention 138). Some of the very worst exploitation happens to children 
as young as four or five years. Many people think that child labour 
largely disappeared along with other abuses of the nineteenth century; 
however, this report shows that vast numbers of children are at work 
instead of at school. Child labour is becoming a structural part of many 
economies in both the formal and informal sectors. 

The formal sector includes factories and other established workplaces - 
such as the garment factories of Bangladesh or the carpet factories of 
Nepal; the informal sector includes children working on the streets, as in 
Mexico selling chewing gum for a living, or in the home such as in the 
Philippines or the United Kingdom where a piecework subcontractor brings 
around garments to peoples' homes where they are often worked on by young 
children. The urban informal sector is expanding, often supplying goods to 
larger firms for export. The great value of the informal sector to many 
businesses is that it is unregulated, making exploitation of the workforce 
easier. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) states that more 
children now work in this sector than in agriculture because of migration 
to urban areas and the decentralisation of production units (1, US 
Department of Labor report, 1994). 

Many types of work are done by children including agricultural work, 
domestic service, home-based work, work in factories and shops, street 
selling, mining and quarrying, construction and a wide range of other 
activities. Tens of thousands of children are also forced to work in the 
sex industry around the world. 

In a number of industries (eg in hand-made carpets, glass-making, 
fireworks and match production in South Asia as well as in the textiles, 
clothing and footwear industry in countries in all parts of the world), 
child labour is an integral part of the production process with products 
made by children being sold domestically and on the international market 
often under abominable conditions. 

Child labour is usually characterised by low or no wages, long hours, 
dangerous and unhealthy conditions and lack of physical or social 
security. Many thousands of children are kidnapped or sold and kept as 
slaves with no rights and constant physical and psychological abuse. 
Children are also employed as part of family networks, on farms, as 
"subcontractors", as "regular employees" in workplaces or are forced to 
eke out a meager existence on the streets. 

Products made by children are on sale in big and small shops in every 
corner of the globe. 

*partie=titre WHY IS CHILD LABOUR INCREASING? *partie=nil  
Many children are forced to work because of poverty. Especially where 
adult unemployment is very high and there is no social security, families 
may be forced to allow their children to work simply in order to survive. 
Because of its effects on the health and education of children, child 
labour is also a major cause of poverty, creating a vicious circle from 
which there seems to be no escape. Many of the parents of today's child 
workers were also child workers themselves and thus cannot find employment 
as adults. This generation will follow the same pattern unless a decisive 
break is made. 

Under the pressure of the world economic crisis, many governments have 
been forced to seek loans from the international financial institutions 
under stringent structural adjustment programmes. This has meant 
withdrawal of vital resources from social programmes, in particular to pay 
off debts. Large-scale unemployment resulting from privatisation has 
exacerbated the situation. 

Some communities have managed to do something about child labour in spite 
of poverty, in particular where governments have made education a priority 
in their budgets, for example in the State of Kerala, India. Free, 
universal education, at least to primary level, is one of the most 
important steps against child labour and an invaluable investment in the 
future of any country. Providing a meal a day at school provides an 
additional incentive for parents to send their children to school. 
Some of the worst child labour abuses occur in countries such as Pakistan 
which spends nearly one-third of its budget on the military and less than 
2% on education of its children, and in India where school drop-out rates 
in the hand-made carpet producing areas approach 85%. In industrialised 
countries, where school participation rates are generally high, an 
increasing number of children attend school full-time but also work 
outside school hours, sometimes in dangerous situations with long hours. 
Social attitudes are also important as many people are still not aware of 
the devastating social and economic effects of child labour and are 
prepared to tolerate it. Perhaps most important of all, governments and 
the international institutions need to admit that child labour is a 
serious problem and commit themselves to take action to stop it. This 
action should include proper monitoring and enforcement of labour laws, 
strong penalties against employers who exploit children, sufficient 
spending on education and poverty alleviation and rules to prevent the 
sale of goods produced by child labour in international markets. 

*partie=titre CHILD LABOUR AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE THE SOCIAL CLAUSE *partie=nil  
Almost every country has laws against child labour, and most have signed 
ILO and/or United Nations Conventions such as the UN Convention on the 
Rights of the Child, ILO Convention 138 and other relevant ILO 
Conventions. Most governments respect the Conventions they have signed and 
an increasing number of countries are taking steps to enforce their own 
child labour laws. Nevertheless, a minority of governments are prepared to 
tolerate child labour in the belief that this can gain them a competitive 
advantage. As the global free trade agenda becomes a reality, sustainable 
and equitable development risks being undermined in the name of cutthroat 
competition. 

The trade union movement, supported by many governments and nongovernment 
organisations in developing and industrialised countries, believes that 
proper rules are needed in the international trade system through the 
adoption of a Social Clause in international trade agreements. At global 
level, this clause would involve cooperation between the International 
Labour Organisation and the new World Trade Organisation to stop countries 
undermining their trading competitors through using child labour, forced 
labour or discrimination, or by suppressing the rights of trade unions to 
organise and bargain collectively.
 
The ICFTU's proposed Social Clause is based on multilateral agreement 
between countries, backed up by financial and technical support for 
eliminating child labour. The adoption of a Social Clause would put an end 
to one country undermining another by abusing basic standards, putting a 
stop to the dirty worldwide trade in goods made by children. In a more 
general sense, the Social Clause would promote government action against 
child labour in nonexport sectors.
 
Many people imagine that child labour is an inevitable part of the 
development process. Nothing could be further from the truth. Real 
economic progress can only come when adults are in work and children in 
school. Until then, a small minority will make profit out of children's 
work but whole communities will remain condemned to a cycle of poverty and 
underdevelopment, wasting their most valuable resource for the future - a 
well-trained and educated workforce. 

Some people also argue that child labour is a traditional part of most 
societies and is important for the personal development of the child. Some 
even argue that children should have "the right to work". These were the 
same arguments used to justify massive exploitation of children in the 
industrial revolution and they are as false now as they were then. 
Children need to learn to read and write and they need the social and 
other skills that only schooling and a stable, non-exploitative social 
environment can provide. 

Another common argument in favour of tolerating child labour is that 
families will suffer economically if the children do not work. The reality 
is that child workers are almost never paid a living wage, while the 
families of children who work usually have at least one unemployed adult. 
The effort should be to get the adults in work, earning a living income to 
support their children. Research carried out into hand-made carpet 
production shows that the cost of replacing children with adults in the 
factories (around a 4% increase in the price of a carpet) would not mean 
losing all-important export markets (importers will pay up to 15% more)(2, 
ILO, 1995). Only where other exporters can continue to use children could 
export markets be possibly threatened. This is why it is important to have 
rules concerning child labour and trade which apply to all countries 
The International Labour Organisation is the principal UN Agency dealing 
with child labour although other agencies also play important roles. The 
main work of the ILO involves developing international standards on labour 
issues, including child labour, and monitoring governments' compliance 
with these (in addition to Convention 138, there are nine other ILO 
Conventions dealing with different aspects of child labour) as well as 
providing technical assistance to countries in order to combat child 
labour and promote respect for labour standards. The ILO's major technical 
activity in this field is through the International Programme for the 
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) which operates mainly at national and 
community levels. 

The issue of child labour has now moved to the top of the ILO's agenda due 
to increasing awareness and concern about the problem. This is partly as a 
result of the work of the trade union movement around the world to 
highlight this scandalous exploitation of society's most vulnerable people 
in the name of profit. 

Ever since the earliest days of the trade union movement, unions have 
struggled against child labour. To give a new impetus, the ICFTU launched 
a global campaign against child labour in 1994. This campaign has involved 
research and documentation of child labour, efforts to stop the sale of 
goods made by children (eg hand-made carpets) in international markets, 
awareness raising and education activities, small-scale projects to 
provide children with school places, pressure on governments to take 
action and lobbying the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation and other 
institutions to play their part in eliminating child labour. 
The International Trade Secretariats (ITS), which represent unions in the 
different industrial sectors, have also made campaigning against child 
labour a priority. The ICFTU cooperates closely with these organisations 
in a joint effort to tackle the problem. ITSs are carrying out research, 
education and other activities to fight against child labour in their 
various sectors and a number of the case studies which follow are the 
result of ITS investigations. 

This report shows in real terms what child labour today means in practice: 
what the children undergo and the effects of it on their health and 
welfare. It also shows that the problem is worldwide and that it can only 
be combatted effectively through concerted national and international 
action.      

*partie=titre Part III ACTION TO STOP CHILD LABOUR *partie=nil  
The trade union movement wants all child labour to be a thing of the past, 
not a reality of the global economy of the 21st century. Unions are 
especially committed to fighting the exploitation of children for 
commercial profit and the most severe abuses such as child prostitution 
and slavery. 

This report shows clearly that child labour is an international problem 
requiring international action. Every country is affected by child labour 
either because large numbers of children are at work or because the 
products of child labour are sold to consumers. International action can 
only be effective if each and every country takes steps. 

*partie=titre National action *partie=nil 
The following are national measures which can and should be implemented: 
Acknowledge the problem.
The first step is to recognise the scale of the problem - too many 
countries are still prepared to turn a blind eye to child labour. Research 
into the level of child labour is an important starting point. 

*partie=titre Support education *partie=nil 
Probably the single most important action against child labour is for 
governments to give the necessary priority to funding education, 
particularly at primary level, especially since even very poor countries 
can manage to spend large amounts on the military while providing only a 
pittance for schools. 

*partie=titre Enforce labour laws *partie=nil  
Virtually every country has laws against child labour; however, too few 
countries enforce these laws or inspect enough workplaces where child 
labour is a problem. Those who profit from the exploitation of children 
should be made to face the full consequences of their actions. 
Replace child workers with adults.
Local level initiatives must be taken to get unemployed adults into jobs 
currently done by children, supported by funding to allow the children to 
go to school. 

*partie=titre Stop the trade in child labour *partie=nil  
Governments should take initiatives to stop the international trade of 
goods made by children. This involves support for child labour-free 
labelling (such as the RUGMARK for carpets), support for social clauses in 
trade agreements, withdrawing trade concessions for countries which 
continually tolerate child labour and taking action against multinational 
companies which exploit child labour either directly or through their 
subcontractors. Governments should also pass strong laws against 
exploitation of children abroad, following the lead of Australia, New 
Zealand and Sweden which now have such laws concerning sexual exploitation 
of children by their nationals in other countries. 

*partie=titre Recognise trade union and other human rights *partie=nil 
Trade unions are amongst the most effective organisations in stopping 
child labour. Where the fundamental rights of trade union rights to 
organise and bargain are violated, child labour is often one of the 
results. Similarly, the existence of child labour is often closely tied to 
abuses of other human rights such as discrimination and violations of 
fundamental democratic rights. Exploitation of children is also in a great 
many cases a result of corruption, in political and in economic life. 
Campaigning against child labour must also involve campaigning for full 
recognition of internationally-agreed human and trade union rights. 

*partie=titre Ratify and implement ilo conventions *partie=nil  
All governments should ratify and implement the relevant ILO Conventions, 
especially Convention 138. The ILO's technical assistance programmes, in 
particular the IPEC, are also of particular assistance to any country 
which wants to take serious steps against child labour and other 
violations of basic rights. 

*partie=titre International action. The social clause *partie=nil  
A Social Clause involving cooperation between the ILO and the World Trade 
Organisation would penalise countries which do nothing about child labour 
while providing the benefits of full trading rights to countries which 
take steps to eliminate child labour. Along with child labour, the Social 
Clause would cover basic trade union rights, discrimination and forced 
labour.
 
*partie=titre Multinational companies *partie=nil  
These corporations should be pressed to ensure that their production does 
not involve child labour at any stage and to adopt and implement corporate 
codes of conduct in which they commit themselves not to allow violations 
of basic rights in any part of their operations or those of their 
subsidiaries and subcontractors. There is a clear need for international 
rules governing the behaviour of multinational companies. 

*partie=titre Consumers *partie=nil  
Every person can take action to stop child labour by refusing to buy 
products made by children and insisting on "child labour-free" labels for 
products where child labour is known to be a problem.
 
*partie=titre International institutions should take concrete action *partie=nil 
The ILO is playing a central role in helping governments to take action 
against child labour. Their work should be supported by all the other 
relevant UN agencies. The international financial institutions should give 
special attention to the effects of their lending criteria on the level of 
child labour, particularly where cuts in public finances result in less 
money for education, poverty alleviation, employment creation and labour 
law enforcement. 

*partie=titre More research *partie=nil  
Documenting the existence of child labour and conducting research into its 
economic and social causes and impacts provides the basis for action to 
stop the exploitation of children and to take the necessary steps to get 
adults into work and children into school. 

The ICFTU, International Trade Secretariats and our national affiliates 
are committed to continuing and intensifying the international 
campaign to end child labour. Unions will work with the International 
Labour Organisation and will cooperate with governments, nongovernment 
organisations and employers who show a real commitment to stop this abuse 
of the most vulnerable in society. We will draw public attention to those 
who exploit children or tolerate child labour in their countries and 
industries and take action to ensure that the types of abuses documented 
in this report are stopped and that those responsible are held accountable 
for their actions.