Entries by CLC Contributor

CLC Press Release: The Child Labor Coalition Announces the 2024 Congressional Champions of Child Labor Protections for Taking Bold Action Against Child Labor Exploitation

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For Immediate Release: October 31, 2024 Contact: Reid Maki (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org   Washington, D.C. – The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) is proud to announce the 25 recipients of the 2024 Congressional Champions of Child Labor Protections who have taken a stand against the troubling rise of child labor exploitation during the 118th Congress. During a period in which child workers were increasingly found working illegally in factory settings across the U.S., these legislators responded by strengthening child labor protections – either by introducing new legislation or cosponsoring child labor bills endorsed by the Child Labor Coalition. “Over the last two years, child labor protections have faced unprecedented threats as over 30 states sought to weaken regulations on the hours children can work and the types of hazardous work children can perform,” says Reid Maki, Director of Child Labor Advocacy at the Child Labor Coalition. “We are fortunate these stalwart lawmakers worked to strengthen child labor protections and enforcement,” says CLC chair Sally Greenberg, who is also the CEO of the National Consumers League. “These bills provide creative and much-needed solutions to our widespread child labor problem.” Recent Department of Labor data show child labor violations have soared by 472% between 2015 and 2023, highlighting cases where minors are subjected to grueling hours, hazardous work environments, and, in some tragic cases, […]

Farmworkers Need Heat Protections – I Know Because I Grew up Working in the Fields

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By Luz Vazquez-Hernandez Intern, Child Labor Coalition   Coming from a background of farmwork, I know the struggle against heat. At 14 years old, I began, picking blueberries in Michigan during the summer and from there on I learned to pick a variety of crops all over Michigan and my home base in Florida. I spent my weekends and any school days off, including summers, picking strawberries, squash, pickles, peppers, and jalapeños. I learned to push my body and to handle extreme weather conditions. I suffered pains, and aches that my parents felt every day. Complaining to my parents was not an option, and my body adapted. Working in the fields during intense heat were the worst moments. Covered in layers from head to toe, with pants, a long-sleeve shirt, hoodie, and bandana was my daily attire. Covering most of my face, the bandana made it hard for me to breathe in extreme heat; at times, I felt my body, head and eyes just shutting off. I felt I could not go any longer, but seeing my parents endure the heat and hold it in, I tried to do the same and distract myself in my thoughts. It was common to see workers faint, as taking breaks in the shade and drinking water, was not enough. I witnessed my mom, […]

Facts about Human Trafficking in Commemoration of World Day Against Human Trafficking, July 30, 2024

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There are nearly 28 million victims of human trafficking worldwide, up from 24.9 million in 2016. (Women on Guard, International Labour Organization*) According to 2022 estimates, 49.6 million people are living in “modern slavery” conditions, which includes both forced labor (27.6 million) and forced marriage (22 million). (Walk Free) Overall, 17.3 million are exploited in the private sector, 6.3 million in forced commercial sexual exploitation, and 3.9 million in forced labor imposed by the State. (ILO) In 2021, an estimated 3.3 million children were exploited by forced labor globally on any given day, with 1.7 million trapped in forced commercial sexual exploitation. About a quarter of all victims of modern slavery are children. (ILO, Walk Free) Migrants face a three-times greater risk of forced labor than non-migrant workers. Out of every 1000 migrant workers, 14 are believed to be in forced labor conditions. (ILO, Walk Free) More than half of all forced labor occurs in either upper-middle income or high-income countries. (ILO) According to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, the countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery, in order, are North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye. The geographical diversity of these countries demonstrates modern slavery’s global reach. (Walk Free) Forced labor in the private economy generates $236 billion USD in illegal profits per year, a $64 billion […]

10 Facts about Women and Girls (2024)

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Of the 160 million children trapped in child labor, 63 million are girls. [source] 29 million women and girls are in modern slavery—71 percent of the overall total of enslaved individuals. [source] Women represent 99.4 percent of the victims of forced labor in the commercial sex industry. [source] Women and girls represent 84 percent of the victims of forced marriages, now categorized as a form of modern slavery. There are an estimated 15 million individuals in forced marriages. [source] Worldwide, there are an estimated 75.6 million domestic workers—76.2 or approximately 3/4 are women. [source]* 129 million girls are out of school, including 32 million of primary school age, and 97 million of secondary school age. [source] 89 percent of girls complete their primary education, but only 79 percent complete their lower secondary education and only 61 percent complete their upper secondary education. [source] In low-income countries, only 63 percent of girls complete their primary education. [source] At the end of 2023, there were an estimated 117.3 million forcibly displaced people, including 43.4 million refugees—half are women and girls. [source] More than 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is practiced. [source]   Data updated by Tesa Hargis, June 2024. *Links are no […]

Seven Child Labor Best Practices for Employers from U.S. DOL

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From the U.S. Department of Labor…. Train Management Train supervisors and managers on child labor requirements. Our fact sheets provide guidance on nonagricultural occupations and farm jobs for young workers. Distribute Resources Provide child labor publications to all current and new workers under the age of 18. View our Young Worker Toolkit. Build Trust Establish an internal phone number that allows workers to report child labor violations anonymously. Let workers know that reporting violations will not lead to retaliation. Provide Different Nametags Provide workers under the age of 16 with a different color nametag than those worn by older workers. There are different hours and job rules for workers under 16. Post Warnings Post information about child labor hours limitations in a conspicuous place. Read Fact Sheet #43 to learn more about these limits in nonagricultural occupations. Use Signage Place signage on equipment that 14- and 15-year-old workers are prohibited to use. Download and print this flyer. [From https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/child-labor/seven-child-labor-best-practices-for-employers] Spotlight Hazards Post a “STOP” sticker on all the equipment that the Department of Labor considers hazardous for use by minors.

Senator Luján Press Release: During Ag Week, Luján Introduces Legislation to Improve Child Protections and Safety Standards for Agriculture Industry

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Press Release/March 21, 2024 Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment in Agriculture (CARE) Act to ensure child protections and safety standards for children in the agricultural workforce. Agriculture is the only industry with labor laws that allow children as young as 12 to work with virtually no restrictions on the number of hours they work outside of school. Across the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of children who are working in the agricultural industry and performing the grueling work required to plant, pick, process, and pack food that Americans eat every day. The CARE Act takes steps to improve child worker safety by adjusting the age and work hour standards for children in agriculture to the standards for children working in all other industries. Among its other provisions, the bill would also increase the civil and criminal monetary penalties for child labor violations, and provide children with greater protection against pesticide exposure. The CARE Act’s child labor protections would not apply to the children of farmers working on their parents’ farm. “With their whole future ahead of them, our country must do better protecting children working in the agriculture industry,” said Senator Luján. “Across the country, thousands of children are working under hazardous conditions in the agriculture […]

My Path from Strawberry and Blueberry Fields to College

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By Alma Hernandez Imagine being a five-year-old child; happy and carefree. The age where you either attend pre-k or start kindergarten. But can you imagine a five-year-old working in farm fields in hot 90-degree humid weather with her parents? I was that child. I wore a long-sleeved shirt, jeans, closed-toed shoes, and a hat to protect me from the hot sun. At five years old, I was unaware of how difficult agricultural labor is. My mom had enrolled me at the Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA), a Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program, but she also wanted to teach me to value my education.  My mother’s life lesson started during the weekend after I did not want to wake up for school. My mother remembers that I was full of confidence when asked if I wanted to go to work with her and my father. However, I did not know what was in store for me.  Arriving at the fields around 7:30 am, I first saw endless rows of strawberry fields. I felt enthusiastic. My task: collect as many bright red strawberries as I could and place them in my pink Halloween bucket. After filling my bucket, I would give the strawberries to one of my parents. Around 12, I felt the heat. It was around 90 degrees. The humidity […]

Experts: US High-Level Office for Children is Critical for Children’s Rights

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Authors: Miriam Abaya, Nandita Bajaj, Warren Binford, Michelle Blake, Carter Dillard, James Dold, Hope Ferdowsian, Wendy Lazarus, Reid Maki, Shantel Meek, Jerry Milner, Jennifer Nagda, Vidya Kumar Ramanathan, Nevena Vuckovic Sahovic, and Jonathan Todres   In a recent series of workshops to address the lack of leadership for child rights in the United States, our participants identified the need for a high-level federal entity to oversee children’s issues. The United States remains the only country in the world that has failed to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).[1] Adopted 32 years ago, the CRC is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. Currently, the United States falls short on various social and environmental determinants of child health and well-being, including poverty, health care access, nutrition, homelessness, and separation from family.[2] An analysis of the federal budget shows that children receive an inadequate share of government funds. For example, among the 37 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States has the seventh highest child poverty rate and ranks second to last in family benefit spending.[3] Despite improvements in food security and housing stability for some children in the early 2000s, the COVID-19 pandemic and related recession have resulted in an increased number of children experiencing food and housing insecurity and […]

Opinion: Child labor is on the rise; here’s how to prevent it

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By Kunera Moore Did you know that some of your favorite foods may be produced with child labor? The U.S. Labor Department, for example, named coffee as a product associated with child labor risk in 17 countries. This risk also remains widespread in cocoa, the main ingredient of chocolate: more than 60% of it is grown in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, where child labor remains widespread. Due to the COVID-19* pandemic, more than 635 million students are affected by full or partial school closures, UNICEF announced last week. And shuttered schools combined with frozen economies means more children are driven into the workforce, according to a recent report by UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank. A staggering estimate of 160 million children worldwide are involved in child labor, according to a 2021 International Labour Organization report based on data collected before pandemic-induced school closures. This marks an 8.4 million increase since 2016. Yet over the past 20 years, remarkable strides have been made to decrease the number of children involved in child labor worldwide. The Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating all forms of child labor by 2025 gained new momentum for this pressing challenge in 2021, the international year for the elimination of child labor. We can’t afford to lose this momentum. “Ensuring all children return to school and stay in school requires urgent investments in education, social security, and poverty reduction.”   Seventy percent of children in child […]

Ending Child Labor in Mica Mines in India and Madagascar

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By Katarzyna Rybarczyk  Most people use products containing mica daily, without realizing what the story behind their production is. Mica is a mineral commonly found in products such as cosmetics, paints, and electronics. For most people living in the West, mica is simply something that makes these products shiny. However, extracting mica is often linked to the worst forms of child labor. India and Madagascar are the two largest exporters of sheet mica globally, with most mica mining happening in illegal mines. The two countries are also the most associated with using children to extract the mineral. Areas where mica mines are located struggle with high poverty rates, so mining mica is often the only thing that lets families put food on the table and survive. With families struggling to earn a living, children often have to supplement their parents’ income. As mica mining is unregulated and, for the most part, thrives in hiding, there are many dangers associated with it. The scale of the problem The majority of illegal mica mines in India are located in just two states Bihar and Jharkhand, which are among India’s most impoverished. The governance there is weak, so the industry is subject to few, if any, regulations and labor exploitation of both adults and children occurs frequently. It is estimated that 22,000 children […]