Safe Enough? The Working Lives of New Zealand Children (original) (raw)
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WORKING CHILDREN'S EXPERIENCES AND CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
2007
This text draws on two qualitative studies on children work. The first was carried out in Lima (Peru) with a group of working children and their families who mainly sold sweets in the city centre. The second also included children, parents and other young adults living in different areas of the Algarve (Portugal) and working in many different settings 1. The focus of the research was on children and adult's views and practices, their work, how they worked and what they intended to do.
Child Labour: Everybody's Business
At first sight child labour may not appear to be a material issue for Australian companies and investors: Australia has labour laws that prescribe the minimum school-leaving and employment age. Australia also has a rich tradition in worker representation and a trade union movement active in advancing labour rights. However Australia is not an island when purchasing goods and services, and global markets for labour no longer align with national borders. Today many companies operate through complex global supply chains.* The globalisation of business can provide opportunities for economic and social development; however, outsourcing labour without oversight can lead to worker exploitation, particularly as much of the production takes place in countries that are out of reach of Australia's national employment laws. While there may be an 'out of sight, out of mind' approach to worker rights in the developing world, the issue of child labour is much harder for companies to ignore. Spurred on by civil society pressure† and global conventions underpinning the rights of children, the global movement to eradicate child labour has gained significant pace over recent years. These approaches are often reactive and have been in response to finding children working in supply chains. But increasingly, global unions and non-government organisations (NGOs) have joined companies and investors to find ways to minimise the risks of child labour in global supply chains. This report looks at those efforts. It draws on extensive expert opinion and interviews to highlight steps that are being taken and challenges confronted along the way. It is a unique report in the Australian context, in that its central goal is not to expose bad behaviour but to inform and embolden companies and investors who want to take action about this issue with an evidence base upon which to act. The report brings to life the substantial work being done by unions and NGOs that can assist and guide those efforts. Above all, it is hoped the report supports more effective collaboration and partnerships between civil society, companies, and investors in the global fight against child labour.
Children's work and children's well-being: implications for policy
Dominant discourse on 'child labour' attends only to dangers of children's work and misleadingly results in policies that damage some children's chances for development. Far from being universally negative in children's lives, work contributes to their well-being and development, and to transitions to adulthood. Children's work can convey benefits for offer psychosocial benefits, particularly in building self-help develop social relations and responsibility. These benefits are especially critical to marginalized children. Common policies of abolishing child labour based on age of employment rather than potential harm deny such benefits to younger children, and leave others unprotected.
Campaigns to eliminate the exploitation and abuse of children through child labour have been growing in strength in the last decade. Although the broad intentions of such campaigns are admirable, interventions to eliminate child labour have sometimes worked against the children they are supposed to help. The need for more nuanced intervention is now widely accepted, as is the need for more careful definition and prioritisation of what is to be eliminated. There remain, however, fundamental problems related to the term 'child labour' and the various meanings and associations it carries. This paper will point to confusion caused by the term, illustrated in recent documents from the ILO and UNICEF. It appeals for precision from academics in analysis and communication, and touches on the relationship between academics and practitioners in humanitarian work.