Brock University Humanities Child Labor Questions

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view one of the following films: The Devil’s Miner (VuDu), Stolen Childhoods (Vimeo), The Price of Free (YouTube), or Beasts of No Nation (Netflix). After watching the film and reflecting upon it, you are required to write a critical review of the film, which should be approximately 3 page in length. Each film has specific questions below.

*Please note: these films all focus on child labour and come with a strong trigger warning. They all feature explicit and troubling content. Depending upon your background and lived experiences, some are likely to be more troubling than others are.

**Should you feel uncomfortable with these film selections, please let me know and we can work out an alternate assignment.

**The Devils Miner, Stolen Childhoods, and The Price of Free are documentary films. Beasts of No Nation is a drama/fictional film, but focuses on child soldiers in Africa and is very much reflective of reality

**The questions are designed to have you think critically about the film. Some outside research may help to strengthen your answers or better situate your reflections

The Devil’s Miner

  1. Describe daily life for the Vargas brothers. What does their day consist of and how do they struggle through it?
  2. Danger is a reality for the Vargas brothers. Describe some the dangers they face and how these dangers are made worse by a total disregard for health and safety. What sort of improvements could be made to keep the miners safer?
  3. The Devil plays a central role in this film. What is its connection to these workers and their workplace?
  4. Mining occurs in many countries, including Canada. The prevalence of child labour in the mines in Bolivia is staggering, whereas mines in Canada are (at least now), worked by adults. What accounts for the usage of young boys in Bolivia’s mines? How does this compare to the situation in Canada in the early 1800s?
  5. What, if anything, do you think will bring about meaningful change for child miners in Bolivia’s mines?

Stolen Childhoods

  1. From India to Mexico City and everywhere in between, the film highlights various examples of child labour. What does the film identify as the reasons for the global prevalence of child labour?
  2. What are the costs – both hidden and apparent – of child labour?
  3. The film offers some optimism in that it suggests that many of the problems of child labour canbe fixed. What suggestions does it offer, and how viable do you think these are?
  4. Reflecting on your own position in the world, what do you think you could do on a personal levelto help tackle child labour?
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The Price of Free

  1. What is meant by the film’s title, “The Price of Free?”
  2. What are some of the root causes of child labour according to this film?
  3. Kailash Satyarthi (and his small team) is one man, and millions of children are enslaved as childlabourers. Certainly not everyone can fight child labour to the same degree as Kailash. Whatdoes this mean for the reduction and eventual elimination of child labour?
  4. Why does this film suggest that child labour is so prevalent? Is child labour inevitable in a profit-driven, consumer-based market society (capitalism, we may say)?
  5. Reflecting on your own position in the world, what do you think you could do on a personal levelto help tackle child labour?

Beasts of No Nation

1. Although a fictional film, the story of child soldiers in Africa is far from fictional. What sorts of roles/jobs do child soldiers perform in the film? To what degree does this reflect reality/what do real child soldiers do?

2. Leaving/quitting is not an option. Why? How do warlords attract and keep child soldiers?
3. Agu (and all child soldiers) have a complex existence. How so?
4. When rescued, the transition out of their former ‘job’ for child soldiers is more difficult than it is

for many other child labourers? How can child soldiers be transitioned out of the former lives

and still enjoy a meaningful childhood?
5. Child soldiers are a specific type of child labourer. The ways to eliminate this type of child labour

are likely different than eliminating, for example, children working in factories. The film – as it is not a documentary – does not really grapple with how to end this form of child labour. How, then, can this particular type of child labour be eliminated? How is this different from and/or the same as eliminating other forms of child labour?

If you select this film, you may be interested in the following article: Omobowale, Emmanuel Babatunde & Sakiru Damilare Adebayo. "Negotiating War, Trauma and the Banality of Evil: Narrative Aesthetics and the Representation of PTSD in Beasts of No Nation." Ibadan Journal of English Studies 7 (2018): 43-56.

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The Regulation of Child Labour • • • • As we saw with our first lesson, there was no regulation of labour standards for workers in the early era of capitalism Without regulation, children could (and did) work long hours, in horrendous conditions, for whatever meagre wage their employer provided them Fueled by corporate greed and working-class need This is laissez-faire capitalism at its worst • Child labour eventually becomes a social problem The Regulation of (Child) Labour • • • The regulation of child labour was largely reactive in nature Proactive regulation and enforcement was lacking Any regulation in place tended to be in response to crisis or social ill that needed to be addressed British Chimney Sweeps • • • One of the first instances of regulation was in response to one of the worst forms of child labour British chimney sweeps had apprenticeships considered especially harmful and exploitative. Boys as young as four would work for a master sweep who would send them up the narrow chimneys of British homes to scrape the soot off the sides. The first labor law passed in Britain to protect children from poor working conditions, the Act of 1788, attempted to improve the plight of these “climbing boys.” • • Chimney Sweepers Act, 1788- stated that no boy should be bound apprentice before he was eight years old. His parents' consent was required to apprentice and the master sweep needed to provide suitable clothing and living conditions, as well as an opportunity to attend church on Sundays. A clause that would have required Master Sweeps to be licensed was voted down in the House of Lords Early British Regulation • Parliament passed several child labor laws after hearing the evidence collected after a series of parliamentary committee hearings on textile industry: • • • • Cotton Factories Regulation Act of 1819 (which set the minimum working age at 9 and maximum working hours at 12) the Regulation of Child Labor Law of 1833 (which established paid inspectors to enforce the laws) the Ten Hours Bill of 1847 (which limited working hours to 10 for children and women). Mining Act of 1842- prohibited girls and women from working in mines, fewer children worked in mines. Early Canadian Regulation • • • Much like in Britain, early regulation focused on women and children, lacked enforcement, and was reactive to existing social problem As noted in our first lesson, legislation restricting child employment in mines was enacted in Nova Scotia in 1873, and British Columbia in 1877. By 1929 children under 14 had been legally excluded from factory and mine employment in most provinces. In Ontario • • In Ontario, the Factory Act of 1884 declared that no child under 12 years of age could be employed in a factory. It also said that no child had to work more than 10 hours a day. In 1908, the Child Labour Act banned children under 12 from working in stores and children under 14 from working in factories. Slowly but surely, children disappeared from the factory floor. In Canada • • • Although the law in Ontario, and other provinces, did not allow girls under 12 and boys under 14 to work in industry, many did, and were seen as cheap and controllable labour. Worked and for a fraction of the ‘standard’ wage. Union pressure helped bring about the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labour and Capital (1889). No legislative change comes out of it, but interviews with child workers appalled Commission members that they at lest directed the federal government to ensure stronger enforcement of the existing laws regarding child labour Enforcement • • Anything can be made illegal or regulated, but without effective enforcement, it is up to the goodwill of an employer to cease or modify their practices While laws were put on the books to limit and/or regulate child labour, there were a lack of • inspectors to enforce these laws, a lack of contacts to reach out to complain, and a lack of job security for those brave enough to speak out Laws with enforcement mechanisms become meaningless Enforcement in the Mines • • In Nova Scotia, the only significant provincial restriction on boy labour in the mines was a minimum age of 10 established in 1873 and raised to 12 in 1891. Although in British Columbia regulations were nominally stricter (a minimum age of 12 was set • in 1877; until the age of 14 boys were limited to thirty hours’ work per week) In the absence of more than a handful of mine inspectors in both provinces, these laws were often not observed. Contemporary Regulation (Ontario) • Young workers have the same rights as other employees in Ontario workplaces under the ESA (although there are different minimum wage rules that apply to "students”) Minimum Wage Effective Oct 202 Rate General Minimum $14.25 per hour Wage Student Minimum $13.40 per hour **under 18 working Wage less than 28 hrs/ week** • • However, certain types of employment are exempt from (i.e., not covered by) some parts of the ESA Think about the following- is this age discrimination? Does it discriminate against a protected ground/group (age)? Contemporary Regulation (Ontario) • There are exemptions to minimum wage entitlements in the ESA that apply to students of any age. For example: • • students in training for certain occupations such as architecture, law, professional engineering, medicine, optometry secondary school students performing work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that operates that student's school • • • persons performing work under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or university, and persons performing work under a program that is approved by a private career college registered under the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005; and, persons employed as a student to instruct or supervise children and a person employed as a student at a camp for children. are not entitled to a minimum wage under the ESA. Contemporary Regulation (Ontario) • • The minimum age for working in Ontario is 14 years for most types of work. 14-, 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds are not to be employed during school hours unless they have been excused from school attendance under provisions of Ontario's Education Act. • • • Some regulations specify higher minimum ages for certain types of work, as follows: • Underground Mines: 18 years • Construction: 16 years • Window Cleaning: 18 years • Logging Operations: 16 years • Factories or Repair Shops: 15 years • Stores, Offices or Arenas: 14 years. **In a restaurant, the food preparation area would be considered a factory, with a minimum age of 15 years, whereas the cash register would be a shop minimum age: 14 years.** The above restrictions do not apply to a worker who works as a performer in the entertainment and advertising industry Contemporary Regulation (BC/Ontario) • Young Workers are particularly vulnerable to injury at the workplace, especially young men. The state is active at gearing health and safety rights/responsibilities to these workers • • According to a Canadian health survey, young workers are twice as likely to sustain a work injury as adults Only 23 per cent of workers aged 15 to 24 who were in their first year on the job reported that they had received safety, orientation or • • equipment training. Forty-six percent said they had received no training at all. Frequent job change means young people are “new on the job” for a longer period of time. At any given time, 5.3 per cent of workers aged 1524 said they were in their first month on the job (on average), compared to 1.1 per cent of those over age 25. Health and Safety Rights for (Young) Workers International Regulation • As a global phenomenon, child labour is also regulated at the international level by the • • • International Labour Organization (ILO), a body of the UN The ILO introduces and adopts various ‘conventions’ and it is then up to member states to ratify them in the domestic legislature National law still applies, but this provides an additional avenue of regulation, as well as symbolic gesturing The ILO can also help to raise awareness of child labour and mount public pressure against it International Regulation • Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 10) • Children under the age of fourteen years may not be employed or work in any public or private agricultural undertaking, or in any branch thereof, save outside the hours fixed for school attendance. If they are employed outside the hours of school attendance, the employment shall not be such as to prejudice their attendance at school. • Canada has not ratified this convention Child Labour and Education • • • The ILO, and many other institutions, actively promote education as an important alternative to child labour “Education is a crucial component of any effective effort to eliminate child labour. There are many interlinked explanations for child labour” “using education to combat child labour in both formal and non-formal settings which has proved significant in the prevention of child labour and the rehabilitation of former child workers. Non-formal or transitional education has played an instrumental role in the rehabilitation of former child labourers. Vocational education and training have provided the skills needed for gainful employment, which in turn contributes to local and national development. ” Child Labour and Education • • • • In some cases, a lack of education filters children into the workplace at a young age In other instances, the high cost of education forces children into the workplace In other instances, the high of education requires children to work to afford tuition, books, etc. Accessible, affordable education has been shown to lower the rate of child labour International Regulation • League of Nations 1926 Slavery Convention and the ILO Forced Labour Convention of 1930. • Article 1 expanded the definition of slavery from one of “chattel slavery” to a definition including a ban of debt bondage, serfdom, servile marriage and child servitude. • • Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) Focus on abolishing compulsory child labour as a form of slavery, but says nothing of children who choose to work • Ratified by Canada International Regulation • Minimum • This Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - fundamental convention sets the general minimum age for admission to employment or work at 15 years (13 for light work) and the minimum age for hazardous work at 18 (16 under certain strict conditions). It provides for the possibility of initially setting the general minimum age at 14 (12 for light work) where the economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed. • Ratified by Canada, in 2016(!!!!), with a specified minimum age of 16 International Regulation • Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) • This fundamental convention defines as a "child" a person under 18 years of age. It requires ratifying states to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, including: • all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; • childprostitutionandpornography; • usingchildrenforillicitactivities(drugs); • and work which is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. • The convention requires ratifying states to provide direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. It also requires states to ensure access to free basic education and, wherever possible and appropriate, vocational training for those removed from worst forms of child labour • Ratified • ILO by Canada in 2000 enforcement in action- Thailand An Inevitable Reality? • • • Regulation as necessary to combat on centuries old issue. Regulation must also be flexible and adaptable As an international organization, the ILO must be sensitive to cultural and especially economic realities outside of the developed world From the ILO: “Children's participation in the labour force is endlessly varied and infinitely volatile, responding to changing market and social conditions.” • “Child labour is a stubborn problem that, even if overcome in certain places or sectors, will seek out opportunities to reappear in new and often unanticipated ways. The response to the problem must be as versatile and adaptable as child labour itself. There is no simple, quick fix for child labour, nor a universal blueprint for action.” Enforcement • Virtually every country has domestic legislation banning child labour • Most of the countries in which child labour is rampant have committed to the ILO’s conventions to end it’s worst forms? • • Despite this, over 215 million children are still victims of child labour WHY? Enforcement • Laws on the books are meaningless without proper enforcement • This requires resources for enforcement, which are often not robust enough and remain under financed A different approach • • Many western counties, Canada included, recognize the challenges of enforcement In some cases, looking toward active engagement with best practice and incentivizing it’s end • https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/enf orcement-of-child- labour-laws-needs-work-labourminister-says/article30243945/ Unintended consequences • • • There is a general consensus that child labour is problematic, but a variety of approaches to next stop One remains a ban- legislation to stop and aggressive enforcement mechanisms Others, however, suggest that halting the practice may do more harm than good, and that creating an age barrier to hiring children is “too • simplistic to solve a complex social and economic problem.” At the very least, addressing the root cause – general poverty- is the key Unintended consequences • "We don't think children should be exploited in any way”....but....”If children work they must have decent working conditions. But our long experience in the last 20 to 30 years shows that just making child labour illegal may not mean that you have improved their lives.“ • Olivia Lecoufle, a child protection adviser for Save the Children Canada • Unless the root causes of child labour are eliminated, this approach suggests that the most realistic solution is to protect children from harm and make working conditions as tolerable as possible. Unintended consequences • In Bangladesh, when about 50,000 children were barred from garment factory work in 1992, very few attended schools but instead were forced • into worse forms of labour, their incomes were cut, their diets "deteriorated seriously" and they used health care services much less "Removing children from visible work can push them into less protected areas, like the sex trade” • Olivia Lecoufle, a child protection adviser for Save the Children Canada • Child labour- A continued concern Enforcement • • • • The ILO itself has limited enforcement powersstate sovereignty is key in international relations ILO works alongside local enforcement to provide resources, training, best practice The goal is often to “build the capacities of labour inspectorates and other enforcement agencies to take action against child labour” Labour enforcement officers must work with both employers and children/families/advocates Enforcement • To tackle hazardous child labour inspectors can give information on hazardous child labour to employers and workers including advice on how to eliminate it. They can also use their legal enforcement powers in the workplace to ensure that: • • (i) children are withdrawn from workplaces where hazardous work is taking place, and referred to appropriate authorities who can then get them into school or skills training (ii) the health and safety of children who have reached the minimum legal age to work (14-17 years of age depending on the country) is fully protected in the workplace. Protection can be ensured through a combination of general improvements in workplace health and safety conditions and avoidance of children carrying out hazardous tasks. Child Labour Monitoring (CLM) • • Child labour monitoring (CLM) is an evolving area of child labour work closely linked to the enforcement of national child labour legislation. The task of CLM is to mobilize and train community members to monitor child labour • and link the monitoring activity to local government and official enforcement systems, especially labour inspection, so that the information on child labour can be used effectively. The monitors must be given a clear mandate and the authority necessary to fulfil their duties although most of their role involves changing attitudes rather than enforcing laws. Child Labour Monitoring (CLM) • Its principal activities include regularly repeated direct observations to: • identify child labourers and to determine risks to which they are exposed, referral of these children to services, • verificationthattheyhavebeenremoved • and tracking them afterwards to ensure that they have satisfactory results Child Labour Monitoring (CLM) • • • Community-based child labour monitoring committees are typically composed of community leaders, teachers, health promoters, representatives from the families concerned and sometimes with children or adolescents withdrawn from work. They carry out monitoring visits to workplaces. These visits are conducted on a regular basis and often in conjunction with official visits by labour inspectors. Child Labour Monitoring (CLM) • • CLM first started in early 1990s in the manufacturing sector through IPEC projects in Bangladesh and Pakistan from which it expanded into other economic sectors, such as fishing (in Indonesia and Philippines) and agriculture (in Central America and Western Africa). These initial experiences highlighted the importance of combining social protection with the monitoring activity at an early stage of the initiative, in order to provide viable alternatives for children withdrawn from work. With the Central America coffee and agriculture projects, the concept of "community-based monitoring" became more fully developed. Child Labour Monitoring (CLM) • • Using local resource persons and awarenessraising approaches to mobilize communities, these projects began to demonstrate the capacity of non-traditional actors to monitor child labour. The enforcement focus has shifted with the rise of CLM from monitoring the industry to monitoring the child as s/he is removed from work and provided with social protection services. • The attention has also moved from the "withdrawal" of children from work to a coordinated child protection effort involving the identification, referral, verification and tracking that targeted children are provided with satisfactory alternatives. Tackling child labour through education in African, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) States (TACKLE) • Aims to reduce child labour and to prevent further entry of children into employment by offering alternative education and training opportunities and contributing towards poverty reduction • Education, • • not work, as key to poverty reduction In some countries the project supports work aimed at developing non formal education programmes for out of school children, including in areas where there may be no formal schools. Targeted countries include: Angola , Fiji , Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, and Zambia Combating child labour through education in Bolivia, Indonesia, Mali and Uganda • The ILO estimates that there are 152 million child labourers between the ages of 5 and 14. Most of these children belong to the most marginalised groups in society and come from families living in poverty. At the same time some 67 million children are not enrolled in primary school and a similar number are not enrolled in junior secondary school level • GoalAction which will improve the opportunities for those in or vulnerable to child labour to benefit from education. Pursued through: • • • integrating attention to child labour in education sector planning and programme discussions; initiatives to tackle child labour through education and to integrate knowledge of successful interventions in policy discussions; building capacity of stakeholders to actively engage in advocacy on the child labour and education linkage. Lecture 1 Children at Work in Early Capitalism What is Work? • We work. It is a fact of life. • It impacts who were are, and the lives we (can) lead • • We are socialized to perform work from a very young age, and continue to our dying days In this course, focus is on those who work at a young age (not just those who are socialized to) What is Work? • • In the eye of the beholder Economists see work merely as the production of goods or services for the market • • Toonarrow? It is perhaps more appropriate to define work as: “human effort that adds use value to goods and services” What is Work? • Workvs.Employment – Formal distinction between the two • Outputsvs.Remuneration/Forsomeoneelse • Our focus is on both as it pertains to children at work Children at Work • • • • Our focus here is generally those 16 and under, with some variations (especially in the developing world) Universallyacceptedcut-off Age when schooling tends to be mandatory Can legally be employed before then in limited cases, but often an age (at least in developed world) where we might expect children to get a job Children at Work • child labour- generally refers to children who work to produce a good or a service which can be sold for money in the marketplace, regardless of whether or not they are paid for their work. – Source: Economic Hist. Assoc. • International Labour Organization (a branch of the UN, aka the ILO)- work that “deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development” • • A “child” is usually defined as a person who is dependent upon other individuals (parents, relatives, or government officials) for his or her livelihood The exact ages of “childhood” differ by country and time period • • The worst forms of child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age. Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labour” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries. The answer varies from country to country, as well as among sectors within countries. – Source: ILO Historical Development and Rise of Capitalism • Childrenhavealwaysworked.Thisisespeci allytrueinpre- capitalist agriculture • • • – First documented in the Medieval era when fathers had their children spin thread for them to weave on the loom. – Children performed a variety of tasks that were supportive of their parents work and critical to the family economy. This was true of both young boys and young girls • The labour output has always been there. Exchanging it for wage is a newer phenomenon. • Relatedly, the final good or service being sold on the marketplace is new Historical DevelopmentPre Capitalist Era • Outside of work on the (family) farm, some children employed in homes • • • Master-apprentice relationshipapprentices, chimney sweeps, domestic servants, or assistants in the family business. The young apprentice lived and worked with their master and received training in the trade instead of wages Once they became fairly skilled in the trade they became journeymen, often around 21 Historical DevelopmentPre Capitalist Era • • • Both parents and children often considered this a fair arrangement, so long as the master was not abusive In some instances, the child would apprentice at home with a parent involved in the same trade. An ideal situation This form of master-apprentice based child labor was not viewed by society at the time as being cruel or abusive. In fact, it was accepted as necessary for the survival of the family and development of the child Historical Development and Rise of Capitalism • Two major features of system: • – Production of goods/delivery of services tends to be done in the name of profit (Production for Profit) • • – Production of goods/delivery of services done by people who are hired by company (Wage Labour) An important link, profit realized through labour • Workers produce not only goods, but also profit. Goods are not produced for themselves Historical Development and Rise of Capitalism • • With industrialization comes child labour This first became a social problem in Britain • • Children not working on the family farm, but (in the developing world) working at factories and in the mines....or worse. No real regulation of this labour (*tomorrow’s topic*) Historical Development and Rise of Capitalism • One of the first examples were textile mills- 1770s • • • Charles Dickens called these places of work the “dark satanic mills” and British historian E. P. Thompson described them as “places of sexual license, foul language, cruelty, violent accidents, and alien manners” (1966, 307) For all workers, early industrial mills were characterized by gruelling long days, low wages, unsafe working conditions, and strict discipline/punishment at the hands of the employer For child labourers, the reality was even worse Historical Development and Rise of Capitalism • • A master-apprentice relationship gone wrong These child apprentices were paupers taken from orphanages and workhouses and were housed, clothed and fed but received no wages for their long day of work in the mill. • BritishhistorianFrancisCollier’sconservat iveestimateisthatby 1784, roughly onethird of the total workers in country mills were apprentices. In some individual mills, their numbers reached 80 to 90% of the workforce Historical Development and Rise of Capitalism • • • After the development of the steam engine, mills no longer had to locate near water and rely on apprenticed orphans As a result, hundreds of factory towns and villages developed in places such as Lancashire, Manchester, Yorkshire and Cheshire In these instances, factory owners began to hire children from poor and working- class families to work in these factories preparing and spinning cotton, flax, wool and silk. A growing debate • • Some, including Marx and Engels, argued that children worked under deplorable conditions and were being exploited by the industrialist capitalists. Critique of working conditions AND economic system Picture of the “dark satanic mill” where children as young as five and six years old worked for as many as sixteen hours a day, six days a week without break for meals. Worked in hot, stuffy, poorly lit, overcrowded factories to earn as little as four shillings per week A growing debate • • Reformers called for child labor laws and after considerable debate, Parliament took action and set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into children’s employment Some legislation and regulation came out of this, to be examined tomorrow A growing debate • • There were many supporters of child labour, however Some argued that the employment of children in these factories was beneficial to • • • the child, family and country and that the conditions were no worse than they had been on farms, in cottages or up chimneys. Others {Ure (1835) and Clapham (1926)} argued that the work was easy for children and helped them make a necessary contribution to their family’s income. Industrialists claimed that employing children was necessary for production to run smoothly and for their products to remain competitive. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, recommended child labor as a means of preventing youthful idleness and vice. • How different is this from today? Think about that for a few moments Historical Development and Rise of Capitalism • • The employment of children in textile factories continued to be high until the mid 1800s. most common occupations of boys were Agricultural Labourer, Domestic Servant and Cotton Manufacture • • for girls the three most common occupations were Domestic Servants, Cotton Manufacture and, Dress-makers Continued development of industrial revolution and capitalism expanded scope of child labour Historical Development and Rise of Capitalism • Children and youth also comprised a relatively large proportion of the work • • forces in coal and metal mines in Britain, as well as in the United States in places such as West Virginia and Kentucky In Canada, many young boys employed in coal mining on Cape Breton Island. In the UK, in 1842, children and youth in coal and metal mines ranged from 19 to 40%. • • – Coal mining- A larger proportion of the work forces of coal mines used child labor underground – Metal mining- more children were found on the surface of metal mines “dressing the ores” (a process of separating the ore from the dirt and rock). The Rise of Capitalism in Canada • The Industrial Revolution came to Canada later than it did to the UK, and attitudes about child labour – at least in heavy industry – had undergone some change • For example, legislation restricting child employment in mines was enacted in Nova Scotia as early as 1873, and in British Columbia by 1877. By 1929 children under 14 had been legally excluded from factory and mine employment in most provinces. • • Abuses still existed, despite the legislation Child labour drops in Canada as public education becomes accessible and children begin to stay in school longer Child Labour in Canada’s Mines • • • • • • Industrial revolution dependent upon energy/power coal PlentifulonCapeBreton,manychildrenwor kedinmines Limitedoptionsforotherwork,underdevel opededucation Child workers ran the horses until they were old enough to swing a pick axe and handle blasting powder Some started as young as 9, often in their ‘tweens’ "We had been ... working 12 hours a day loading in a low seam on our hands, being cursed at from morning to night by a greedy boss and seeing daylight only on Sundays ... We faced the prospects of a dismal and unhappy existence." West Virginia, circa roughly 1900 British Columbia, circa 1911 Child Labour in Canada’s Mines • According to mining historian Lynne Bowen, “if a boy who had lived in a coal town got tired of school and was anxious to make a little money, the obvious thing for him to do was to go to work in the mines. If he was • willing to lie a little and add a couple of years to his age, he could start to work at 13 or 14.” Prof. Robert McIntosh- “From his parents’ perspective, the boy’s labour provided extra revenue for the family purse. The money the boy earned was generally handed over to his parents as long as he lived at home—he received in return a small allowance. Although this may appear exploitative, the advantages of alternatives such as schooling were not apparent. Indeed, the view persisted that formal education in some way “spoiled” a boy destined by birth to labour in a manual occupation.” Child Labour in Canada’s Mines • • • In Nova Scotia, for instance, of a total mine workforce of five thousand in 1890, over eleven hundred were under 18 years of age. On the mine’s surface boys were employed to clean miners’ lamps, distribute picks, or run errands. They filled powder cans and tended mine animals—generally horses in Nova Scotia and mules in British Columbia. They also sorted and cleaned the freshly mined coal. Child Labour in Canada’s Mines • • The labour of boys was also useful underground. Although they were not actual miners—they did not cut coal— boys were vital to both the transportation of the coal to the mine’s surface and to the ventilation of the mine. The oldest boys were employed to load the newly cut coal in to the tubs used to transport it out of the mine; others worked as brakemen and landingtenders, removing the filled tubs as they came down from the miners’ workplaces and sending empty tubs back up. Child Labour in Canada’s Mines • Horses or mules, usually “driven” by boys aged between 13 and 16, were used to pull the tubs of coal to the slope. • • There, cage-runners were employed in attaching the tubs to the mechanical hoist or “rake” used in hauling them to the surface. The youngest mine employees, some as young as 8, were responsible for the vital yet excruciatingly tedious job of opening and closing ventilation doors called “traps”. – “Trappers” sat all day in darkness, opening their trap to allow the drivers and their cargo to pass them, closing it to channel air up into the workplaces. Child Labour in Canada’s Mines • • • • • • Working-class need created by corporate greed. Cyclical. For a mine operator, then, boys could be employed to perform a variety of essential tasks within the mine at a significantly lower rate of pay than adult mine workers. 1880, Nova Scotia- boys averaged 65 cents per day worked; adult labourers earned 95 cents; adult miners, $1.45. 1890, Nanaimo, B.C.- a boy received $1 per day; adult mine workers received anywhere between $2 and $4 for a day’s work. Chinese workers in British Columbia were the exception. They were often paid even less than the boys, while performing similar work. Source: McIntosh, Canada’s Boy Miners, December 1987-January 1988 issue of The Beaver. 14 year old miner, Cape Breton Historical Child Labour in Canada • • • In the 18th century, children were often seen as economic assets to families. In most cases, this meant assisting parents, but it could also entail paid employment outside the home. Child labour made an important contribution to Aboriginal culture and to the societies of New France and early English Canada. However, by the late 1800s and into the 1900s, children were increasingly seen as economic liabilities to their families. Paid • employment needed to be outside of the home to bring money in. Increasingly, however, children’s time was taken up securing a formal education. By 1911 about 40 per cent of Canadian children aged five to nine, and 50 per cent of 10-to19year-olds were in school. Historical Child Labour in Canada • Urbanization- The proportion of urban residents grew from about 17 per cent at Confederation in 1867 to over one-third by 1901, and to almost one-half by 1921 – Paid employment in city centres. No longer did the farm/land provide • • Class structure- working children from working-class families Dead ends- Aside from those with apprenticeships, the employment opportunities did not lead to a career Historical Child Labour in Canada • • • In major urban centres, children could find employment in Montré al textile mills, lighter industry in many cities, mines in Cape Breton and British Columbia, and small manufacturing enterprises in the Maritimes Other urban positions includes messenger boy and newspaper vendor Still, many jobs for children were considered "dead end" — poorly paid, menial positions without any opportunity for advancement Historical Child Labour in Canada • • • • 20th century- trended to be less visible forms. Between Confederation and 1925, close to 80,000 British children, most under 14, were brought to Canada by humanitarian organizations wishing to give them a “new start” away from their working-class backgrounds. Most of these child immigrants (parents remained in UK) were ‘apprenticed’ to rural farming families and rather than adopted children as intended, became child labourers. Prohibition of child immigration in 1925. Historical Child Labour in Canada • • Depression- by this point, not only was child labour outlawed, many adults were willing to take on the work formerly performed by child labour War and post-war- Many women took on many of the industrial positions formerly held by child labour Historical Child Labour in Canada • • Increasingly, child labour (or at least its worst forms) is seen as a social problem The state begins to regulate it- our topic for tomorrow • • • • As we noted in our earlier lessons, the state and global actors (notably the ILO) have taken many steps to reduce/eliminate child labour While much has been achieved by the ILO and it allies, approximates suggest that 215 million children are still in child labour Child labour tends to be more persistent in the developing world Despite this high number, the ILO believes that a world without child labour can be achieved with the right priorities and mix of policies and with a unity of effort from a variety of actors SOME STATISTICS • • Worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment. Among them, 152 million are victims of child labour. • Almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labour. • • In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia. In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: • 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3%in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14) SOME STATISTICS • Almost half of all 152 million children victims of child labour are aged 5-11 years. • 42 million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old. • Hazardous child labour is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless up to a fourth of all hazardous child labour (19 million) is done by children less than 12 years old. • Among 152 million children in child labour, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls. SOME STATISTICS • • 58% of all children in child labour and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labour than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under- reporting of girls’ work, particularly in domestic child labour. Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining. • Source: ILO, Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and trends, 20122016 , Geneva, September 2017. ECONOMIC REALITIES • • “Child labour is a stubborn problem that, even if overcome in certain places or sectors, will seek out opportunities to reappear in new and often unanticipated ways.” Linked to local and global economic conditions. A reality of capitalism • In the years leading to 2008, child labour was on a slow but steady decline. The global economic collapse saw a steady increase in child labour MADAGASCAR • In Madagascar, extreme poverty and lack of opportunities push many adolescent children into prostitution • In the city of Tulear (southern Madagascar), the International Labour Organization (ILO) along with UNICEF, SOS Children’s Villages, and employers’ and workers’ organizations are trying to raise awareness about children working in sex tourism. • They offer young people the opportunity to learn new vocational skills. MADAGASCAR • The beneficiaries of the ILO program were children, most of them girls but also boys who worked as intermediaries • They received three months of training in the hospitality sector – as wait staff, housekeepers, cooks, bar staff – a sector where employers find it difficult to recruit qualified staff • The theoretical training was followed by a three-month on-site internship that in several cases led to job offers. MADAGASCAR • The local labour inspector, Patrick Andriavelo, faces widespread commercial sexual exploitation of children. • Worked closely with the ILO project, set up neighbourhood watches in the villages and flushed out several foreign perpetrators, who were subsequently convicted. • But he is the first to admit how difficult it is to apply the law, and says “financial arrangements” are more common than criminal convictions. INDIA • • The Indian Constitution ensures the right of all children 6-14 years to free and compulsory education; prohibits forced labour; prohibits the employment of children below 14 years in hazardous occupations; and promotes policies protecting children from exploitation. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, prohibits employment of a Child (defined as under 14) in any employment including as a domestic help. It • is a cognizable criminal offence to employ a Child for any work. Children between age of 14 and 18 are defined as "Adolescent" and the law allows Adolescent to be employed except in the listed hazardous occupation and processes which include mining, inflammable substance and explosives related work and any other hazardous process INDIA • • • • • So all is well, right? No! Despite a variety of clearly worded and strong laws, that include criminal punishment for employing a child, child labour in rampant in India Over 10 million child labourers in India, accounting for 13% of the workforce That said, a decline in recent years, especially in rural areas INDIA • Causes- varied, but tend to be similar as they are elsewhere • • • • poverty and illiteracy of a child’s parents the family’s social and economic circumstances a lack of awareness about the harmful effects of child labour lack of access to basic and meaningful quality education and skills training • • • high rates of adult unemployment and under-employment the cultural values of the family and surrounding society Sometimes bonded to labour due to a family indebtedness. INDIA • • • Children are engaged in manual work, in domestic work in family homes, in rural labour in the agricultural sector including cotton growing They also work at glass, match box and brass and lock-making factories, in embroidery, rag-picking, beedi-rolling, and in the carpet-making industry And work in heavier industry, such as in mining and stone quarrying, and brick kilns INDIA • Child labour in India (and elsewhere for that matter) is gendered • Traditionalgender- specificroles,withgirlsperformingmore domestic and home-based work, while boys are more often employed in wage labour. INDIA • Informal work, or precarious work, as we may know it is a reality for child workers • Due to enforcement and education, more invisible because the location of the work has changed from the more formal setting of factories, to business owners’ homes. There has also been an increasing involvement of children in the home- based and informal sectors. INDIA • As UNICEF rightly notes, this linked to economic system and employer greed: • “children are employed because they are cheap and pliable to the demands of the employer and not aware of their rights” Award winning Indian film on child labour INDIA • Like many places, India has focused o education as an effective means to reducing child labour • The Right to Education Act (2009) has made it mandatory for the state to ensure that all children aged six to 14 years are in school and receive free education. Along with Article 21A of the Constitution of India recognizing education as a fundamental right, • UNICEF- “this constitutes a timely opportunity to use education to combat child labour in India” INDIA • As noted, education is a key to preventing child labour. No different in India • has been one of the most successful methods to reduce child workers in India • A focus on education includes expanding access to schooling, improving the quality and relevance of education, addressing violence in schools, providing relevant vocational training and using existing systems to ensure child workers return to school • Relatedly, a focus on employing adults for fair wages is also important CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE AND THE CAUCUSUS • • Child labour occurs in Europe as well, and is less well-known that child labour in Africa and elsewhere in global South Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine are the countries most seriously affected by the worst forms of child labour (WFCL) in Central and Eastern Europe • The WFCL include trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation, street work, illicit activities (begging, petty theft and drug peddling) and hazardous work in agriculture CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE AND THE CAUCUSUS • • The ILO’s Global Report on Child Labour suggests an overall decline in the number of children working in transition economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Economic growth and poverty reduction linked with political commitment to combating child labour have led to significant progress. The ratification rate of both of the ILO Child Labour Conventions has been encouraging. All 10 countries of the region have ratified both fundamental ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182 CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE AND THE CAUCUSUS • Large informal economies foster the exploitation of children. • In urban areas, many street children still fall victim to the worst forms of child labour– sexual exploitation, drug trade, and other work that is harmful to their physical and mental development. • In rural settings, children still perform hazardous work in agriculture, especially during cotton harvest. CHROME PICKERS AND CAN COLLECTORS IN ALBANIA CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE AND THE CAUCUSUS • • Problematically, and unlike many of the countries where child labour is a major concern, the last 15 years have seen a steep decline in pre–school attendance, secondary schooling and Vocational Education and Training. Illiteracy is also on the rise in some of these countries. • These trends contribute directly to the child labour problem. FOOTBALLS (SOCCER) IN PAKISTAN • Sialkot, Pakistan- soccer balls began when British soldiers brought the first ball to town about 100 years ago. • • Since then, the city has grown to become the soccer ball capital of the world, making roughly 75% of ‘match-grade’ footballs and exporting hundreds of millions of dollars per year By the late 1990s, child labour in Sialkot becomes a major international issue • As a whole, the industry at this time was rampant with child labour in India and Pakistan • At that time, about 7,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14 did not attend school because they worked full-time manufacturing soccer balls, earning about 50 cents for each (hand stitched) ball they produce FOOTBALLS (SOCCER) IN PAKISTAN • In response to the media frenzy and public outrage, companies, governments, and other stakeholders committed to eliminating child labor in the industry by supporting the 1997 Atlanta Agreement which aimed to end child labor within the soccer ball industry • Some improvements followed, at least on the child labour front FOOTBALLS (SOCCER) IN PAKISTAN • In lead up to 1998 World Cup, the industry began to clean up its act, and big buyers like Nike, Reebok and Adidas began to set up model factories that use • adult-only workers. These workers were also paid slightly better almost $2 a day By 2000, the local chamber of commerce said that 66 manufacturers, representing 90% of the district's exports, had submitted to inspection by the International Labour Organisation. • “A Child Employed is a Future Destroyed” reads a sticker pasted up at the chamber of commerce building, and manufacturers believed it.” FOOTBALLS (SOCCER) IN PAKISTAN • The combined efforts of the ILO, in combination with the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI), Trade Unions, Manufactures, UNICEF to combat child labour produced important results for child labourers... FOOTBALLS (SOCCER) IN PAKISTAN • • Some of the footballs used by English Premier League as late as 2006 matches may have been stitched by children in Pakistani homes, the league's official supplier Nike admitted today. Nike in turn fired its main manufacturer of hand-stitched balls, a Pakistani company called Saga Sports, because of concerns about "significant labour compliance violations". • The American multinational said that a six-month investigation had concluded that Saga was outsourcing many of the balls to casual workers who sew them together in their homes around the city of Sialkot, near the Indian border. • • Unfortunately, the past decade’s eff orts have not resulted in the eradication of child labor in soccer ball stitching though it appears to have decreased in Sialkot, Pakistan. Despite efforts undertaken by governments, advocacy groups, and industry members alike, child labor still exists in the soccer ball industry where stitching is now simply outsourced to home- based work. A SUCCESS STORY?FOOTBALLS (SOCCER) IN PAKISTAN • Some 6,000 children are in schools run by “partner” charities established in the era of the Atlanta programme • The ILO has endorsed the Sialkot Soccer Ball Industry Model as a way forward for other industries to do business in the current GSP+ (Generalised scheme of preferences) environment A SUCCESS STORY?FOOTBALLS (SOCCER) IN PAKISTAN • ......but precarity continued for the adults that were employed. • At one Pakistani manufacturer, researchers found that all interviewed stitching center or home-based workers were employed on a casual basis and almost all of them were paid below the legally required minimum wage • In addition, other issues, such as the use of casual or temporary labor, low wages, overtime and hazardous working environments persist. SOMETHING TO REFLECT UPON BEFORE YOU GO FURTHER • Who eats chocolate? • Do you think about how it is sourced? • Can we separate ourselves and our enjoyment from the product’s creation? CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • • • More than 70% of the world’s cocoa is grown in West Africa, and the vast majority of that supply comes from two countries: Cote d’ Ivoire and Ghana Together they produce 60% of the global total Cote d’ Ivoire alone exported nearly 2 million metric tons of cocoa (2015), or two-fifths of the world’s production. Demand for chocolate is going up, as a growing number of consumers in countries like China and India have more disposable income. • The two nations have a combined GDP of around $73 billion, according to the World Bank—or significantly less than Nestlé ’s $100 billion in sales last year CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • In some cases, sensational stories about child labor have focused on boys and girls • • who’ve been kidnapped. held against their will and abused In the more common story, however, sees hundreds of thousands of children used as free labor by their own families and often asked to take on dangerous tasks like harvesting with machetes or hauling 100-pound bags of beans “Here in Africa, the ones who are young and strong have to use their legs, the older ones get to work sitting down. But when it’s time to sell the crop, the ones who are sitting down get to keep all the profits.” - Daouda Ouattara, Ghana • How do we address a situation when the labour is family driven? • Does it require a culturally sensitive eye? • Or is it simply inherently bad? CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • In 2014, a study at Tulane Univ found that 2.1 million children had been engaged in inappropriate forms of child labor in Ivory Coast and Ghana combined • a 21% increase over the 1.75 million identified in its survey five years earlier. • 96% were found to be involved in “hazardous activity” • The number of children reported to be performing dangerous tasks fell by 6% in Ghana but jumped by 46% in Ivory Coast. • CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • A child’s workday typically begins at six in the morning and ends in the evening. • • • • Some of the children use chainsaws to clear the forests. Other children climb the cocoa trees to cut bean pods using a machete. These large, heavy, dangerous knives are the standard tools for children on the cocoa farms, which violates international labor laws and a UN convention on eliminating the worst forms of child labor. Once they cut the bean pods from the trees, the children pack the pods into sacks that weigh more than 100 pounds when full and drag them through the forest Aly Diabate, a former cocoa slave: • “Some of the bags were taller than me. It took two people to put the bag on my head. And when you didn’t hurry, you were beaten. CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • Holding a single large pod in one hand, each child has to strike the pod with a machete and pry it open with the tip of the blade to expose the cocoa beans. • Every strike of the machete has the potential to slice a child’s flesh. The majority of children have scars on their hands, arms, legs or shoulders from the machetes. • in addition to the hazards of using machetes, children are also exposed to agricultural chemicals on cocoa farms in Western Africa. • Tropical regions such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast consistently deal with prolific • insect populations and choose to spray the pods with large amounts of industrial chemicals. In Ghana, children as young as 10 spray the pods with these toxins without wearing protective clothing. CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • • • The farm owners using child labor usually provide the children with the cheapest food available, such as corn paste and bananas. In some cases, the children sleep on wooden planks in small windowless buildings with no access to clean water or sanitary bathrooms. On cocoa farms, 10% of child laborers in Ghana and 40% in the Ivory Coast do not attend school, another violation of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Child Labour Standards. CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • “It is clearly a complex problem that has its roots in poverty, and rural poverty no less. And if the problem is rooted in poverty, then the solution, in a way, is as complex as poverty eradication.” - Nick Weatherill, executive director of the International Cocoa Initiative, a Geneva-based nonprofit funded by major chocolate makers that focuses on addressing child labor in cocoa in West Africa CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • What accounts for the prevalence of child labour in the chocolate industry? • • Poverty - Farmers don’t make enough to support their business. Cocoa prices are low, yields are low, and farmers are unable to pay for adult laborers, thus leaving them with no choice but to use their children as labor. Limited Access to Education - There is a dramatic shortage of schools and teachers in West Africa. Even where schools exist, many families can’t afford • necessary school-related expenses such as tuition, uniforms, and books. Lack of Enforcement - While there are laws prohibiting child labor in West Africa, the extreme prevalence of child labor, combined with overextended governments tasked with addressing many difficult issues, truly limits enforcement of these laws. • The U.S. Department of Labor’s 2014 report on the worst forms of child labor in Ivory Coast found that the national police’s antihuman-trafficking unit had an operating budget of just $7,700/yr CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • PotentialSolution(s)? • Fair Trade Chocolate. A market-based solution, as opposed to • Local governments working together with cocoa manufacturers and farmers themselves • Fair Trade aims to address the root causes of child labor by: • • • Raising farmers’ incomes such that they can earn a sustainable livelihood, Providing communities with a financial Premium that they can invest in things like education. Ensuring that strict standards that prohibit the use of child labor are monitored and enforced. stricter enforcement invest in their farms, and hire adult workers. CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • Since 2010, not much has changed (aside from a 21% increase in the price) CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • Seeks to provide farmers with the resources to invest in education. • The primary way this happens is via the Community Development Premium. • For every metric ton of Fair Trade cocoa sold, farmers earn an additional $200 to invest in farm and community level projects. Farmers vote to spend these funds on important needs like school tuition, lunch programs, and in some cases entirely new schools • • There are many different labels on chocolate bars today, such as various fair trade certifications and the Rainforest Alliance Certification and UTZ No single label can guarantee that the chocolate was made without the use of exploitive labor. • For example, in 2009, the founders of the fair trade certification process had to suspend several of their Western African suppliers due to evidence that they were using child labor • The success of fair trade certification will depend greatly on the genuine support (or suffer from the lack of) from the chocolate industry over the coming years • http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Campaignandadvoc acy/wdacl/2018 /lang--en/index.htm CHOCOLATE- GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE • The Dark Side of Chocolate (documentary) CHILD SLAVERY IN THE CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY • Some children end up on the cocoa farms because they need work and traffickers tell them that the job pays well. • Other children are “sold” to traffickers or farm owners by their own relatives, who are unaware of the dangerous work environment and the lack of any provisions for an education. • In some cases, traffickers will abduct the young children from villages in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, two of the poorest countries in the world. • Once they have been taken to the cocoa farms, the children may not see their families for years, if ever. CHILD SLAVERY IN THE CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY • • Investigators have discovered children trafficked into Western African cocoa farms and coerced to work without pay. Abby Mills, campaigns director of the International Labor Rights Forum, adds, “Every research study ever conducted in [Western Africa] shows that there is human trafficking going on, particularly in the Ivory Coast.” • • • (Child) slavery in the cocoa industry involves the same core human rights violations as other forms of slavery throughout the world. Cases often involve acts of physical violence, such as being whipped for working slowly or trying to escape. documented cases where children and adults were locked in at night to prevent them from escaping. • Former cocoa slave Aly Diabate told reporters, “The beatings were a part of my life. I had seen others who tried to escape. When they tried, they were severely beaten.” • Aside from large-scale production in Western Africa, a significant amount of cocoa is also grown in Latin America. This is where the majority of organic cocoa originates. • neither child slavery nor child labor have been documented on these cocoa farms. • Possible that some Latin American farms may employ these practices, not widely documented as it is in Western Africa “TONY’S CHOCOLONELY” • "If you look at certification like the Rainforest Alliance or Fair Trade or UTZ, those are all good but they don't manufacture a product ... and as a product owner you feel responsibility and it's your responsibility to sell something you can be proud of.” • Henk Jan Beltman, chief chocolate officer at Tony's Chocolonely • • "Whether it's fish or phones or chocolate bars, it's always the owner who is responsible for the stuff that they sell ... and a certification body is never going to take that responsibility away." Focus on the fine details of its supply chain, it traces the origin of the cocoa it buys -- all the way from the beans purchased directly from its farm cooperatives in West Africa to the finished product. • “Isn't it weird that all pieces in most chocolate bars are the same size when in the chocolate industry things are shared so unequally? That's why our bars are unequally divided, to illustrate the inequality in the cocoa chain and to make people aware of this in a tasty way.” • Slave-free chocolate CHILD LABOUR IN THE USA • We tend to think of child labour as being a problem ‘over there,’ but it is a reality in North America as well • If poverty and a lack of long-term careers are factors that lead to child labour, this should come as no surprise CHILD LABOUR IN THE USA • The primary legislation that regulates child labour in the United States is the Fair Labor Standards Act. • Fornon- agriculturaljobs,childrenunder14maynotbeemplo yed. Children between 14 and 16 may be employed in allowed occupations during limited hours, and those between 16 and 18 may be employed for unlimited hours in non-hazardous occupations • • A number of exceptions these regulations exist, particularly for those employment by their parents, in newspaper delivery, and child actors. The regulations for agricultural employment are generally less strict. CHILD LABOUR IN THE USA • Like elsewhere, the presence of regulations on child labour doesn’t mean the absence of child labour • In the US, there are also exemptions to the legislation which permits child labour, especially in agriculture (a topic we’ll explore in more detail on Monday) • The United States is the only nation in the world that has not ratified the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a document drafted in 1989 that serves to protect children’s rights (including labour and educational rights) through government action. CHILD LABOUR IN THE USA • The Occupational Health and Safety Administration, or OHSA, had fewer health and safety inspectors in 2011 than in 1981, even though there are now twice as many • • • workplaces. OHSA is responsible for conducting workplace inspections and following-up on complaints about labor violations, including child-labor laws). There were 864 federal inspectors in 2014, down from 1,469 in 1980 When adjusted to 2013 dollars, OSHA’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year is $535 million, compared to $592 million in 2010, said Katie Weatherford, regulatory policy analyst for the Center for Effective Government. Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/howcommon-is-chid-labor-in-the- us/383687/ CHILD LABOUR IN THE USA • "Our feeling is that there has got to be a certain level of enforcement for employers to really pay attention. Once they get a sense that the laws aren't being enforced at all, it's like a carte blanche.“ • Reid Maki, director of child-labor advocacy at the National Consumer’s League CHILD LABOUR IN THE USA • Soon after the 2010 US midterm elections, many states mad changes and rolled back regulations on child labour. • A Missouri elected official had called in 2011 for the elimination of funding for the state’s nine labor investigators, saying that he’d heard they were “harassing and picking on” non- union contractors. By 2014, the state had just six investigators • In Idaho, the state passed a bill allowing students 12 and above to be employed by school districts for up to 10 hours per week. • “It teaches job skills, you have to be on time, you have to do what your supervisor tells you,” said district spokesman Eric Exline, defending the program to a local TV station, and adding that the program saved the school district from having to hire additional employees. CHILD LABOUR IN THE USA • • Wisconsin lifted restrictions on the number of hours 16 and 17- year-olds could work during a school week (previously 26 hours, now unlimited hours, as long as they also go to school). Michigan also increased the number of hours students could work during the school week, to 24 from 15. • Maine also upped the number of hours a minor could work each week—to 24 from 20. Some wanted students to be able to work until 11 p.m. on school nights, but in a compromise, the legislation set the curfew at 10:15 p.m. CHILD LABOUR IN THE USA • A law went into effect in August in Minnesota creating a youth wage of $6.50 an hour for workers under 18 (there had previously not been a separate youth wage) • A similar youth wages exists in Ontario • Iowa introduced a bill allowing people aged 16-17 to work in laundry establishments (previously prohibited) Children, Work, and Agriculture Child Labour in Agriculture • In many countries child labour is mainly an agricultural issue • Worldwide 60 percent of all child labourers in the age group 5-17 years work in agriculture, including farming, fishing, aquaculture, forestry, and livestock. This amounts to over 98 million girls and boys. • The majority (67.5%) of child labourers are unpaid family members. In agriculture this percentage is higher, and is combined with very early entry into work, sometimes between 5 and 7 years of age. Child Labour in Agriculture • Agriculture is one of the three most dangerous sectors in terms of workrelated fatalities, non-fatal accidents and occupational diseases. About 59 percent of all children in hazardous work aged 5–17 are in agriculture. • Informed, in part, by traditional attitudes towards children’s participation in agricultural activities. • Especially in the context of family farming, small-scale fisheries and livestock husbandry, some participation of children in nonhazardous activities can be positive as it contributes to the intergenerational transfer of skills and children’s food security. • It is important to distinguish between light duties that do no harm to the child and child labour • Participation in some agricultural activities is not always child labour. Age-appropriate tasks that are of lower risk and do not interfere with a child’s schooling and leisure time can be a normal part of growing up in a rural environment. Why is child labour so prevalent in agriculture? • Let’s also think more broadly than simply ‘capitalism’ • • • • – Limited coverage of agriculture and family undertakings in national labour legislations – limited unionization – low capacity of labour inspectors to cover remote rural areas, – majority of child labourers working as unpaid family labour without formal contracts • – continuity between rural household and the workplace, and traditions of children participating in agricultural activities • The seasonality of agricultural production and migration makes enforcement more difficult • A global problem......with a North American dimension Introduction • • • As noted in a previous lesson, The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 banned child labor in American factories and mines, but (racist) Southern politicians ensured the existence of enough loopholes for the agricultural industry This was, in some part at least, to keep black children working on the farm More recently, however, there has been an upsurge in young migrants performing these jobs • In many parts of the south, the children white working poor work in the Tobacco industry, alongside predominantly the children of Latino migrants • The FLSA was a seminal achievement, but it has significant loopholes. Influenced by racist Southern politicians, who argued in the 1930s that “you cannot put the Negro and the white man on the same basis,” the law left out minimum wage and overtime protections for agricultural and domestic workers— the industries that employed the majority of African-Americans at the time. – Source: The Nation, 2013 • Child labor on farms helps fuel a cycle of poverty where kids drop out of school or perform poorly so that they can work as many hours as possible Introduction • OnewaythatyoungpeopleintheUnitedStatess ufferfromchildren’s rights violations is through child labor – especially in the agricultural sector. • AccordingtotheHumanRightsWatch(HRW), childrenintheUnited States working on farms are unprotected from the danger of using dangerous tools and machinery, as well as many other dangers of working on farms. – numerousreportsofchildreninjuredwhenusingsharpto ols,heavymachinery in their jobs – and almost no children interviewed by HRW had health or safety training or protective gear. • DatafromtheUSgovernmentillustratesthatagr icultureisthemost dangerous industry for young workers – In2012thereweremorethan1,800nonfatalinjuriestochil drenunder18 working on US farms, and two thirds of children who died from work injuries were agricultural workers. Legal Exemptions • Lawsinplaceallowchildrenworkinginagricult uretoworklonger hours, at younger ages, in more hazardous conditions than in any other industry. • • With parental permission, children as young as twelve can be hired for an unlimited number of hours (outside of school hours) on a farm of any size. There is no minimum age for children to work on small farms. Children at age 16 can work in jobs deemed “hazardous” by the US department of labor in agricultural • settings – but in other sectors, workers must be 18 to do hazardous work. In2011,federalregulationswerealmostpasse dthatwouldhave restricted workers to be 16 or older to work on tobacco farms – however, with the influence of Big Agriculture, these regulations were withdrawn. Child Labour in the Tobacco Industry • Several hundred thousand children work in US agriculture every year – but there is no specific data on exactly how many work on tobacco farms. Most children working in agriculture make only minimum wage – others report being paid less than minimum wage, with no overtime. • In an interview by HRW, many children reported that they started working on tobacco farms at age 11 or 12 during the summer months, in order to help support their families. The majority of these children are those of Hispanic immigrants. Child Labour in the Tobacco Industry • Tobaccofarmsareparticularlydangerousto childrenastheyare exposed to nicotine and the toxic pesticides often sprayed in the air to protect the plants. There have been reports of children suffering from vomiting, nausea, headaches, and dizziness – the symptoms of nicotine poisoning. Nicotine is absorbed through the skin while these child laborers gather and handle tobacco leaves – Onestudyestimatedthatonahumidday— andvirtuallyeverysummer day in North Carolina is humid—a tobacco worker can be exposed to the nicotine equivalent of thirty-six cigarettes. • Inthissector,childrenhavealsoreportedto worklonghours (50-60 hours each week) in the extreme heat with little or no shade, no sufficient breaks, and little or no protective gear. Child Labour in the Tobacco Industry • • AHumanRightsWatchreportreleasedi nMay2014documented the dangers to children working on American tobacco farms based on a year’s research and interviews with 141 child tobacco workers, ages 7 to 17, in the country’s four largest tobaccoproducing states: North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Tobaccogrowninthesefieldsisusedtopr oducepopular cigarette brands, • including Marlboro, Pall Mall and Newport. Nearlythreequartersofchildreninterviewedreporte dfeeling sick—with nausea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness, difficulty breathing, or other serious symptoms while working in tobacco fields. – Manyofthesesymptomsareconsistentwithacu tenicotinepoisoning, also known as Green Tobacco Sickness. Child Labour in the Tobacco Industry • Most of the children spoke to by HRW labored for 50 to 60 hours a week in sweltering heat, often without shade or adequate drinking water. • Theyplantseedlings,weedtobaccofieldsan dworkamongtall tobacco plants, breaking flowers off the top of the plants and removing leaves called “suckers” that reduce the yield and quality of the tobacco. • InKentucky,TennesseeandVirginia,childr enoftenhand- harvest tobacco plants by cutting them with small axes and spearing the stalks onto long sticks with pointed ends. Some climb high into the rafters of curing barns to hang heavy sticks of tobacco to dry. Child Labour in the Tobacco Industry • Many of these child workers are those of migrant workers, from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America • Their work position is made worse by immigration status- this provides employers considerable leverage over them • Although some Caucasian children work in farm labour, the workforce is predominantly Latino/Latina. There is a growing intersection of race, class, and immigration status Child Labour in the Tobacco Industry • • • • In 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed a draft regulation that included working in tobacco among the hazardous tasks prohibited for children under age 16. These regulations were later withdrawn after intense lobbying by agricultural interest groups. No progress since Even some in the tobacco industry have been more proactive than legislators, in response to reports on the risks to child tobacco workers. In July, the Kentucky-based Council on Burley Tobacco, which represents 5,000 tobacco growers in four states, adopted a new policy stating that it “does not condone the hiring of anyone under the age of 16 for work in tobacco anywhere in the world.” A spokesperson for Philip Morris International said that they would welcome a strengthening of the U.S. regulatory framework regarding children working in tobacco. – Under its own labor policies, Philip Morris already bars children under age 18 from performing the most hazardous tasks in tobacco farming. Child Labour in the Tobacco Industry • The main argument against the failed regulations was that they’d hurt family farms. – “That’s why we opposed the rules. They would have impacted farm kids and their ability to be a part of the family farm or ranch.” says Mace Thornton, a Farm Bureau lobbyist • In a letter to the agency, the Farm Bureau and its allies asked the Labor Department to withdraw the rules to allow “family farms to continue to operate as they have for generations.” • That the rules would be a blow to struggling family farms held tremendous narrative power. Child Labour in the Tobacco Industry • One only problem: it isn’t true. • No child labour laws in the US apply to family farms.......or to the estimated half a million children who work on them. • Thelegislationcoversonlytheroughly30 0,000orsowho work as hired hands on larger agricultural farms And not just tobacco • Child workers used in other agricultural industries outside of tobacco • An “ugly secret” in US agriculture. And it’s not just a Southern secret • Child labour in Michigan on blueberry farms reported in 2011. Research suggests this wasn’t just a one-off In Canada? • "It's very common in this industry. We've known it for many, many years. Enforcement is lacking.“ – Charan Gill, president of the Canadian Farmworkers' Union. • "All the politicians know this, what's happening on the farms. But there's not a will to change those things yet.” In Canada • • In 2016, a berry farm owner in BC was fine over $3,500 for having an 11 year old work on his farminadvertently he claimed There, children under 12 can work, but employers must have written permission from the provincial director of employment standards In Canada • • The prevalence of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (or SAWP) reduces the need for child labour in Canada, though this program is fraught with it’s own issues Employers needing low-cost, hardworking labour for agricultural work are more likely to look directly to Mexico or Jamaica as opposed to children living in Canada In Canada • Inmostprovinces,childlabourinthefarmin gindustryisalmost entirely unregulatedespecially at the family farm – theyoungestpersontoreceiveworker’scompensati oninQuebecin2007 was eight years old • Farmingwasentirelyexcludedfromemploy mentcodesin Canada’s prairies • “Soyoucanhireaneight-yearoldtorunatractor[notallowed under the provincial code.....Or, you can simply direct your own eight-year-old to run the tractor [not considered employment].” – BobBarnetson,associateprofessoroflabourrelatio nsatEdmonton’s Athabasca University In Canada • Farmworkers Union of Alberta – “I found myself working with 8, 9 and 10year-old paid labourers, not farmers children.” – Many of them were Mennonite Mexican children who work alongside, or even apart from, their parents. – At the time of the FUA’s founding, there were no regulations (H&S or labour) applied to farming In Canada • • Saskatchewan,2014 CoolSpringsRanch&ButcheryYorkton,Sask. – family-run, allowing their daughters Emma, 8, and Kate, 10, to help raise their animals, bring them to slaughter and prepare them for market. • • OccupationalHealthandSafetyorderissue dthatprohibitedthegirls from working in the chicken processing plant, a major part of the farm’s operation. Familypostedtosocialmedia,receivedconsi derablesupport – criticalofanoverbearinggovernmenttryingtomess withtraditionand grassroots family life. • withdrew the order, but said a 14- and 15year-old who worked at the farm and were not members of the Covlin family would have to quit In Canada • Isthereadistinctionbetweenworkandc hores? • Whataboutfarmchores,especiallyonafa milyrunfarm? • Provincial labour laws still apply to family run businesses (outside of agriculture) Working With Children Care Work • Workperformedthatprovidesdirectcareorsupporttoan otherpersonwhois considered to be a dependent • Generally, care work done of behalf of the young, the elderly, the sick, the dying, and people with various intellectual and physical disabilities • • It is work- a paid job (though often underpaid and informal) It is often also unpaid labour (caring for own family, neighbours etc) 2 Child Care Work • For many, it serves as a first job and introduction to working • Highlygenderedservice,bothformallyandinformally • Childcare work is both paid and unpaid, depending upon the situation Introduction • Childcarework: • • • Involves care for children when parents and other family members are unavailable. They provide supervision for children and care for children's basic needs, such as bathing and feeding. Some may be directly responsible for educating (such as in a child care centre), but while others may help • • children prepare for kindergarten or help older children with homework. This work can be performed in one’s own home, in the home of a client, or in a local centre Babysitting is often the first introduction into this field • Three main forms of care—daycare centres, home daycare and private arrangements—are most often used for children under the age of 5. • Before and after school care is the leading choice for children aged 5 and older. • Average full-time monthly fees for a two-year-old, 2010, in Quebec: $154 (the lowest for any province or territory). • • Average full-time monthly fees for a two-year-old, 2010 in B.C.: $850 (the highest for any province or territory). Generally, parents belonging to a higher income household were more likely to have used some form of non-parental care. More precisely, about twothirds (65%) of parents with an annual household income of at least $100,000 used child care for their preschooler. This was nearly double the rate recorded for households with an income below $40,000 (34%). • The use of child care was lower at the other end of the age spectrum, that is, for children aged 11 to 14 years (19%). • Childreninthisagerangeareoftenconsideredemotionall yand developmentally mature enough to be unsupervised for short periods of time (i.e., before and after school), resulting in a reduced need for child care • Forbabysitting,thereisnolegalagerequirement • • Some child care is regulated by the provincial government, but large sections of this industry are completely unregulated and left to cash exchange and direct negotiation Median income for full-time, qualified child-care program staff with a post- secondary qualification, 2006: $27,000. • By 2017, this figure is around $30,000 • • The need for quality child care has gone up; wages have not followed A high cost industry Where is care provided? • All provinces/territories license regulated child care services according to their provincial legislation and regulations. Regulated child care services include: • • • • centre-based full-day child care regulated family child care school-aged child care most provinces/territories, nursery schools or preschools • **only is Quebec is there a province-wide, universal, and publicly funded childcare program • • As of 2016, there are enough regulated spaces for only 27.2 per cent of children aged 0-12 years old in Canada. There are only enough full and part-time spaces in for 28.9 per cent of 0-5 year olds Therefore, we must assume that the majority of child care is provided either by relatives or through unregulated • arrangements, either in the caregiver’s home (unregulated family child care) or in the child’s home (a nanny or a babysitter). Kindergarten, provided as a separate program through public school systems in all provinces/territories may also serve as part of working parents’ child care arrangements. • Why do we pay so little to those who provide care for our children? • Doweundervaluethiswork?Ifyes,why? • Let’sthinkaboutit • ChildCareisaRight? • • Nationalnot-forprofitprojectthatreturnstotherootsofthewomen’s movement to explore child care from a women’s, children’s and family rights position. ThecoreofthisprojectistoexploreCanada’sinternati onaltreatyobligationsto women, children and families as they pertain to child care. It focuses on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. • • • • Overall, child care rates were significantly above the national average in Quebec, where 58% of parents placed their children in care. Those least likely to use child care were parents living in Manitoba (34%), Alberta (40%) and Ontario (43%). All of these rates were below the national average (46%). The cost of care also varied widely across Canada. Reflecting Quebec's subsidized daily rate of $8;05 per day, Quebec recorded the lowest monthly cost of full-time care for children under the age of 5, with a median monthly cost of $152 per child. The cost in the second lowest region, the Atlantic provinces, was $541, almost four times the Quebec cost. • The highest cost for full-time child care was found in Ontario, with a median monthly cost of $677. • Licensedchildcareisoftenmuchtooexpensiveforfamilies . • Median monthly fees range from $451 per child for preschool-age care in Winnipeg to $1,649 for infant care in Toronto. And fees are rising faster than inflation. Intersectional Feminism • • • • Care work is a useful lens to explore intersectional feminism Care work is highly feminized (both paid work and unpaid labour) It is also highly racialized (both paid work outside the home, and also paid work within the home- ie/ the live-in caregiver) Totheextentthatpaidcarehappensinthehome(ie/an anny),itisoftentothe benefit of a higher-wage white woman 14 Emotional Labour • • • Care work is inherently emotional. It is part of the job required (compassion, caring, etc) and what employers pay for Morethanjustthework(ie/cookingandcleaning) Theriseofwhitecollarworksawariseof“emotionallabour.”Thistermi s central to an understanding of care work Emotional Labour • Likecareworkitself,emotionallabourisoften,thoughnota lwaysgendered: Typical masculine and feminine traits • • It is the traditionally feminine traits that are sought out and central to care work Management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display; emotional labor is sold for a wage • Arlie Hochschild, 1983 16 Emotional Labour • Hocschild’scriteriaforjobsinvolvingemotionallabour: • • require face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact with the public require the worker to produce an emotional state in another person • allow the employer, through training and supervision, to exercise a degree of control over the emotional activities of employees • Theseareallcentralelementsofcarework Emotional Labour • Hocschildutilizedtheterm‘emotionaldissonance’todefi netheprocessof "maintaining a difference between feeling and feigning“ (to represent falsely, or a false, outward appearance) • Workershavetoregulatetheirownemotions/expression sonthejobandfeel (or feign) according to a desired norm • You need to feel a certain way in front of the client. It likely is not the way you actually feel. Emotional Labour • ‘strategic friendliness’ (an example of surface acting) as a way to manipulate other through emotion/expression • • “being nice, polite, welcoming, playing dumb or behaving courteous” These are required emotions in care work Who Cares? • • Oftenwomen Asdaughters,mothers,partners,friends,paidemploy ees(in house or outside of home),or as volunteers, women are the overwhelming majority of unpaid primary caregivers and spend more time in providing care than men. • 20 Historicallymorelikelythanmentodopersonalcarea ndoffer emotional support. Care Work Increasingly a form of paid labour outside the family Historically, care work performed by entire family With industrial revolution and rise of male breadwinner model, increasingly performed by women (wife, mother) 21 Care Work • Highly gendered- upward of 90% of care work performed by women • Highlyracializedalargeproportionofthoseprovidingcareworkareracializ ed women. Many, though not all, are on temporary work permits (ie/ Live-in Caregivers) • Careworkglobally 22 Care Work • Why is care work so predominantly female dominated? • Istheresomethinginherentaboutwomenthatexplainsthi s? • Istheresomethingabouttheworkitselfthatmakesit(un)a ttractive? 23 Does it become socialized from a young age? 24 Historical Evolution • Wetendtothinkofemployingliveindomesticcareworkersassomething exclusively for the elite. It hasn’t always been this way. • Forcenturies,awoman’ssocialstatuswasclearcut:eithershehadamaidor she was one. • “Servants”— whooftenlivedinthehomesofthoseemployingthem— didthe bulk of the cooking, laundry, and childcare were an indispensable part of life for those who didn’t themselves work as domestic workers 25 • Thisdeclineimpactswomenmuchmorethanmen.Ironica lly,aswomenenter the paid workforce outside the home – and are now generally without paid help inside the home – they are left to do much of this work • Child care work disproportionately still done by women 26 Historical Evolution • Inadditiontobeinghighlygendered,earlycarework(inclu dingchildcare)was also highly racialized • Intheearly1900s,AfricanAmericanwomenhistoricallyto okonthebulkof these exploitative jobs • Thiscontinueduntilthe1930s,whentherewasashifttoem ployingwhite women who were out of work, or who needed to support family, during the depression 27 Child care • 2006census,2millionpreschoolchildren(06years),2.7millionschoolaged children (7-12) , of these nearly 5 million children, there are 3 million mothers who are part of the paid workforce • Most daycare costs require a dual family income, what happens in a single family income? 28 Quebec: Universal child care • Formerlyuniversalat$7/dayperchild • As of 2018, the fee ranges from $8.05 per day (for those making less than $51,340) up to $21.95 for the first child (for those making more than $165,000). • Costsprovince1billion • Allows more women (mothers) to join the paid workforce 29 • Isuniversalchildcarepreferable? Who works in childcare? • 98%ofearlychildhoodeducatorsarefemale • A very high percentage are educated. Not skilled work per se, but involves clear skills (and patience!) • Averagesalaryaround$30,000 31 Unionization and Child Care Workers • • 21.5 per cent of Canada-wide child care staff identified as union members Onethirdor31.7%oftheunionizedrespondentsindic atedthatwagesand benefits were the main reason they took their current job. • In contrast the main reason non-unionized staff gave for taking the job was the reputation of the centre. • In every part of the country unionized staff were more likely to work for an organization that • operated centres at more than one location than non- unionized staff. Union membership for public sector femaledominated occupations is generally strong. However, in spite of low wages and poor working conditions, unionization has been difficult to accomplish in the early learning and child care sector. • • • Canada-wide mean wage for unionized child care staff was $20.11. On average staff respondents in unionized centres earned $4.61/hour more than those in non-unionized centres. Their wages were more likely to be in the top 25% of all staff in their province or territory. Staffinunionizedcentresweremorelikelytoreceivep aidsickdays,extended medical, life and disability insurance, pension plans or RRSP contributions, paid breaks, and parental and maternity top-up benefits. unionized staff was more likely than nonunionized staff to be paid or have time off in lieu for overtime, paid release time for ECE-related professional development and have access to a staff room. Why universal childcare • Dilemma: How do feminists both support a woman’s right to work in the public sphere as well as the option to become mothers and raise children? How can child raising as a career become valued? Susan Prentice argues that universal childcare is the best option because it “supports women and children in both the public as well as private sphere”. 36 Unpaid Care Giving • • • Requirestime,skills&resources.....andmaynotalway sbe voluntary Accorded little value- by society, the market, and often by those receiving the care Canmean:career&financiallosses,loweredopportu nitiesto advance at work, loss of benefits and pensions (esp. if time taken off from paid work) • out-of-pocketexpensesforhiringshorttermreliefcaregivers, mental and physical fatigue, social isolation, family stress and breakdown 37 Paid Care Work • Ascareworkmovestowardtheprivatesector,awayfromb oththefamilyand the state, there are concerns • Forthosewhoneedit: • As care work is increasingly bought and sold on the market, there is a possibility that those that need care- ie/ children—will not be able to afford the care they need • • 38 This may put downward pressure on wages for child care workers, especially in the informal and nonunionized sector Another concern is that the quality of care may decrease in response to the call for profit-making and efficiency The LCP • A former government program, often targeted toward providing child care • Primarily Filipina women providing (child) care • OneoftherequirementsoftheLCPwasthatcaregiversresi dewiththefamily they worked for (ie/ live-in, as oppose to live-out). This left the potential for vulnerability to abuses such as unpaid overtime, poor working conditions, or worse. Always on the clock (but not always paid) • TheirstatusinCanadadependedontheiremployer.Losing /leavingjobmeant leaving Canada. Critics argued that the program needed reformation. • 2014facilitatedapplicationforPRafter24monthsofwork • Children • High medical needs 39 The LCP • 2014- The live-in requirement was lifted in response, but if live-in caregivers chose to move • • 40 out, they required a new Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) and work permit. Live-out caregivers are no longer considered part of the LCP and would not be eligible to apply for permanent residence under the LCP. 2014PilotprogramTheymustnowapplyundertwocategories— thosecaring for children, and those caring for people with high medical needs. Folks also require a regular work permit The LCP • Toqualifyforpermanentresidencycaregiversmustnowh aveoneyear-post secondary study in Canada or a foreign diploma or certificate that has been given equivalency here. • Caregiversmustalsopassstringentlanguagetest. • Thegovernmentalsonolongerentertainshumanitariana ndcompassionate appeals for caregiver’s dependants • The five year pilot is being phased out in November, 2019 41 2019 changes • On June 18, 2019, Ministerial Instructions were issued to create 2 new permanent residence pilots for caregivers: • • • • Home Child Care Provider Pilot (HCCPP) Home Support Worker Pilot (HSWP) Applicants under the 2 new permanent residence pilots (HCCPP [NOC 4411] and HSWP [NOC 4412]) have all permanent residence requirements assessed upfront, except for the 24 months of eligible Canadian work experience, unless they have already acquired it. We’restillwaitingtoseeandanalyzethelongtermchangesandimpactshere Children at Work on TV, Film, and Social Media Who are they?  We’ll refer to child actors, broadly, as those under 18  We should distinguish between teen actors for a variety of reasons  In short, we wish to identify those ‘child’ actors who are not yet legally adults Children at Work on TV, Film, and Social Media LABR 3Q96 Who are they?  We’ll refer to child actors, broadly, as those under 18  We should distinguish between teen actors for a variety of reasons  In short, we wish to identify those ‘child’ actors who are not yet legally adults The legal context  The United States' Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) prohibits those under the age of 14 from working in most industries, restricts hours to no more than three on a school day until 16, and prohibits hazardous work until 18 for most industries.  With some exceptions  The legislation specifically exempted minors working in the Entertainment Business from all provisions of the Child Labor Laws • • To the extent that there are laws, these are mandated at the state level. 17 of the 50 states in the USA lack any specific laws for children working in film  In the event that the production company is unionized, the workers (actors) have a collective agreement to cover their working conditions. These should provide added protection to child actors  Issues:  Hours of work:  Work vs. childhood  Wages:  Ensuring that child actors receive their wages when they turn legal age  Access to schooling:  Long term impacts:  When the fame stops and it’s ‘back to reality’ for the former child actor Issues:  Financial issues:  Child actors, due to their wages, pay for financial advisers, lawyers, and taxes. A complex part of childhood that child actors deal with (and often pay others to deal with, or trust their parents)  Health and safety  stunts  High stakes:  We often think of child labour as children working for sub- poverty wages. Child actors are multi-million dollar earners working high stress jobs in a very public realm  “I don’t think young people should be allowed to be famous.” Jeannette McCurdy (iCarly, Sam & Cat). The case of Jackie Coogan  Child star born in 1914, worked with Charlie Chaplin as early as 1919. Known for Chaplin’s “The Kid” (1921) and Oliver Twist (1922)  You may recognize him from his later work as Uncle Fester in the Addams Family  As a child star, Coogan earned an estimated $3 to $4 million from 1919 to 1935, which would be roughly equivalent to $44 to $59 million in 2021 dollars. When he turned 21 in October 1935, his fortune was believed to be waiting for him • • • His biological father died in a car crash (Jackie was the only survivor) when Jackie was 20  After turning 21 and trying to access the money, Coogan found that the entire amount had been spent by his mother and stepfather, Arthur Bernstein, on fur coats, diamonds and other jewelry, and expensive cars.  His money? That was the question   Coogan's mother and stepfather claimed Jackie enjoyed himself and simply thought he was playing before the camera, insisting that, "No promises were ever made to give Jackie anything • • In 1938, Jackie Coogan sued his mother and step-father, and while “successful” in that he was, after his legal expenses, he received just $126,000 of what remained of his earnings ($250,000)  This case prompted the passage of the California Child Actor's Bill (commonly known as Coogan Act or Coogan Bill). This is a piece of state law (California) and applies only there, but as the film capital of the world, it is often applicable   See:Terry,JenniferRobin(2018)."TheWolfattheDoor:ChildActorsinLimin alLegalSpaces".The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. 11: 57– 62. The Coogan Law  Under the legislation, the money earned and accumulated remains the sole legal property of the minor child • • The law requires a child actor's employer to set aside 15% of the earnings in a trust (often called a Coogan Account) that can only be accessed by the child, and codifies issues such as schooling, work hours, and time off  By default, parents still manage the wages until the child becomes of legal age, but there are legal protections from the parents stealing the money   Seehttps://www.sagaftra.org/membership-benefits/young- performers/coogan-law/coogan-law- full-text for the full text  Seealso:Krieg,Jessica(2004)."There'sNoBusinessLikeShowBusiness:Chil dEntertainersandthe Law" (PDF). U. Pa. Journal of Labor and Employment Law. 6 (2): 433–38. An imperfect law • As we have seen throughou...
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Child Labor
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Despite the 21st century, vices such as slavery and child labor continue to be prevalent in
some parts of the world. With so many human rights groups today and democracy being the most
popular form of ruling, most people enjoy their freedoms and rights. Nevertheless, few are
unlucky. Among the most heartbreaking stories is child labor that puts the lives of children at
risk and deprives them of their childhood. According to International Labour Organization
(ILO), child labor uses children for work that denies them their basic rights such as education
and childhood, depriving them of their dignity and exposing them to mental and physical harm
(ILO, 2020). Using this definition, slavery falls under the worst form of child labor. Slavery was
abolished in 1948 by the United Nations. Before slave abolishment, people were exposed to
torture, deprived of their basic rights, and paid no or very little. However, during this time, the
slaves were mostly adults who had the physical strength to do the jobs and intellectual knowhow. Notwithstanding, peop...


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