Brazilian Child Labor
Age-School Year Discrepancy
Other sources to get more
information
Poverty in Brazil
The most pressing issue that faces Brazil today is poverty. The poverty rate in Brazil is a staggering
22.6 percent. More than half of Brazils
families live off of less than $100 a month.
In 1999 Brazil had approximately 170 million inhabitants and the Gross
National Product was $7,625. In order
for the families survival, it is essential that everyone in the family play
their part. Therefore, even the
smallest children are asked to work.
(Gomez pg. 3)
Land
Distribution
Forty-three percent of Brazil’s
titled land is owned by just 1% of the population, with 27,556 large landowners
holding 178 million acres. There are
4.8 million families lacking land that the government statistics bureau says
could benefit from agrarian reform. (Flynn pg.2)
Education
The primary reason for all of the
poverty and child labor in Brazil is education, or lack thereof. A large reason why children are kept out of
schools is because the parents didn’t go to school as well. About 90 percent of poor households have not
graduated from primary school, and 74 percent have not completed fourth grade
(The Infoshop pg. 1). Yet, Schools in
many developing areas suffer from problems such as overcrowding, inadequate
sanitation and apathetic teachers. (Haas pg. 16)
Age-school Year Discrepancy (Siddiqi
pg.19)
Because of the physically dangerous
aspects of working in the coal yards, many small children are thrown into the
dangerous prostitution circle.
According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, more than 3
million children and young people worldwide became infected with HIV in
1998. This included almost 590,000
children under age 15 and more than 2.5 million 15 to 24 year olds. (Fernando
pg.9)
Organizations to Help
IPEC has
organized hundreds of organizations around the world to combat child
labor. As a result from these
organizations that IPEC has set up, 2,100 children from charcoal and erva-mate
production sites in Mato Grosso do Sul and over 8,000 children from sisal and
quarry processing in Bahia were able to leave backbreaking work to attend
school (http://www.ilo.org/ipec). PETI
(Program to Eradicate Child Labor) is developed specifically to dismantle child
labor in Brazil before the end of the president’s term in 2002. This would be achieved by providing stipends
to poor families with children in exchange for the commitment that all 7-14
year old children would be enrolled in school and have satisfactory attendance
and academic performance. (The Infoshop pg.1)
Other sources to get more information
http://www.saopaulo.sp.gov.br/ingles/saopaulo/index.htm
Brazilian Child Labor
By: Tim Binkley
Slavery and Emancipation
Professor Kate Bjork
May 12, 2003
We truly are blessed in
America. In America, we are encouraged
to capture our youth. We are brought up
to believe that our childhood is the most carefree and enjoyable part of our
lives. No bills to pay; no job to go
to; nothing to worry about. In America,
where our GNP easily exceeds $1 trillion, it is easy to see why we are pushed
to enjoy life while we are young.
When we get older, we know that our lives will get more and more
complicated. Burdened by all of the
troubles and responsibilities that go along with being an adult. There are many adults who cannot handle all
of these responsibilities and therefore are run into poverty. The unemployment rate in America is 6.0 percent
(United States Department of Labor, May 2003), which means that roughly 8.8
million people in a population of about 270 million do not have jobs and are
living in poverty. In a country where
education is primary to every governmental campaign, many still are left
uneducated. Yet, we live in a country
where almost 75 percent of the available jobs do not require a high school
diploma. The idea that everyone has a
chance to succeed and be whatever he or she wants to be has never been more
prevalent than in our country. While
living in our little “shell” that we call the United States, many people fall
into the trap of believing that everything outside of our world is perfect and
beautiful, just like here. Yet, this
could not be further from the truth.
While today’s American youth are playing cops and robbers out in their
front yard, there are roughly 7 to 8 million children in Brazil working as drug
pushers, prostitutes, or in the fields collecting raw materials for production
later on (Child Labor: Issues, Causes and Interventions). While Brazil moving towards becoming an
economically advanced country, it also grapples with the scourges of
poverty. Child labor is one of
them. How did all of this come to
pass? What has been done and what is
being done currently to prevent and stop this from happening? These are the types of issues I will try to
uncover in this essay.
The poverty rate in Brazil is a
staggering 22.6 percent (Brazil-Program to Eradicate Child Labor). More than half of Brazils families live off
of less than $100 a month (It’s not a “Favela,” it’s a Community). Brazil is among one of the poorest nations
in the world per capita. In 1999 Brazil
had approximately 170 million inhabitants and the average income for one family
per year was $7,625. Families are
almost required to make their children work just to survive and keep food on
the table and a roof over their head.
In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s Brazil became ideal for receiving
migrations from the entire world. Portuguese,
Bolivians, and Columbians arrived creating a “favela” or community within the
larger cities. Today, for example, 24
thousand people live in a favela called Jaguare which inhabits an area roughly
2 square miles (Gomez pg. 3). If there
are streets, they are in awful condition and in desperate need of repair. In an interview with one of the local
leaders of Jaguare simply referred to as “Paulo” he states:
“…We’ve also succeeded, for example, in covering a huge and
dangerous hole at the entrance of the community. And we’re trying to bring some social assistance programs
forward, coordinated by a priest who lives among us with the help of
volunteers”(Gomez pg 4).
Many of the “houses” barely have four walls to hold up the roof;
dense to say the least. The previous
government--prior to the leftist organization implemented just 2 short years
ago--did not put forth any effort to improve these conditions. There were buildings put up to house only a
small portion of the population in towns like Jaguare, yet the materials were
in horrible conditions, and they soon became inhabitable. Why are these favelas so crowded.
The wealthiest 20 percent of the
population control over 90 percent of the land in Brazil. Forty-three percent of Brazil’s titled land
is owned by just 1% of the population, with 27,556 large landowners holding 178
million acres. Meanwhile, there are 4.8
million families lacking land that the government statistics bureau says could
benefit from agrarian reform (Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement pg. 2).
Since the Urbanization of Brazil less than 25 years ago, many
families that worked on farms are not getting paid nearly what they believe
they are worth. So, many of them
migrate to the urban areas of Brazil:
Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro etc.
Now, millions of families are running to the cities looking for jobs in
hopes of prosperity and success while millions more are migrating from
decimating countries in hope for the same dreams. This situation sounds a lot like the Industrial revolution in
Europe in the early 1900’s. Much of the
same things happening then are happening now.
In the beginning of the
21st century, life has not changed all that much. While many children are being put into
schools, many more are still working under forced labor for wages which can
barely sustain one person, let alone an entire family. A possible reason
parents in
developing countries like Brazil have children is because they can be
profitable.
Education is secondary and sometimes negligible in the
child’s life. Even though it is proven
that schools provide children with guidance and the opportunity to understand
their role in society, why be in school learning how to read and write, when
you could be learning a skill which could help keep you alive for years to
come? A large reason why children are
kept out of schools is because the parents didn’t go to school as well. About 90 percent of poor households have not
graduated from primary school, and 74 percent have not completed fourth grade
(Brazil-Program to Eradicate Child Labor pg. 1).
Parents who are
educated know the importance of having one.
Even when there is access to schools, many times they are so worn down
that they don’t provide any positive reinforcement anyway. Schools in many developing areas suffer from
problems such as overcrowding, inadequate sanitation and apathetic
teachers. Because of this lack of
effort, it makes attending school rather pointless. This is the logic that many parents are using in these families,
and rightfully so.
Because of these poor
conditions, some children are put into prostitution. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, more
than 3 million children and young people worldwide became infected with HIV in
1998. This included almost 590,000
children under age 15 and more than 2.5 million 15 to 24 year olds (Jude L
Fernando pg. 9)
Others may be sent to the very dangerous charcoal yards. These yards are among the most hazardous
places for a child to work. They
produce the coal that will be used to fuel the flame at all of the countries
steel factories. The work is endless
and every hand is needed at all times (I am a child 1998). The days for the child are spent shifting
logs to the huts to burn while breathing in the toxic air. Others to the sugarcane fields with their
father or mother, still others
may go into drug
pushing, which, as of late has become an increasing problem in Brazil. Why go
into these seemingly harmful environments?
While the work may be very degrading, frightening or dangerous, it
significantly increases the amount of revenue coming in that the family will
make rather than working in the agricultural area of the world.
Drug pushers for example will gain power and loyalty if in the
racket for a significant amount of years.
For these children, it provides a means of getting out of poverty for
both them and their families.
In developing countries, children seem to be much less of an
economic burden versus developed countries.
Children in developing countries also contribute more time to a
household than they deplete as compared to their counterparts in developed
countries. Therefore, parents in
developing countries make use of the children’s ability to work (Children of
the Americas: Child Survival, Protection and Integrated Development in the
1990’s). When children don’t have
financial worries from their parents, it is easy to become more and more
separated from them. Yet when working
to provide for ones family is integrated so inherently in ones daily lifestyle,
it becomes second nature to work for one’s family and not just for ones
self.
The question that remains is what is being done to stop all of
this? Has the recent regime change in
Brazil made any difference at all? What
sort of rights should these children have?
One such organization that is fighting to stop child labor in Brazil is
IPEC (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor). The political
will and commitment of individual governments to address child labor in
cooperation with employers' and workers' organizations, other NGOs and relevant
parties in society – such as universities and the media – is the starting point
for all IPEC action (www.ilo.org/ipec). IPEC has organized hundreds of organizations
around the world to combat child labor.
As well as Brazil, IPEC has set up schools, clubs and safe houses in
places like Nepal, Pakistan and Ankara.
As a result from these organizations that IPEC has set up, 2,100
children from charcoal and erva-mate production sites in Mato Grosso do Sul and
over 8,000 children from sisal and quarry processing in Bahia were able to
leave backbreaking work to attend school (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/about/factsheet/expls-98/exampl15.htm#start).
Another
organization which was split off of IPEC is PETI (Program to Eradicate Child
Labor). Established in 1999, it was
developed specifically to dismantle child labor in Brazil before the end of the
president’s term in 2002. This would be
achieved by providing stipends to poor families with children in exchange for
the commitment that all 7-14 year old children would be enrolled in school and
have satisfactory attendance and academic performance (Brazil-Program to
Eradicate Child Labor pg.1). While the
overall performance of this organization has benefited the country
dramatically, there still are many children that have not yet been helped. It is estimated that since 1999, 50 thousand
youths were freed from labor, yet still over half a million children remain
(Gomez pg. 2).
The fight for abolishment of child labor has and will be a long
one. Child labor still tends to be the easiest and the cheapest form of labor
that the world has to offer. While many
families in Brazil are living off little more than scraps a month to get buy,
the minute percentage of Brazilians are prospering. Yet, combating this form of labor are many organizations which
span the world in hopes for a better one.
The cause to rid the earth of child labor has never been stronger and
while the complete abolishment of it may never happen, the few dedicated people
still fight on.