Child Labor Affects 1.8 Million in the Country, Says Brazilian Agency

11/30/2017 - 13h00

Child Labor Affected 1.8 million children and adolescents in Brazil last year - and 998,000 of those were working illegally. Data disclosed on Wednesday, November 29, by the IBGE, the Institute of Geography and Statistics, showed that in 2016, of the 1,8 million children identified, 30,000 were children between ages 5 and 9 were working and 160,000 between 10 and 13 were in the same condition.

In the group between 5 and 13, 74% did not receive any type of income from the work they did, which shows that money might not have been the main cause.

The conclusions of the Pnad Contínua (Continuous National Household Sample Survey) show a worse scenario in the country's North region. In the North, the number of children between ages 5 and 13 working reaches 1.5%. Most of them are boys (65.3%), black or mulattos (64.1%), who sometimes work on average 25.3 hours per week.

The Brazilian legislation rules that the minimum age for a person to start working is 16. At the age of 14 or 15 they are allowed to work only as apprentices. All types of work between ages 5 and 13 is considered illegal.

Among children up to 13 years old working, the most common area is agriculture, which, according to specialists, includes work under the supervision of parents, the teaching of techniques as well as traditions. Older teenagers, between 14 and 17, are more frequently found working in retail stores and repair shops.

	Apu Gomes/Folhapress
	The Brazilian legislation rules that the minimum age for a person to start working is 16

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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