1. Learning Intentions
By the end of this PowerPoint you will be able to:
• Give the number of Child Labourers in the world
•Define Child Labour
•Describe the parts of the world and industries where
Child Labour is a problem.
• Give examples of companies you know that have
used Child Labour.
•Explain some of the steps you can take to combat
Child Labour

2. • The International Labor
Organization (ILO) has
estimated that 250 million
children between the
ages of 5 and 14 work in
developing countries.
• At least 120 million on a
full time basis.

3. • A country where
most people
have a low
standard of
living.
• Access to
services like
education and
health are
limited.

4. 61 percent of
these are in
Asia, 32
percent in
Africa, and 7
percent in
Latin America.

5. • Why would Asia have the
majority of the world’s
total number of Child
Labourers?
• Why would Africa employ
a higher percentage of its
children?

6. • Nearly 70% work in agriculture
(rural children, especially girls,
usually start working in this
industry when they are very
young, often between 5 and 7
years of age)
• Many children work as domestics;
urban children work in trade and
services, with fewer in
manufacturing and construction.

7. Child labour usually means work
that is done by children under
the age of 15 which restricts
or damages a child's physical,
emotional, intellectual, social
and/or spiritual growth.

8. • Why is the second part of
that definition necessary?
• Think about paper
delivery people – would
they be defined as “Child
Labour”?

9. Child Labourers are usually:
2. Denied the right to an education.
3. Made to work in dangerous working
conditions.
4. Abused by their employers (physically and in
some cases sexually).
5. Have no right to form unions or groups to
improve their conditions.

10. • The carpet industry in countries
like India uses large machines
called looms to make their
product.
• The wool is softened with toxic
chemicals.
• Working at rug looms has left
children disabled with eye
damage, lung disease, stunted
growth, and are more likely to get
arthritis as they grow older.

11. • Children making silk thread
in India may have to dip
their hands into boiling
water that burns and
blisters them.
• They also breathe smoke
and fumes from machinery
and guide twisting threads
that cut their fingers.

12. • Children harvesting sugar
cane in El Salvador use
machetes to cut cane for
up to nine hours a day in
the hot sun; injuries to
their hands and legs are
common and medical
care is often not
available.

13. What do we THINK the causes
of child labour MIGHT be?

14. Poverty
• In developing countries
many poorer families
struggle to pay for basic
food, water and power.
• Children have to work to
help support the family.

15. A lot of children are available to work!
• Many poor families cannot afford quality contraception.
• Often a high proportion of infants die of disease so there
is an incentive to have a lot of children.
• In countries where child labour is accepted a large family
is a source of income.
• Many cultures regard large families as a sign of wealth
and power.
Large families
plus poverty
= Child Labour

16. Limited access to education
Many poor families are unable to
invest the money and loss of
income required for an education.
In many poorer nations families need
to pay for their children’s education.
They may even need to donate
money to pay for the teacher’s
salary!
Children often work because
education is too expensive.

17. CHILDREN HAVE FEW LEGAL
RIGHTS IN SOME COUNTRIEs
• Even if a child is working for
their family they are denied the
right to an education.
• In many countries the rights of
children are not recognised.
• This makes them a cheap source
of labour.
• It also makes them easy to
control (especially if their family
relies upon their income)

18. THE CHILD LABOUR FORMULA
POVERTY + LARGE FAMILIES + NO LEGAL RIGHTS FOR
CHILDREN +CHILDREN ARE CHEAP LABOUR + EASY
TO CONTROL
= CHILD LABOUR

19. • In the 1990s journalists
uncovered evidence that Nike
suppliers were using child
labour in their Asian factories.
• Although Nike originally
denied the story they
eventually admitted that some
suppliers had employed 14
year olds.
Nike eventually bowed to public
pressure and promised to ban
the use of child labour in its
factories.

20. In countries all over the world, countless laws
and policies against the exploitation of
children already exist: the political will to
enforce them however, does not.
It is up to concerned people to put pressure on
politicians and companies to end child
labour.

21. Paying families to send children to
school
• In Mexico and Brazil, two programs give parents an
incentive to invest in their child’s future by giving families
money if their children attend school regularly instead of
working for it.
• In Brazil, for example, families receive $24, and the
program reaches 11.4 million people (a fourth of Brazil’s
population).

22. Letting shoppers know that
products have not used child
labour
• Responsible companies in the Carpet Industry wants
to do something about the 300,000 children who make
carpets worldwide.
• They created the RUGMARK certificate. Carpets
carrying this certificate have been investigated and do
not use child labour.
• In New Zealand stores like The BODY SHOP and
TRADE AID refuse to stock products that use Child
Labour.

23. Exposing companies that use child labour
UNICEF is the United Nations organisation that deals
with the well-being of children. They investigate and
expose companies and nations that tolerate child
labour.
Organisations like Human Rights Watch organise email
and letter campaigns to target companies that use
child labour.

24. You Can…
• Buy ‘Fair Trade’ chocolate and other
products. These don’t use child labour.
• BOYCOTT (refuse to buy) products that do
and write to the companies explaining why.
The thing to remember is that child labour is
used because it is cheap.
Businesses that lose money because they use
child labourers will change their ways!

25. Your mission for early finishers
In your books create a poster promoting awareness of
Child Labour. Pick one part of the ‘conditions’ table and
use it as an example of the realities of Child Labour.
Your poster needs to be a full page and..
4. Be illustrated.
5. Describe the conditions
6. Explain why Child Labour violates Human Rights.
7. Present one action people can take to combat child
labour.