Study: Brazil's child labourers exceed 5.5m
By Carmen Gentile, UPI Latin America Correspondent
SAO PAULO, Brazil (UPI) There are more than 5.5 million child labourers in Brazil, a study released Wednesday said, and more than 2 million are ages 5 to 14.
According to the study by the Brazilian
Institute of Geography and Statistics based on a 2001 survey
3.2 million children ages 15 to 17 work. The remaining 2.2
million are age 5 or older.
Almost half 48.6 percent didn't receive any remuneration
for their labor, says the study, and more than one million of
these children don't attend school. Of those who are paid, 77
percent received the minimum wage (about $65 a month by 2003 standards)
or less.
The IGBE survey concludes that more than 12 percent of Brazil's estimated 45.5 million children ages 5 to 17 are working.
In reaction to the survey, Francisco Fausto, the president of the Supreme Tribunal on Labor, called for more federal government monitoring of child labor.
"That (the survey) demonstrates the necessity for greater involvement by the Minister of Labor ... the exploitation of children for labor is as grave as slave labor, in that both of them strike at human nature."
He said that although some children are paid, the money isn't enough to make up for their harsh working conditions and lost educational opportunities.
Most of the child labourers are in the impoverished northeast and south, and just over 43 percent work in agriculture. More than 51 percent of those surveyed said they worked with potentially dangerous chemicals or hazardous machinery.