[child-rights] Gender dimensions of child labour and street children in Brazil

ELDIS GENDER REPORTER
Date: 23rd OCTOBER 2002
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GENDER DIMENSIONS OF CHILD LABOUR AND STREET CHILDREN IN BRAZIL

Author(s): Gustafsson-Wright, E.; Hnin Pyne, H.

Produced by: World Bank (2002)

This paper examines various dimensions of child labour and the
situation of street children in Brazil, including participation,
intensity, and type of activities; the relationship between child
labour, education and future earnings; and the risks of child
labour to health and well being. The report also summarises
approaches to prevent and eliminate child labour and street
children in Brazil.

The main findings of the research include:
* more boys than girls work in Brazil especially in rural areas
where boys are concentrated in the agricultural sector
* many children both work and attend school
* girls attain higher levels of education than boys on average,
even when considering number of hours worked. The exception is
the 11-14-age category
* an individual's earnings are correlated with age of entry into
the labour market. The earlier a child begins to work, the lower
his or her earnings
* girls are more adversely affected by early labour force entry
than boys; with the gender differential increasing the earlier a
child begins to work

Taking poverty as the primary contributor to child labour,
Government programs to combat child labour are well designed
in that they compensate families for a child's foregone earnings
and address family factors that lead to poverty.
However, programs could be improved by explicitly considering the
gender dimensions of child labour. .

The paper points to the need for analysis of the impact of child
labour on health and specifically to the gender and sex-
differentiated impacts. Lastly, the paper suggests the need to
address gender in intervention strategies for street children, as
well as research on child labour in domestic service where girls
are over -represented

Available online at:
http://econ.worldbank.org/files/19189_wps2897.pdf