Over one million Cambodian children forced to work for 50 cents a day

Over one million Cambodian children forced to work for 50 cents a day

02/07/2007 10:55 Source:

Some 1.5 million children aged 7 to 17 years old are being put to work
in Cambodia, the World Bank said Wednesday, calling on the government
to curb the practice.

The number is "very high," making up 40 percent of children in the age
group, the bank said in a December 2006 report seen Wednesday.

Titled "Children's Work in Cambodia: A Challenge for Growth and
Poverty Reduction," the report defines child labor as a legal concept
reflecting a subset of work that is injurious, negative or undesirable
for children.

"This percentage is very high relative to other countries with similar
levels of income, underscoring that children's work poses a particular
concern in the Cambodian context," it said.

Cambodia is one of the world's poorest countries, and about 35 percent
of its 14 million people live below the national poverty line of US
$0.50 (EUR 0.40) a day. The country relies on an average of US$500
million (Ђ386 million) in foreign development aid every year.

The report cited poverty and need to supplement family income as
reasons forcing children to work.

Ninety percent of economically active children in the 7-14 age range
perform agricultural and household work as unpaid laborers to help
their parents.

More than 250,000 children aged 15-17 years are in seven of the 16
nationally identified hazardous sectors for which data are available,
working 43 or more hours per week. On average, they toil for about US
$1 (EUR 80 cents) a day often in hazardous and dangerous conditions
that leave "them vulnerable to injury and illness," the report said.

It said child labor has led to late school entry and substantial
dropout starting in upper primary grades for many children, who "are
denied the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for
gainful future employment, thereby perpetuating the cycle of
poverty."

Cambodia's efforts to tackle the problem remains inadequate, it said,
calling on the government to clearly define what constitutes child
labor and strengthen legislative measures for its elimination.

"A substantial reduction of child labor will therefore boost human
capital accumulation and raise the country's growth potential," the
report said.

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