Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

ILAB Press Release: Latest Labor Department Report To Congress On International Child Labor Emphasizes Long-Term Benefits Of Education Over Work [05/16/2000]

For more information call: (202) 219-6373 ext. 4

U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman and Sen. Tom Harkin tomorrow will release the Department of Labor's latest report to Congress on international child labor, "By the Sweat and Toil of Children, Vol. VI: An Economic Consideration of Child Labor." This sixth report in a series examines the economic benefits of the elimination of child labor and the increased enrollment of children in school.

"This report shows that school, rather than child labor, is the better path to future prosperity for children, their communities, and the world," Herman said. "It also shows that there are significant barriers to following this path, and that active policy decisions can and should be made to lower these barriers. This analysis strengthens my conviction that the United States is right in providing financial support for projects such as those of the ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor."

"Education is the best alternative to child labor," Harkin said. "Better educated kids grow into more productive and better paid adult workers. Education also benefits society as a whole: educated adults are generally healthier; more involved in the political process; less dependent on social support programs; more apt to save and to innovate. In fact, I believe the single most important feature, institution or practice of developing nations that inhibits their economic growth, inhibits their social growth, is the use and practice of abusive child labor."

The report focuses its analysis on child labor that prevents children from obtaining the benefits of primary education. The report recognizes the correlation between financial poverty and child labor, but also emphasizes that many children work because their opportunities to enroll in school are limited. The report examines strategies that encourage individual families and communities to choose school over work for their children. These include provision of universal free primary education and a variety of programs targeted at the poverty and attitudes that might otherwise lead families to send their children to work. The report emphasizes that a key to eliminating child labor is broadening the opportunities available to children and to their families, in particular by making schooling a valuable and affordable option.

Herman and Harkin will make the report available to the public at the international conference on advancing the global agenda against child labor that will meet on Wednesday. The conference, co-hosted by the department and the International Labor Organization, will review progress to date and future actions planned in the overall effort to eliminate abusive child labor. Representatives of government, business, labor and non- governmental organizations from around the world, among others, will attend the conference at the Department of Labor.

Harkin, who is one of the most prominent U.S. activists against abusive child labor, has championed the international fight against child labor since 1992. He has also remained the leading voice in Congress for stronger and more effective U.S. child labor laws. As chair and now ranking Democrat on the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, Harkin secured funding for the Department of Labor to produce a series of reports on child labor.

The first report on child labor focused on the use of child labor in U.S. manufactured and mined imports. Volume II documented the use of abusive child labor on plantations as well as situations of forced and bonded child labor. Volume III identified the top 20 U.S. garment importers, their subsidiaries and contractors and their codes of conduct. Volume IV examined labeling initiatives. Lastly, Volume V outlined the "state of the world" on the level and types of action being undertaken to reduce child exploitation in 16 countries where child labor is prevalent.

Copies of Volume VI and the earlier reports are available from the department's International Child Labor Program at (202) 208-4843, fax (202) 219-4923 or e-mail GlobalKids@dol.gov. The full report is also available in PDF format on the Web.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.