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Excerpt: "While most of the world is trying to diminish child labor, Bolivia has become the first nation to legalize it from age 10. Congress approved the legislation early this month, and Vice President Alvaro Garcia signed it into law Thursday in the absence of President Evo Morales, who was traveling."

A boy walks under backpacks that belong to children who work as porters at the El Abasto market in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. (photo: AP)
A boy walks under backpacks that belong to children who work as porters at the El Abasto market in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. (photo: AP)


Bolivia Legalizes Child Labor for Kids From Age 10

By Associated Press

19 July 14

 

licia weaves through El Alto’s stalled traffic under a blazing sun, hawking colorful woven flowers to grumpy drivers and lovers.

With luck, the 12-year-old and her mother will together muster $18 by day’s end, all the while keeping watch over her younger brother and sister, ages 8 and 6.

“It is difficult for my mother to sell alone because she has to look after my siblings,” said Alicia, who normally goes to school in the afternoon but is using her vacation to help her mother by working the entire day. As her siblings sleep, her mother knits the flowers that Alicia sells.

While most of the world is trying to diminish child labor, Bolivia has become the first nation to legalize it from age 10. Congress approved the legislation early this month, and Vice President Alvaro Garcia signed it into law Thursday in the absence of President Evo Morales, who was traveling.

The bill’s sponsors say lowering the minimum work age from 14 simply acknowledges a reality: Many poor families in Bolivia have no other choice than for their kids to work. The bill offers working children safeguards, they say.

“Child labor already exists in Bolivia and it’s difficult to fight it. Rather than persecute it, we want to protect the rights and guarantee the labor security of children,” said Sen. Adolfo Mendoza, one of the bill’s sponsors.

Under the legislation, 10-year-olds will be able to work as long as they are under parental supervision and also attend school. It sets 12 as the minimum age for a child to work under contract. They also would have to attend school.

A 2008 study done by the ILO and Bolivian government found that 850,000 children ages 5 to 17 were working in Bolivia, roughly half in the countryside and half in the cities. Nearly nine in 10 were in the worst kinds of jobs, including sugar cane harvesting and underground mining, a proven life-shortener.

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