COVID-19 and Child Labor

As is the case in most crises, the most vulnerable in society will feel the worst impacts of COVID-19. Children, especially those from poor communities, are at particular risk of exploitation as parents fall deeper into poverty during the ensuing economic crisis and face appalling choices about how to sustain their families. Some may feel forced to send their children into the labor market while others seeking employment risk being trafficked for forced labor. COVID-19 may increase the risk of child labor in the following ways:

Schools are closing for indefinite periods of time

• Children lacking access to the internet and technology, especially those from impoverished and rural communities, will be unable to participate in remote self-guided learning during school closures.
• In addition to the immediate loss of learning, some students may decide to drop out of school permanently.
• Experience shows that children and youth not enrolled in school are at a much higher risk of child labor.
• When schools reopen, parents without jobs may not have the money to pay for school fees, supplies, and uniforms.

Freedom of movement is increasingly restricted

• This makes it more difficult for community leaders, social workers, and civil society organizations to monitor and provide support to vulnerable children, putting them at a higher risk of exploitation.
• Public health measures such as stay-at-home orders and curfews will limit access to hired adult labor, resulting in labor shortages and a demand for local workers, including children

Relaxation of child labor regulation and enforcement

• Proposals have already been put forward to lower the minimum age for child labor to cope with labor shortages in the coffee sector. It is likely similar moves from other sectors and countries will follow. Cash-strapped governments may weaken child labor law enforcement
• Weakened child labor laws and enforcement will exacerbate already widespread violations of child labor law, especially in rural and agricultural sectors, where enforcement is more costly and time-consuming.
• This could lead to increases in hazardous work and other worst forms of child labor, including forced labor and human trafficking.

Increased competition for resources and diminished economic opportunities

• This will make it difficult for families to support themselves financially.
• This may compel parents to put their children to work so that they can contribute to their families’ incomes.

Disease outbreaks leading to illness and death can disrupt family ties

• Orphaned or highly vulnerable children who have lost one or both parents during the crisis lack resources and protection, making them vulnerable to child labor.

Reduced government capacity to support vulnerable children

• There will likely be a reduction in free meal programs, health services, childcare services, and other social service provisions.

Although businesses must make hard financial and practical decisions during times of crisis, the moral and legal imperative to protect workers in company supply chains applies even more in these times of burgeoning vulnerability. Companies must identify risks, sustain commitments to human rights, and address the unique vulnerabilities of workers and children who are employed at the bottom of supply chains. Steps that companies should take to address the increased risk of child labor during the coronavirus crisis include:

Companies should conduct due diligence to ensure that pandemic response activities do not contribute to the exploitation of children.

• Effective due diligence entails identifying and assessing actual or potential adverse human rights impacts and taking action to address them.
• Business for Social Responsibility has created a rapid human rights due diligence tool to help with decision-making and the UN Development Program (UNDP) has developed a Rapid Self-Assessment for Business.
• UNICEF has developed a guide for companies on integrating children’s rights into business policies.
• For the agricultural sector, the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) has a library of resources to help protect workers during the coronavirus outbreak and printable materials to share directly with workers in English and Spanish that underscore preventive measures.

Companies must assess where risks are highest in order to prioritize interventions.

• Countries that have high rates of child labor and human trafficking during relatively stable times will likely be more at risk during a pandemic.
• The identification of ‘‘hot spots’’ will allow for more targeted interventions. Companies should communicate with suppliers in high-risk countries to understand challenges in identifying and addressing child labor and human trafficking during the crisis and encourage them to make protection of children a priority.
• Companies may find information about child labor and forced labor risk in international child labor and forced labor reports published by the US Department of Labor, or in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report from the US Department of State.
• Verité’s Responsible Sourcing Tool highlights the links between child labor and forced labor risks and helps companies understand risks of worker exploitation by sector and geography.

Companies must ensure that supplier policies provide sufficient support to workers and their families at the commodity level.

• During the crisis, expanded policies should include sick and family leave for all categories of workers, increased health and safety protections, accommodations for remote work where possible, protections for workers laid off or furloughed, and an expansion of worker grievance systems.
• Access a set of general principles drafted by Verité.

Companies must provide increased support for small-scale producers.

• Companies must support small-scale suppliers with cash and credit to facilitate continued employment of workers, along with paid sick and family leave, and flexible working arrangements.
• Companies should consider conversion of sustainability premiums to cash transfers or the creation of new, short-term, emergency funds to channel emergency resources to humanitarian organizations, cooperatives, and producer organizations in the areas from which they source.
• Companies must remind suppliers about the importance of adhering to policies on child labor even during times of crisis. The ILO has guidelines for companies on developing strong child labor policies.

Companies must involve at-risk youth in the identification of needs for support services.

• Children and youth should be engaged in assessing how the crisis affects them and in developing a response to the crisis that ensures they don’t just survive the epidemic, but are able to get back to full-time learning and pursuing their dreams once the crisis is over.
• Access UNICEF’s principles and practices for communicating with children.

Measures must be taken to ensure support for children left alone due to the hospitalization or death of a parent or caregiver

• This could include direct support for civil-society groups and frontline social-service providers (e.g. teachers, social workers, and youth groups) so that they can maintain outreach to vulnerable children and youth.

Through multi-stakeholder initiatives, companies can promote information sharing on support services available to children in sourcing countries.

• These can include free meal programs, mental health counseling, childcare, remote learning opportunities, and birth registration services.

About Verité

Verité is an independent, non-profit, civil society organization. Since 1995, they have partnered with hundreds of corporations, governments, and NGOs to illuminate labor rights violations in supply chains and remedy them to the benefit of workers and companies alike. For more information, please visit: https://www.verite.org