Research on child migrants:
Perspectives from the ILO
programme to eliminate child labour
Yoshie Noguchi
ILO-IPEC Geneva
General Discussion
on the role of migration statistics
for treaty reporting and
migration policies
22 April 2013
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Outline
• ILO standards cover: Child Labour,
Migrant Workers, Labour Statistics, etc
• Reporting obligations on ratified
Conventions, including statistics
• Experience of child labour statistics
• Various ways of data collection and
researches
• Ethical considerations for research on
children
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ILO Standards
ILO Conventions cover various themes, including:
• Child Labour (C138 & C182)
• Migrant Workers (C97 & C143)
• Labour Statistics (C63 & C160)
For more information:
http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/lang--en/index.htm
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Reporting on ILO Standards
• Obligation to report periodically
(every 3 years or 5 years)
• On the ratified Conventions
(under the ILO Constitution, article 22)
• Report forms on each Convention
(adopted by the Governing Body)
• Not only on laws but also on practice,
including Statistics!
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Child Labour and Migration
Framework: ILO Conventions Nos 138 and 182 & UN CRC
defining “child labour” / “economic exploitation”
• The child is too young to work (below the minimum age),
and should be in school
• The work/activity is among worst forms of child labour
(WFCL) not permissible for under-18:
trafficking, forced labour; sexual exploitation; illicit activities;
hazardous work;
C182, Art.7(2) (d) requiring measures to:
identify and reach out to children at special risk
Roadmap for achieving the elimination of the WFCL by 2016,
clause 5: ‘Governments should consider ways to address the potential
vulnerability of children to, in particular, the worst forms of child labour in the
context of migratory flows’.
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Child Labour and Statistics
Report forms ask for STATISTICS also for C138/C182 :
“In so far as the information in question has not already been supplied in
connection with other questions in this form – please supply copies or extracts
from official documents including inspection reports, studies and inquiries, and,
where such statistics exist, information on the nature, extent and trends of the
worst forms of child labour, the number of children covered by the measures giving
effect to the Convention, the number and nature of infringements reported, penal
sanctions applied, etc. To the extent possible, all information provided should be
disaggregated by sex.” : Part V of the C182 Report Form
“(1) Detailed information and statistical data on the nature and extent of CL should
be compiled and kept up to date to serve as basis for determining priorities for
national action against CL, in particular WFCL.
(2) As far as possible, such information and statistical data should include data
disaggregated by sex, age group, occupation, branch of economic activity, status
in employment, school attendance and geographical location. The importance of
an effective system of birth registration, including issuance of birth certificates,
should be taken into account.” : ILO Recommendation 190, Para. 5:
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Child Labour Statistics
as action against child labour
Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on
Child Labour (SIMPOC)
• Help collecting and generating comprehensive and
comparable quantitative and qualitative DATA:
developing methodologies and concepts
(e.g. ICLS Resolution, 2008)
• The data and qualitative information form essential
inputs to child labour policies and programmes
• Their availability promotes further research and raises
awareness of the problem of child labour.
For more information:
http://www.ilo.org/ipec/ChildlabourstatisticsSIMPOC/lang--en/index.htm
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Child Labour Statistics (cont’d)
Global Estimates on child labour
“215 mio in child labour, 115 mio in hazardous work”
2002, 2006, 2010 – forthcoming later in 2013
= media attention; trend analyses
Some challenges:
• New techniques needed for investigating the more
hidden forms of child labour, e.g. domestic work
• Hard to capture, elusive populations: e.g. street
children (Capture-recapture methodology)
• Some child labour, esp WFCL involving illicit or
criminal activities
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Child Labour Statistics
- Inter-agency cooperation
Rapid Assessment methodology,
- for qualitative information
- collaboration between ILO and UNICEF
Understanding Children's Work (UCW) project
- among ILO, UNICEF and World Bank
- research activities designed to inform policies
where child labour is prominent
- a common understanding of child labour, and
a common basis for action against it
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Often seen limitations of
research with children
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Unclear definitions and insensitivity to age groups;
CL research often misses those forms which are illegal and invisible;
Badly chosen samples;
Single-method studies without triangulation;
Insufficient attention to context and local realities;
Poor use of time and other resources;
Numbers only tell part of the story.
Adapted from:
Action oriented research on the WFCL including child trafficking, RWG-CL
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Sample surveys on child labour
as opportunity
• HH, establishment or point of transit based surveys
• Ensure migration angle is part of the measurement
objectives and included from the survey design;
• Ensure sample captures (concentrated) migrant populations
• Work towards standardization of Qs for improved
comparability (while being sensitive to context);
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Sample surveys on child labour
as opportunity (2)
Variables to include:
• Internal versus cross border dimension
• Family versus intermediary versus independent migration
• Legal status (and birth registration)
• Age and sex
Considerations:
• Location: sending, transit or destination area
• Timing: sensitivity to harvest, rainy season, migration season etc.
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Beyond sample surveys...
The power of secondary sources
• Review administrative data bases – e.g. criminal
statistics, venereal diseases dept, police reports,
social services, successful court cases, NGOs,
hotlines, trade unions, centers for detention, rescue,
rehabilitation;
• Example: Access to recorded case records by Child
Helpline International
- 400+ recorded child labour cases in 3 countries
where analyzed for migration status;
- enabled us to compare the work situation of migrant
children in child labour with local children in child
labour;
- Conclusion: migrant children are worse off in child
labour compared to local children…
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Beyond sample surveys...
Analyze context within which one gathers
data and information on children
• Review of migration and child labour legislation
and enforcement;
• Analysis of policies and programmes;
• Budget and resource review at various levels;
• Analysis of attitudes, beliefs and practices;
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Beyond sample surveys...
Direct observations
Places of interest:
• Work sites
• Encampments
• Communities
• Schools
• Labour markets
• Ports
• Bus stops and train
stations
• Border crossings
• Slums
...AND indirect observations...
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Beyond sample surveys...
Participatory research with children (1)
Appropriate methods:
• Drawings and other visual methods
• Drama and role play
• Recall methods
• Essay writing
• Interviews
• Focus group discussions
Para. 2 of Recommendation 190 to Convention 182:
‘taking into consideration the views of children’ (also Clause 2 of Roadmap
against WFCL)
UN CRC (Art. 12):
‘Views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and
maturity of the child’
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Beyond sample surveys...
Participatory research with children (2)
Access to children:
• Fear of reprisals - best interest of the child
• Geographical isolation
• Timing
Building rapport:
• Make time!
• Seek informed consent
• Safe and secure place
• Employer not present
• Intermediaries or go-betweens
• Language, age, sex...
• Leave the most sensitive Qs for last
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8 ethical rules for
research with children
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Protect all participants from harm;
All research participation must be voluntary;
Ensure the safety of researchers;
Respect cultural traditions, knowledge and customs;
Minimize the power imbalance;
Avoid raising unrealistic expectations;
Respect privacy;
Ensure confidentiality and anonymity;
From: Action oriented research on the WFCL including
child trafficking, RWG-CL
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Recommendations and ways forward
• Future research on social issues (including child labour)
should systematically include attention to child migrants;
• Promotion of pro-active policies that are partly based on
forecasting (child/youth) migration flows;
• Improved birth registration to make all children visible;
• ILO member States, in their reporting under ratified ILO child
labour Conventions (and the UN CRC) should include
attention to child migrants in/from/through/to their territory;
• Link up with academic networks to include a focus on child
migrants in future research work;
• Develop standards and tools (indicators, methodologies) for
labour migration statistics, anchored on concepts in treaties.
Relevant resources
Hard to see, harder to count; Survey guideline to estimate
forced labour of adults and children (ILO), 2012
Training manual to fight trafficking in children for labour,
sexual and other forms of exploitation – Textbook 1, section
1.7 on research (ILO, UNICEF, UN.GIFT), 2009
Training Modules on Child Labour Data Collection,
Processing, Analysis and Reporting (ILO SIMPOC), 2004
Handbook for action-oriented research on the WFCL
including trafficking in children (RWG-CL), 2003
Forthcoming – Manual on sampling elusive population in CL
For more:
http://www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Migration_and_CL/lang--en/index.htm
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