Child labour and health: a systematic review

Batomen, Brice; Oppong-Nkrumah, Oduro; Kaufman, Jay S.; Nazif‐Muñoz, José Ignacio; Nandi, Arijit

doi:10.1007/s00038-018-1075-9

Cited by 27 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…This study, one of the largest and most comprehensive child labour surveys globally,13 14 describes the dire housing, sociodemographic and occupational characteristics of Syrian refugee children in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. Children, some as young as 4, are forced to work, and many are compelled to forgo educational opportunities in favour of harsh and potentially harmful labour.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite employing methodologically robust cross-sectional methods, including sample frames, random sampling and quality control, associations cannot infer causation. Generalisability may be limited to other settings, but given the breadth of questions asked and that this sample is one of the largest among child workers globally,13 14 much learning can be taken to other settings in support of understanding the complex hardships faced by refugee child workers. The use of community gatekeepers to identify households with working children is a possible source of bias.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of child labour and health are generally limited to small, unrepresentative samples of low methodological quality that enquire about work-related physical injury and harmful exposures, nutritional health, and psychosocial health 13 14. The Middle East is one of several understudied regions with respect to child labour, which is disconcerting given that regional instability is likely to encourage child labour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Displacement, deprivation and hard work among Syrian refugee children in Lebanon

et al. 2019

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BackgroundThe protracted Syrian war resulted in the largest refugee crisis of our time. The most vulnerable are children who face separation from parents, interruption of schooling and child labour. This study explores the living and working conditions of Syrian children in Lebanon.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we randomly selected 153 informal tented settlements and conducted interviewer-administered surveys among Syrian refugee working children in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Those aged 8–18 completed a questionnaire on sociodemographic and occupational characteristics; those aged 4–8 years were surveyed through a household questionnaire.ResultsWe surveyed 1902 households, including 12 708 individuals and 4377 working children. Female-headed households were poorer and more food-insecure than male-headed households. Among working children (4–18 years), the average age of starting work was 10.9 years and 74.8% worked in agriculture. Compared with boys, girls earned less and were less likely to be enrolled in school. For 96.3% of working children aged 8–18 years, forced exodus to Lebanon was associated with a first child labour experience. Working conditions were harsh and worse for girls who compared to boys were less likely to receive their salary on time and take time off work. Girls worked longer in the sun and cold and were more likely to report having a health symptom at work, working under pressure and using sharp or heavy objects at work. Seventy-nine children reported knowing another child who died following a work accident.ConclusionChildren, as young as 4, are forced to work, and many are compelled to forgo educational opportunities in favour of harsh and harmful labour due to difficult economic conditions. State policies facilitating access to work for adult refugees will help families meet basic needs and decrease their dependence on child labour as a coping strategy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Displacement, deprivation and hard work among Syrian refugee children in Lebanon

et al. 2019

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“…Children who are engaged in these activities have greater health risks due to low nutritional status, diseases associated with the exposure to environmental chemical compounds, and a higher prevalence of injuries [3233]. Families that have a footwear manufacturing workshop inside their dwelling are constantly exposed to solvents through inhalation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Benzene Exposure and Early Biomarkers of Kidney Damage in Children Exposed to Solvents Due to Precarious Work in Ticul, Yucatán, México

Pérez-Herrera

León-Martínez

Flores-Ramírez

et al. 2019

Annals of Global Health

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Background: The child labor situation has been associated with precarious job conditions and poor health conditions because children are often exposed to unsafe work environments, stressful psycho-social work conditions, scarce or no access to protective services, and heavy work burdens. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate markers of exposure to benzene through the exposure biomarker trans, trans-muconic acid (tt-MA), and biomarkers of early renal damage in children who work in sites that are under precarious job conditions. Method: Samples of urine were obtained from children (aged 6–12 years old) who resided in Ticul, Yucatan, Mexico. Exposure to benzene was assessed through trans, trans-muconic acid (t,t-MA). Evaluated renal damage biomarkers were: Cystatin-C (Cys-C), Osteopontin (OPN), α1-Microglobulin (α1-MG) and Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL). Findings: Children who live where the workplace is inside the dwelling presented higher mean levels of tt-MA (0.59 mg/g creatinine) compared with those who live away from the workshops (0.19 mg/g creatinine). Likewise, mean levels of NGAL (4.7, 5.2 ng/ml), albuminuria (10, 10 ng/ml), Cys-C (11.8, 7.5 ng/ml), OPN (224.4, 226.5 ng/ml) and α1-MG (96.6, 73.6 ng/ml) were found in children where the workplace was inside the dwelling and outside, respectively. Conclusion: Our data indicate that the children who work under precarious job conditions are exposed to benzene, and they exhibit protein levels that suggest renal damage in a population in precarious working conditions. Therefore, the child population should be considered as the most vulnerable and susceptible to suffer adverse health effects.

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“…This hampers the ability to explore what drives children's engagement with work over time, and limits the ability to understand the impact of children's work. Several authors noted the lack of long-term mixed-methods studies on the mediumand long-term consequences of work on children's health and wellbeing (Ibrahim et al 2019;Kuimi et al 2018).…”

Section: Opportunities and Challenges Of Mixed-methods Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Children’s Harmful Work: A Review of the Methodological Landscape

Roelen¹,

Barnett²,

Johnson³

et al. 2020

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Children’s engagement with work has been widely researched using a wide variety of methods. However, the extent to which such methods and their combination provides insight into forms of children’s harmful work (CHW) is not obvious. This paper reviews and assesses respective opportunities and challenges of the main methods that have been used to study children’s engagement with work. It proposes research design principles and a methodological landscape for an integrated approach to child-centred, inclusive, and ethical research of CHW.

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Child labour and health: a systematic review

Abstract: Despite evidence for a negative relation between child work and health, the cross-sectional design of most studies limits the causal interpretation of existing findings. More rigorous observational studies are needed to confirm and better quantify these associations.

Cited by 27 publications

References 78 publications

Displacement, deprivation and hard work among Syrian refugee children in Lebanon

Displacement, deprivation and hard work among Syrian refugee children in Lebanon

Evaluation of Benzene Exposure and Early Biomarkers of Kidney Damage in Children Exposed to Solvents Due to Precarious Work in Ticul, Yucatán, México

Understanding Children’s Harmful Work: A Review of the Methodological Landscape

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