Southeast Asia Sees an Increase in Child Labor Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has estimated that roughly 122 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 work to survive in Asia. Some reports also estimate that there are roughly 152 to 168 million children laboring for their survival. While these estimates are unclear due to the differences in meaning of child labor and employment age, this number is still astounding. 

There have been attempts to improve the child labor situation in ASEAN. ASEAN member states have collaborated with UNICEF to launch a publication entitled: ‘Children in ASEAN: 30 Years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,’ where action plans are laid out to ensure the rights of children in the 10 member states. However, child labor is still a large issue in Southeast Asia, despite child labor decreasing in the past few years. The coronavirus pandemic may increase the number of child laborers for the first time in over two decades. This is because COVID-19 has affected the livelihoods of civilians and nearly destroyed local industries, largely affecting the broader economy. According to the Asian Development Bank, COVID-19 can threaten the employment of 68 million workers across Asia. Since schools have been closing around the world due to the pandemic, children that are of legal age may consider dropping out of school to enter the labor market. Having only limited education and skills, they are unable to progress in the workforce over time. Children under the legal working age can seek employment from informal and domestic jobs, which can be exploitative and hazardous, since there are fewer regulations in place. These jobs can include heavy manual labor, sex work, and mining, all of which carry risks of injury or death. 

The longer it takes to get students back in school, the less likely they are to go back. Depending on how desperate the family circumstances are, children may need to stay working after schools open back up. The UN estimates that about 24 million students have dropped out of schools for good due to the ongoing pandemic. While there are options to learn virtually and remotely, these options are not widely accessible to students living in poverty, who do not have access to computers or the internet. Once the families become dependent on the extra wages, it can be hard to send these children back to school. As families continue to be more desperate, they often have to make the hard decision: have their children go to work, or have the whole family go hungry. 

While I believe that everyone disagrees somewhat with the exploitative nature of child labor, it is difficult to shame the parents in desperate times to trying to provide some semblance of a life for their family. They are in positions where options are limited, and while I wholeheartedly disagree with the practice, historical and social context does soften the blow. From a Western perspective, I think that most people tend to think of Asia when they think of child labor, when in fact, there are tons of child laborers, especially in America. When thinking of exploiting children in America, I think of the agriculture industry, specifically on family farms. These children are generally unpaid, expected to work because they are “family.” Yet, we are quicker to criticize the same kinds of labor in other countries. I think that it is interesting to see justifications of child labor in both Southeast Asia and the West, when the agency should really be in the children. However, because of their lack of voice and personhood in comparison to adults, they are often the most victimized people.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/27/world/asia/coronavirus-education-chil…

https://theaseanpost.com/article/pandemic-grim-future-aseans-workers

https://theaseanpost.com/article/child-labour-rise-amid-pandemic