With an estimated investment of 0.3% of GDP in most countries, with the exception of five in which greater investment would be required, Latin America and the Caribbean could end child labor in the next decade and reach the target 8.7 set. in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is clear from a recent study published by the ILO. 

The research, carried out based on information from 17 countries distributed in three (3) subregions (see box), proposes a strategy based on increasing investment to: i) increase school attendance for boys and girls under the age of minimum admission to employment and improve the quality of education, ii) implement a conditional transfer program to cover the opportunity costs incurred by families who decide to send and keep their children in school instead of work ( monthly transfer estimated at US $ 30) and iii) a set of differentiated interventions or programs to address the worst forms of child labor, specifically hazardous work, which is the only one that manages to be statistically captured by the surveys.

 

Countries analyzed in the study

• Mesoamerica Region: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic

• Andean Region: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru

• Southern Cone Region: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay

* Countries selected based on access to databases of Household Surveys.

 

As a whole, this strategy represents the costs associated with the elimination of child labor, where the highest cost item for governments is the cash transfer program; second is the cost of expanding the educational offer in terms of quantity and quality; thirdly, there is the cost assumed by the families; direct intervention programs rank fourth; while the latter is the cost of administering the transfer program. 

Although the figure pertaining to the cash transfer program seems high, in most countries it represents equal to or less than 0.3% of the GDP estimated for 2014, this percentage being higher only for five countries: 1.9% in Honduras, 1.5% in Nicaragua, 1.1% in Guatemala, 0.7% in Bolivia and 0.6% in Paraguay, countries with lower GDP per capita, and in general, with high poverty, school attendance and child labor, characteristics that make this proposal especially important for them.

In absolute numbers, the strategy proposes an annual and gradual reduction of child labor below the minimum age between 2015 and 2025, until it reaches 0%, which means withdrawing an annual average of 572,000 children and adolescents: 190,000 in the Mesoamerica Subregion, 232,000 in the Andean Subregion and 150,000 in the Southern Cone. 

Table 1

Annual costs of the implementation of the proposal, average 2015 - 2025

(millions of US $)

government
Offer                     educational		Transfers	admins. transfer.	Direct interventions	Total Government	Opportunity cost families
LAC (17 countries)	1,046.2	4,017.1	200.9	474.2	5,738.4	715.3
North subregion	250.8	2,278.4	113.9	184.4	2,827.6	237.0
Andean Subregion	578.6	792.0	39.6	145.8	1,556.0	288.6
Southern Cone Subregion	216.8	946.8	47.3	144.0	1,354.9	189.6

The return on investment in childhood is positive

Although the proposed strategy represents costs for governments and families, it entails great benefits, which in the study have been estimated based on assessing the gains and economic advantages of a more educated and healthier population.

It is considered that the proposed intervention will allow an increase in the future income of a population that has accessed full schooling; You will achieve higher sustained income as a result of a longer productive life due to better health and comprise derived social benefits, such as psychological and emotional well-being, and greater social peace.

In economic terms (see table 2), the benefits in education reach an annual average at the regional level of US $ 3,882 million, with the benefits being greater in the Andean Subregion. For its part, the annual health benefits for the region would reach US $ 80.6 million. 

Regarding return rates, the study shows very satisfactory results, generally higher than 13% (see table 3), being higher in the countries of the Southern Cone Subregion, where they reach almost 15%. However, by incorporating conditional cash transfers, which, as we have seen, is the component with the highest cost within the proposed strategy, the rate of return (net financial benefit) is significantly reduced in all countries, reaching 5%. on average for the region. It should be noted that, even with the lower rates of return when considering cash transfers, the proposal is highly valuable for the countries, both for the benefits inherent to a greater education of the population and for the opportunities it represents for children. and teenagers whothey abandon child labor. 

Table 2

Annual benefits in education and health

(millions of US $)

	Education (2019-2068)	Health (2015-2025)
LAC (17 countries)	3,882.0	80.6
North subregion	1,290.7	30.6
Andean Subregion	1,572.9	25.9
Southern Cone Subregion	1,018.4	24.1

Table 3

Rates of Return - Net Financial and Economic Benefits

	Net economic benefit	Net financial benefit
LAC (17 countries)	13.9%	5.2%
North subregion	13.9%	3.1%
Andean Subregion	13.3%	7.7%
Southern Cone Subregion	14.7%	5.8%

Within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , the ILO makes this study available as a contribution to decision-making regarding policies, programs and services that countries should implement and / or strengthen in order to achieve their specific objectives. in terms of growth, employment and protection of children and adolescents and contribute to the general achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 8 and, in particular, to target 8.7 which seeks to “Adopt immediate and effective measures to ensure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, eradicate forced labor and, no later than 2025, put an end to child labor in all its forms, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers ”.