Turkey moves to stop agricultural child labor
The Turkish government is taking steps to prevent child labor practices in its hazelnut-farming industry, and encourage agricultural workers to send their children to school.
The measures include inspections of farms, and establishing schools near seasonal worker settlements, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The ILO reports that Turkey produces three-quarters of the world’s hazelnuts, and child labor is widespread in the industry. Employing children under 14 is illegal in Turkey.
Turkey is under external pressure from foreign governments banning products produced using child labor, while companies are also becoming more vigilant about the use of child labor by their suppliers. Nestlé has worked with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) to investigate labor conditions in its hazelnut supply chain in Turkey.
IZA World of Labor author Eric Edmonds has written about the effectiveness of minimum-age regulations in combatting child labor. He finds little evidence that such regulations significantly reduce child labor, writing that: “Going forward, coordinating compulsory schooling laws and minimum age of employment regulations may help maximize the joint influence of these regulations on child time allocation, but these regulations should not be the focus of the global fight against child labor.”
Read more and watch the ILO’s video here.
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Does minimum age of employment regulation reduce child labor? by Eric V. Edmonds