September 26, 2014

US allocates $1m to monitor child labor projects

The US has announced new funding to improve how the nation monitors its international child labor elimination projects.

The Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) has set aside $1m to develop a beneficiary monitoring toolkit for its 34 projects which are running around the world.

The toolkit will help to monitor the provision of services to children, as well as the children’s education and work status.

Eric V. Edmonds has written extensively on this subject, finding that minimum working age regulations can be very effective in reducing child labor. However, these should lie in conjunction with education and schooling laws to encourage long-term improvements and minimize the impact on family living standards.

A key issue in the fight against child labor, Edmonds says, is ensuring that these regulations are properly enforced. Effective monitoring toolkits may help towards this.

Read more here.

Related article:
Does minimum age of employment regulation reduce child labor? by Eric V. Edmonds