WHAT ARE SOME “MYTHS” OR MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT CHILD LABOR?
Unicef lists four “myths”: • It is a myth that child labor is only a problem in developing countries. “But in fact, children routinely work in all industrialized countries, and hazardous forms of child labour can be found in many countries. In the US, for example, children are employed in agriculture, a high proportion of them from immigrant or ethnic-minority families. A 1990 survey of Mexican-American children working in the farms of New York state showed that almost half had worked in fields still wet with pesticides and over a third had themselves been sprayed.” • It is a myth that child labor will only disappear when poverty disappears. Hazardous labor can, and should be eliminated by even the poorest countries. • It is a myth that most child laborers work in sweatshops making goods for export. “Soccer balls made by children in Pakistan for use by children in industrialized countries may provide a compelling symbol, but in fact, only a very small proportion of all child workers ar
