Child Labor Acknowledged

President Enrique Bolaños recognized this past Friday that 253,000 children between the ages of five and seventeen work in all sectors of the Nicaraguan economy, especially in agriculture and service. According to a census taken of child workers in Leon, the majority of child laborers works at least four hours a day and earns approximately 60 cents a day. It is also noted that the children often neglect their schoolwork or miss school altogether because of their jobs.

In order to reduce the number of child workers, the President claims he will revise the national guidelines regarding education and health. He also intends to support the strengthening of the nuclear family and to work for the development of more job opportunities. Prevention and eradication of child labor means social development and economic change towards a more sustainable Nicaragua, in addition to dedication to human rights, Bolaños stated.

According to data from the Minister of Labor, since the initiation in 2001 of the National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor, nearly 20,000 children and teens have been given some form of attention. According to Norma Moreno, Interim Director of the Center for Children and Adolescents, the fact that the parents of so many children are without work or are employed with substandard wages should be the primary focus. While acknowledging the discouraging situation among Nicaraguan youth is certainly important, the greater battle will be to tackle the poverty enslaving entire families, not just the children, she said.