For Venezuela, the ongoing pandemic has not only worsened the decade-long social, economic, and political crises but also led to an escalating child labor crisis. Official statistics are not available due, apparently, for political reasons (a health minister was sacked in 2017 after publishing data showing a 30% increase in the child death rate). However, once in Venezuela, one needs no statistics to see the obvious: with schools closed because of the pandemic and no access to the internet, particularly for the poor, many children are forced to find jobs which are often unsafe.
The situation is confirmed by the scarce available data that comes from international organizations. A survey carried out last August showed that child labor had soared by 20% in 2020 with many children being forced to find very often dangerous employment. Of these, 26% were forced to work at home, 19% had to sell goods on the streets and 15% were obliged to sell drugs. Moreover, 12% of the interviewees indicated that they knew children who were involved in difficult work or unsafe jobs.
The survey by World Vision, a global humanitarian organization, was conducted among 420 households in Venezuela’s capital Caracas and the neighbouring state of Miranda with the respondents being mainly women aged 30 plus.
“The problems that put children at greater risk during the pandemic are associated with food shortages, increased child labor, domestic violence, and neglect,” World Vision said, highlighting that in at least 73% of the households questioned children were suffering from hunger, one out of three children went to bed hungry, the number of child marriages had increased by 49% and gender-based sexual violence amongst children had increased by 19%.
At the same time, Cecodap, a Venezuelan NGO dealing with human rights and children’s rights, pointed out that migration is another very important factor behind child labor. Since about 5 million Venezuelans have left the country over the past few years fleeing from the hunger and poverty generated by the economic and political crises, many children were left alone or stayed with only one parent, thus being forced to become breadwinners. In 2020 at least 830,000 children lived with only one parent or were left without either if both had migrated, Cecodap noted.
Carlos Trapani, the coordinator of Cecodap, emphasized that poor children are more prone to potential abuse by criminal groups.
“[The pandemic] has aggravated the risk factors for child labor. The work ranges from toiling in garbage dumps to agricultural fields, and children in rural areas are more likely to be dependent on public assistance and are at greater risk of being recruited by gangs,” he said.
Apart from a lack of food and the necessity of finding a job, Venezuelan children have also suffered due to limited access to education. As the authorities introduced lockdowns and closed schools as part of the anti-pandemic restrictions, lessons began to be carried out remotely. Unfortunately, the lack of proper equipment and an internet connection, as well as job duties, has resulted in many children being practically pushed out of education. World Vision estimates that 63% of children do not now study due to the pandemic while only 37% continue with classes.
Venezuela is not the only Latin American country to have experienced both a deterioration in children’s living conditions and an increase in child labor. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), together with the UN’s International Labour Organization, disclosed in June that according to their estimates the COVID-19 outbreak has forced an additional 300,000 children in Latin America to start working, increasing the number of the youngest generation in the workforce which so far has been estimated at 10.5 million.
