Although the legislation allow children to work as apprentices only after 14 years of age, a total of 1.4 million children aged 5 – 13 were working in 2006, most of them in non-paid agricultural activities – a scenario which has remained practically unchanged between 2004 and 2006. PNAD 2006 showed that child labor – of children and teenagers aged 5-17 years – is associated to low schooling levels ad to the low income in the households they inhabit. In addition to their participation in the labor market, almost half (49.4%) of the persons aged 5-17 years of age performed household tasks in 2006, being girls the majority in this group. In the group aged 15-17 years, 24.8% of the teenagers left school in order to help with domestic work, work or look for a job. In spite of this scenario of child labor and dedication to household tasks 75.8% of the children and teenagers from 0 to 17 years of age attended day-care centers or schools in 2006, in which 92.4% of them had access to food or some kind of free meal in the public educational institutions.  

These are some highlights of the study “Complementary Aspects of Education, Domestic Work and Child Labor”, a supplement of PNAD 2006 (National Household Sample Survey), conducted by IBGE in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and Combat to Hunger (MDS). This release shows the main results of the survey. 

The participation in economic activity of the population aged 5 -13 years, although forbidden in the country, did not change between 2004¹ and 2006: the level of occupation² remained at about 4.5% in this period. In the group aged 5 -9 years of age, 237 thousand children worked (1.4% of the total); among children 10 -13 years of age, 8.2%, or 1.2 million, were employed. 

In the group aged 14 or 15 years, for which Brazilian legislation allows work in activities related to professional qualification, as apprentices, 1.3 million persons (19.0%) were employed in 2006. Finally, 2.4 million teenagers aged 16 or 17 years (about 1/3) were working. This is also permitted, unless in nocturnal, dangerous or insalubrious activities. 

A total 5.1 million children and teenagers (aged 5 - 17) worked in 2006, resulting in a level of occupation of 11.5%, a little below the figure registered in 2004 (11.8%). 

The non-existence of child labor from 14 years of age on was directly related to the highest of school attendance, as shown in the graph below, in which can be observed the differences between the schooling rates of employed and non-employed children and teenagers. 

The percentage of employed children and teenagers aged 5-17 years without instruction or with less than one ear of schooling (28.0%) was above that of the non-employed ones (15.7%), whereas the percentage of persons employed with 8 to 10 years of schooling ³ (10.0%) was below that of the non-employed (14.2%).  

62.6% of the children aged 5-13 worked in agricultural activities 

Among the employed children and teenagers, 41.4% were involved in agricultural activities; this proportion reached 62.6% among persons aged 5-13 and decreased as the age increased. In almost all the areas, the percentage of the total number of persons employed in agricultural activities in the age group 5-13 was above the percentage of persons involved in non-agricultural activities, except in the Southeast. In the Northeast Region, this supremacy also referred to the group aged 14-17 years. 

Considering employed children and teenagers aged 5-17 years, 45.9% were employees or domestic workers; 36.1% did not receive any pay. The proportion of non-paid workers decreased with the increase of age, and the percentage of domestic workers increased. The participation of workers in subsistence production and in the construction for own use had similar behavior to the group of non-paid workers, as shown in the graph below:  

Non-paid agricultural work was intensively present among employed children and teenagers, especially among the youngest ones: the employed ones aged 5-13 years; 95.1% employed in agricultural activities and without pay. In the group aged 5-17, this situation was observed in al the Brazilian areas, especially in the South, where 91.0% of the employed children and teenagers performed non-paid agricultural activities. 

Besides this high percentage of children and teenagers in agricultural activities without pay, about 79.0% of the teenagers aged 16-17 years of age who had been working as employees or domestic workers did not have a formal employment contract in 2006. In the Northeast Region was found the lowest percentage of persons in this age group with a formal contract (3.8%) and, in the South, the highest percentage (33.1%).

47.3% of the children and teenagers are not paid for their work 

In 2006, workers aged 5-17 years worked an average number of 26 hours per week, less than adults aged 18 or over (41.1 hours per week). In the Southeast and Central Wet, the group aged 5-17 worked, on average, about 29 hours per week.

 Considering the employed population aged 5-17, 28.6% worked at least 40 hours per week, being the majority of this group formed by men (30.7%). The proportion of children and teenagers who worked 40 hours or more increased with the increase of the age: 4.6% aged 5-13 years and 46.2% aged 16 or 17. The Southeast and Central West regions had a bigger concentration of children and teenagers in the group who worked at least 40 hours (39.4% and 36.5%, respectively). 

A relevant part of the employed children and teenagers worked without receiving any income (47.3%), and 14.1% earned less than ¼ of the minimum wage. In 2006, the average monthly income received from the work of children and teenagers was estimated as R$210; in the Southeast (R$ 242), South (R$ 268) and Central West regions (R$ 245) it was almost twice as in the Northeast (R$ 126). In al the areas, the income of women was below that of men.

Considering the total number of children and teenagers working in Brazil, approximately 80.0% lived in households of which the monthly household income per capita was below a minimum wage. In the Northeast Region, this figure was 93.1%, and it reached 95.4% in the group aged 5-13 years.

77.9% of the employed children and teenagers have chosen to work 

In Brazil, in 2006, among the 5.1 million employed children and teenagers aged 5-17, 77.9% had chose to work, according to PNAD – this percentage among men was 76.6% and, among women, 80.3%. The proportion of persons who worked for their own choice increased with the increase of the age, reaching 87.6% in the group aged 16 and 17 years.

 The percentage of employed children and teenagers who wanted to work was smaller in the North (67.8%) and Northeast (69.7%) Regions. In the remaining ones, this option surpassed 80.0%.

Most of the employed children and teenagers aged 15-17 (63.9%) did not give the income received to their parents or responsible ones (63.9%); the percentage of men who did not give parents their money was lower than the percentage of women in the same situation (68.2%).

Over half of the children and teenagers aged 5017 and employed in 2006 (57.4%) had not received any training or guidance on how to avoid accidents or health problems at work. These percentages were higher in the Northeast (63.6%) and Central West (62.6%), whereas the South Region had the highest percentage of children and teenagers who had received training (52.8%).  

The percentage of men aged 5-17 years (45.3%) who received training or guidance in order to avoid accidents or health problems at work was higher than the percentage of women (37.4%) and it fell with the increase of age. A little more than half of the children aged 5-13 (50.2%) had received training. In the group aged 14-17, the percentage was 39.6%. 

Almost half of the employed children and teenagers (94.7%) did not have accidents or health problems due to professional activity in 2006 – which means 273 thousand persons aged 5-17 years had this kind of problem that year. In all the areas, the percentage of problems of this kind caused by professional activity was below 8.0%, being higher in agricultural activities (6.4%) than in non-agricultural ones (4.6%). 

Almost half of the children and teenagers perform household tasks

In Brazil, in 2006, 49.4% of the children and teenagers aged 5-17 performed household tasks ⁴, which corresponded to 22.1 million persons. This activity was most often directed to girls. In the group aged 5-17, a little more than 1/3 (36.5%) of the men did household tasks, whereas the proportion was 62.6% for women; similar results were observed in all the age groups. 

The participation of children and teenagers in household tasks was higher in the North (54.1%) and in the South (54.5%), whereas the southeast had the highest percentage (45.2%). 

The percentage of children and teenagers who performed household tasks increased with the age, as shown in the graph below: 

For children aged 5-9, the scenario was very different among the areas, with the Southeast and the South representing, in this order, the lowest and the highest percentages (21.2% and 30.3%, respectively).

Approximately nine in each tem children who performed household tasks attended school. In all the age groups, the schooling rate of those who performed domestic activities was above the rate for those who did not. 

Children and teenagers dedicate, on the average, 10 hours a week to household tasks

On the average, children and teenagers aged 5-17 dedicated about 10.4 hours per week to household tasks (versus 21.2 hours for adults aged 18 or over). The lowest number of hours was observed in the South Region (9.3 hours); the highest, in the Northeast (11.8 hours).

Over half (52.2%) of the children and teenagers who performed household tasks spent up to 7 hours a week in these activities, and 26.2% of them spent from 8 to 14 hours per week in household tasks, that is, 78.4% spent up to 14 hours per week in household tasks (average of up to 2 hours a day). 

Women aged 5-17 years performed tasks at home more frequently than men. Over half of the women in this age group (56.7%) dedicated 8 hours or more per week to household tasks. For men, this percentage was 32.9%. About 16.2% of the women worked over 21 hours per week doing housework, whereas, among men, this percentage was 3.9%. 

According to PNAD, 45.6% of the children and teenagers aged 5-17 were concentrated in households with income per capita of up to ½ minimum wage. For children and teenagers who did and did not perform household tasks, these percentages were 47.2% and 44.1%, respectively. In the Northeast Region, 70.5% of the children and teenagers who did housework were in households with income per capita of ½ wage; in the South Region this percentage did not reach 30.0%. 

The average monthly household income per capita of the households inhabited by at least one child or teenager aged 5-17 years who performed domestic activities was estimated as R$ 278, below that of households of those persons who did not perform that type of activity (R$ 361). 

Acre has the lowest percentage of children and teenagers in school

PNAD 2006 revealed that there were, in Brazil, about 59 million children and teenagers aged 0-17 years, among whom, approximately 45 million attended school or day-care center (75.8%), a percentage above that estimated in 2004 (73.8%). The North Region had the highest frequency rate to school or day-care center (69.5%), whereas the Southeast had the highest (78.5%). Considering the Federative Units, Rio de Janeiro had the highest rate (80.3%) and Acer, the lowest (65.1%). 

By age group, it was observed that the proportion of children aged 0-3 who attended school in 2006 was estimated as 15.5%, above the figure in 2004 (13.4%). By area, attendance to day-care centers changed from 19.2% in the Southeast to 8.0% in the North. The major increment to the schooling rate, from 70.5% to 76% between 2004 and 2006 was observed fro children at pre-school age (4-6 years). 

Considering the group aged 7-14 years, the age for elementary school, the schooling rate surpassed 95.0% in all the areas. By Federative Unit, it is worth mentioning Santa Catarina (99.0%), São Paulo (98.8%) and the Federal District (98.7%). The lowest rate was estimated for Acre (94.0%). In the group at the age for high school (15-17 years), attendance rate was 82.2% in 2006, having changed from 79.1% (North) to 85.2% (Southeast). 

School attendance increases with household income 

School or day-care attendance increases according to the increase of the monthly household income per capita. Whereas for children aged 01-7 years, living in households with monthly household income per capita ranging from without income to less than ¼ of the minimum wage, the rate of school attendance was 69.3%; for those persons living in households with income per capita of 2 or more minimum wages, the rate reached 86.0%. 

The same behavior was observed in all the areas; however, it is worth mentioning that the Northeast had the lowest percentage (28.8%) of these children and teenagers out of the school or day-care center for the lowest class of income. For children aged 7-14 years of age who lived in households with income per capita of 2 or more minimum wages, education was widespread (99.7%).  

24.8% of the teenagers aged 15-17 did not attend school in order to help with household tasks 

In 2006, about 14 million children aged 0-17 years, all over Brazil, were out of school or day-care center. In this group, 82.4% were between 0 and 6 years of age (day-care center and pre-school), 4.6% were between 7 and 14 years of age (elementary school) and 13.0% were between 15-17 years of age (high school). 

For children aged 0-6 years, the main reason presented was that children did not attend school because they or did not want to, or because their parent did not want them to (37.2%), being worth mentioning that 80.9% of the children in this age group who did not attend school or day-care center were at least 0-3 years of age. In the South and Southeast Regions, this reason was particularly mentioned (52.1% and 50.3%, respectively), and in the North Region, it had the lowest relevance (17.8%). Still considering the group between 0 and 6 years, other relevant reasons to make access to school difficult were the inexistence of a school or day care center near the housing unit, the lack of vacancies to study, the lack of services of their grades or more advanced education levels in the school or day-care center which, together, accounted for 17.6% of the reasons presented to justify absences. 

Among children and teenagers aged 7-17 who did not attend school, 73.8% were between 15 and 17 years of age, and the main reason mentioned was that they did not attend classes because themselves or their parents did not want it, or because they had reached the desired level of schooling (37.8%). Other reasons which was also considered important was related to work or household tasks: 24.8% of the persons aged 15-17 had left school in order to do household tasks, to work or look for a job. 

10% of the children in the public educational system missed lasses due to its distant location, for not having someone to take them to school, due to lack of teachers or to strikes

In September 2006, whereas in the public educational system, 45.8% of the persons aged 0-17 had been absent from school or from day care centers at least one in the last 60 days, in the private educational system this percentage was 40.3%. The reason most often mentioned for children and teenagers to be absent from school or day care center, for at least 1 day, in this period, was sickness (59.6%), both in the public and private educational system (58.0% and 69.1%, respectively). 

Whereas in the public educational system, 10.2% of the children missed school in the period of reference of 60 days for not having school transportation, due to the distant location, for not having someone to take them or due to lack of teachers or strikes, in the private educational system this percentage was 3.6%. Separating the related reasons by age group, the proportion of children who missed school or day care center due to sickness decreased with the increase of the age group. For children aged 0 – 3 years, 74.6% missed at least 1 day of day in the day care center for this reasons, and, for teenagers aged 15-17, this percentage was 45.2%. 

On the other hand, the percentage of those who missed classes deliberately or with the permission of their parents (or responsible ones) increased with the increase of age. For teenagers 15-17 years of age, 25.5% declared to to have attended classes for this reason; for those aged 7-14, this estimate was 15.0%; for children aged 4-6, 10.8%; for children aged 0-3, in 8.8%.

Northeast Region has the lowest percentage of access to school meal in the public educational system 

In the public educational system, there were high percentages of persons who had access to some kind of free meal in day care centers (97.4%), pre-schools and elementary schools (96.5%). In high school, the percentage was lower, 58.9%. In the private educational system, this service attended only 16.9% of the total number of children in day-care centers; 10.3% in pre-school; 6.9% in elementary school and 3.2% in high school. 

By Major Region, the Northeast had, in the public system, the lowest percentage (89.9%) of access to school meal or another type of free meal. In relation to 2004, the proportion of children and teenagers of the public educational system who had access to some type of free meal increased in all the areas, but especially in the Northeast (from 81.9% in 2004 to 89.9% in 2006). 

In the establishments which offered some kind of free meal, not everyone consumed it, and the higher the level of schooling of students the lowest the percentage who consumed meals at school. In 2006, 81.9% of the children in the public educational system consumed the food offered for free; in the private system, 84.6%. 

_________________________________________________________________

¹ The analysis using evolution throughout time since 2004 has been chosen for two reasons: it is the period of comparison belonging to the topic “Complementary Aspects of Education” and “Income Transfers from Social Programs”, now released; and, since 2004, PNAD reached the total coverage of the national territory, by including the rural areas of the North of the country.

² Proportion of the employed population in relation to the total population in this age group.

³ Equivalent to at least complete elementary education.

⁴ Tidying up the house, doing the laundry or ironing, taking care of children, cleaning the yard, etc.