No Visible Means of Support: Child Labor in Urban Northeast Brazil

Abstract

Child labor is one of the exigencies of life in poor households and a major aspect of the informal labor sector in urban Northeast Brazil. This article examines how a depressed local economy, extensive adult unemployment, economic niches available to children, and a general surplus of cheap labor reinforce a market for child labor. In poor households the loss of a child's earnings can lead to the disintegration of the household and be potentially life threatening as savings, assets, credit, and health plans are nonexistent. Households access and manage resources by minimizing consumption by children at home while increasing the number of hours children work and consume outside the home. In a context of scarce resources, limited choices, and financial uncertainty, the necessity for immediate income obliterates the luxury of waiting for a return on investments in education. This article further documents how the meaning given to children's work is mediated by economic niche, income-earning capacity, gender,...