Child Labour

General Information

Institution:

MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL SECURITY

Country:

Jamaica

Contact person:

SIMONE MCKENZIE-MAIR

Position:

DIRECTOR, RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

Email:

simone.mckenzie@mlss.gov.jm

Phone:

8769249436

Website of the program:

http://www.mlss.gov.jm

Which of the following topic(s) applies to the program?:

Topics:

Child labor

Program Description

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Description:

A Child Labour Unit was established in the Ministry in 2004 and work is being carried out, in collaboration with other local and international organizations to eliminate child labour in all its forms. In October 2003, Jamaica ratified ILO Conventions 138 (Minimum Age of Employment) and 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labour). The primary tenets of these Conventions were included in the Child Care and Protection Act of 2004, Sections 33-41. This Legislation makes it illegal to employ children who are less than 13 years old, however it permits light work between the ages 13 to 14 years.

Objectives:

To develop and implement policies and programmes to systematically reduce and ultimately eliminate child labour in Jamaica in all its forms.

Year of Start:

Before 2010

Estimated duration:

More than 5 years

Target population:

Workers

Employers

Informal workers

Children

Evaluation and Documentation

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Specify if the program has any internal and external evaluations, if applicable, include key findings:

With funding from the United States Department of Labour (USDOL), two (2) Youth Activity Surveys were conducted in 2002 and 2016, by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), with technical assistance from the ILO. The 2^ndJamaica Youth Activity Survey (2016), was a stand-alone (i.e. was not merged with the labour force questionnaire as was done in 2002) survey, which revealed that approximately 38,000 Jamaican children were engaged in child labour. This latest data gave rise to further discussions with the USDOL and the ILO to ascertain how Jamaica can get further assistance to reduce and ultimately eliminate child labour.