Reasons for Children to Work at a Factory

• 59 % of auditors think the top reason for a child to work at a factory is poverty

We are aware that preventing child labor is an extremely complicated and difficult task for all parties involved , even though we expect most prevention work to take place at the factory level . Understanding the diverse root causes of child labor in different countries / communities will help us develop more targeted initiatives to address the issue . Therefore , we tried to look at the reasons for a child to work at a factory from auditors ’ point of view .

As shown in Figure 11 , auditor ’ s views on the top reasons for a child to work at a factory differ significantly between China and other countries in the region . The majority of auditors in China believe children end up working at the factories because they are unwilling to continue high school after the 9-year compulsory education . Auditors in other countries , however , think that poverty and the family ’ s dependence on the child ’ s income are the dominant reasons for child labor .

Figure 11 :

“ Some child laborers were only a few months short of 16 and have completed compulsory education . They decided not to further pursue education and preferred to work .” - An auditor from China .

11 Best Response : Auditors ’ Insights on Child Labor in Asia