The figures also found that of the working minors, 45.9 percent (706,000) were active in occupations considered the worst forms of labor. Fundamentally, these activities consist of operating tractors and agricultural machinery, as well as processing tobacco, sisal and sugar cane, or extracting and cutting wood.
In Brazil, about 54 percent of the national population is Black and mulatto (213,000,000), but in the case of the total number of children in this situation, the data revealed that 66 percent were Black and mulatto.
Local media pointed out that Sao Paulo reported 8,400 child labor accidents between the years 2012 and 2020, so the annual average was 933, about two accidents every five days. Likewise, the local press indicated that the scourge of infants from five to 17 years old was investigated, according to information given by the Ministry of Labor.
According to this agency, a serious accident includes exposure to biological materials, work-related cancer, intoxication or hearing loss due to noise. Also counted are mental disorders caused by work, in addition to injuries caused by repetitive strain or work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
Some agencies dedicated to the study of child labor warned that, although the figures are worrying, they could be higher, due to the lack of reports.
In 2020, Sao Paulo had a lower annual average than what it reported in 2012, where 194 children suffered accidents in the state divided into 47 in the metropolitan region and 28 in the regional capital.
Some 51,000 Brazilian children and adolescents have been victims of serious occupational accidents and related diseases. Of these, only 2,558 in 2020.
On complaints related to the scourge, there were between 2015 and 2020, a 19,500, according to data from the Public Ministry of Labor.
The International Labor Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund have reported that 160,000 million children and adolescents are inserted in the labor market. These figures have increased in recent years, with only 8.4 million between 2016 and 2020.
