Minors Represent 7.2% of Work
Force
A report in the daily Spanish
language newspaper, La Nación,
says that one out of 10 minors
between the ages of 5 and 17 in
Costa Rica work. They can be
seen in many places, more
visibly in the street at busy
intersection, selling to stopped
motorists and in bars and public
places selling flowers, gum
and/or stickers.
All together, the report says
that 7.2% of children are in the
labour market in Costa Rica.
The percentage translates into
127.077 minors of the total 1.7
million work force.
A recent study done on the
reality of children in the
workplace showed that most of
the minors in Costa Rica work in
exploited situations, without a
basic salary and with long days
and high risk jobs, like
standing in the middle of
traffic selling chewing gum.
The report continues to say that
of the 127.077 minors, 40%
(50.151) are under the age of
15, the legal age to work in
Costa Rica. The majority of the
boys who live in rural areas
work in the farms, while the
girls work as domestics.
The data was compiled as part of
a study, "Informe alternativo
sobre el cumplimiento de los
derechos de los niños, niñas y
adolecentes en Costa Rica",
is comprised by 15 government
agencies is for the period of
1998-2003. The study is done
every 5 years.
The study shows that the number
of minors in the workplace
decreased from the last report,
when 147.000 minors were
working.
Mario Víquez, who is a defender
of child workers, says that the
data does not mean there are
less children in the work place,
a different methodology was used
to compile the data in the last
report.
The Minister de la Niñez y la
Adolescencia, Rosalía Gil, says
that the Ministry of Education
has new alternatives to
reintegrate the children back
into the school system, that
include giving families of
working children financial
assistance so that their
children can go to school.
El Niño Is Nearing
The
early departure of the rainy
season, which points to an
extended dry season with its
negative aspects for
agriculture, is considered by
weather experts as a sign of the
imminent arrival of the weather
disturbance known as El Niño.
This phenomenon usually wreaks
havoc in crops because it
involves drought.
One of the first signs is a rise
in the temperature of the ocean,
and half a degree centigrade
increase was recorded since
October on the Pacific.
On the other hand, analysts
expect the impact of El Niño to
be weak to moderate this time
around, given the overall ocean
and atmosphere features they
have found so far.
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