Some 50.000 Children Are Working in Costa Rica
A report by the United Nations Children's Fund (or UNICEF), says that despite the decrease of child labour at the world level, in Costa Rica there are still 50.000 children between the ages of 5 and 14 working, even though that is illegal.

With respect to children between the ages of 13 and 17 who are working, the numbers went from 30.605 to 54.562, according to the report.

Selling fruit, stickers, chiclets (gum), pencils and just about any other item, children are on the streets all over the country.

According to UNICEF figures, child labour in Latin America and the Caribbean was reduced by a two thirds between 2000 and 2004. The report says that the number of children between the ages of 5 and 14 working was reduced from 17.4 million to 5.7 million.

UNICEF says that an estimated 2 million children are working in Latin America and the Caribbean, one third working a domestics.

The report says that many children combine their studies and work, with the purpose of contributing to the family income.

According to figures in the report “Encuesta Nacional sobre Trabajo Infantil” done in 2002, 44.2% of children between five and seventeen years of age work in agriculture and more than half of the child labour is done by males.

In Costa Rica there have been efforts to pull children off the street and get them into the classroom, but the results have been slow. Currently, an estimated 70% of the child labour is working in agriculture.

One of the concerns most important is the indigenous, especially those located near the Panamanian border.