date: 11 June 2009

embargo: 00.01hrs Friday 12 June 2009

Send girls to school not work, says TUC

The TUC is calling on consumers to demand that international supply chains making sportswear and goods for the London 2012 Olympics bring an end to girls' child labour, and provide primary education for all children around the world.

Issued to mark World Day Against Child Labour today (Friday), the TUC report Give Girls a Chance warns that the global economic crisis could impede achievements made recently in reducing child labour, and getting more girls into school.

Such setbacks risk trapping another generation of young girls in low paid, low skilled work for life, with huge impacts on their families, their children and the economies of the countries where they live, warns the TUC.

Commenting on the report TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Child labour is a scandal and a stain on our civilised values. Young girls should be in school, not at work.

'Trade unions helped get rid of child labour in Victorian Britain, but we have a long way to go to repeat that achievement worldwide.

'Consumers and the people running the London Olympics can help make London 2012 a real symbol for the future, by ensuring that it is the first Olympics where youngsters' only involvement is watching - or in some cases going for gold.

'We all need to stand together to insist supply chains stop using child labour. Children shouldn't be making the clothes we wear, the footballs we kick or any of the brands we buy.'

Give Girls a Chance shows that there are 218 million children at work in the world, of whom 126 million are in the worst forms - such as hazardous work, debt bondage or sexual exploitation.

The TUC report also reveals that while less than half of all child workers are girls (about 100 million), they are disproportionately represented in the worst forms of work.

Around the world, there are 75 million children aged 5-11 who never go to school, most of them girls. The number of child labourers fell by 11 per cent worldwide between 2000 and 2004, but the TUC fears that the global recession could see the number increasing again.

Girl labourers are found in every sector of the global economy, but are concentrated in textiles, manufacturing, domestic work and agriculture - India has one of the highest number of child labourers in the world - and many of them are engaged in making goods which appear in UK shops.

Research conducted before the 2008 Olympics found many examples of children working in Chinese factories making goods branded for the Beijing Olympics, and the TUC is campaigning as part of the Playfair Alliance to make sure that the picture is not repeated when the Olympics comes to London in three years time.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- A copy of the report is available at: http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/givegirlsachance.pdf

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Register for the TUC's press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

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Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Brenchley T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07900 910624 E: ebrenchley@tuc.org.uk

Press release (700 words) issued 12 Jun 2009