Irene Lôbo
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Between 1995 and 2003, the number of working children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 15 fell 47.5%. According to the National Household Sample Survey (Pnad 2003/IBGE), child labor in this age group decreased from 5.1 million to 2.7 million.

According to the study, the biggest reductions in child labor during the period occurred in Rio de Janeiro, where the number declined from 115 thousand to 38.7 thousand (66.4%), and in Mato Grosso do Sul, where the Program for the Erradication of Child Labor began in 1996 and the number of working children dropped from 68.6 thousand to 24.3 thousand (64.5%). The only state in which there was an increase during this period was Roraima, where the number rose 117%, from 1,874 to 4,068.

The Northeast was the region in which the highest child labor index was registered: 11.2% of the children and adolescents in this region work. The lowest index is in the Southeast, where 4.4% work, less than the national average of 7.5%.

Translation: David Silberstein