Home-based work research project
The Centre has researched the issue of child labour since it was established in 1988, producing at least 15 publications on the subject, including the Global Seminar Report on Street and Working Children (1993), Learning or Labouring (1995) and, most recently, the Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work (see above for more information on Innocenti Digests).
Recent work has included the publication of a Working Paper by Christopher Heady, of the University of Bath, UK, on the impact of child labour on learning achievement, drawing on evidence from Ghana.
The Centre is preparing a study of the growing threat posed by home-based work in developing countries. Multi-national companies frequently contract work to local businesses that, in turn, contract the work to local families. This home-based work is largely unregulated and 'invisible', leaving children vulnerable to exploitation and without access to education.
Surveys in five Asian countries are already underway. These surveys will help to explain the dimensions of home-based work and their findings will provide useful information for those urging action on this problem.