Child Labour (Paperback) | Released: 10 Sep 2010

Child labour constitutes a major public health concern, with estimates that world-wide 110 million children aged 5-14 years are engaged in labour that can be described as hazardous or intolerable. This book examines both the rights oriented and public health perspectives on child labour. A rights approach ensures that exploitative and abusive work is considered not just in terms of a labour market or health rights approach, but also in terms of human dignity and the solutions that preserve the rights of children and communities. The public health approach is steeped in the relationship between individuals and their community, seeking to identify how the presence (or absence) of government programmes and policies affects those involved. The economics perspective is also presented early in the book, to aid understanding of the causes and consequences of child labour, before the alternate public health and sociological views are presented. The editors examine factors such as
poverty, malnutrition, social disadvantage, gender, globalisation, and education, and look at both physical and psychological threats.

This book will be of use to academics and students involved in health, health policy, social sciences and development disciplines. Those actively involved public health initiatives, such as policy makers, and non-governmental organisations, will also find this an invaluable resource.

About the Author:
Anaclaudia Fassa is an epidemiologist and since 1995 has been Associate Professor of the post-graduate programme in epidemiology of the Federal University of Pelotas. She was a Fulbright Scholar and Takemi Fellow in International Health at the Harvard School of Public Health in 1999. She received her PhD in Epidemiology from the Federal University of Pelotas in 2000 and was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Work Environment at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2006. She has performed several epidemiological studies on child labour and health and has served as a child labour consultant to the International Labour Organization, World Health Organization and Brazilian Ministry of Health. Dr. David Parker is a physician and medical researcher in Minneapolis, MN. Parker has written extensively on the impact of work on the lives of children. In addition, over the last 18 years he has travelled extensively photographing and documenting the conditions of working children. His
photographs have been published in two previous books. His first book, Stolen Dreams, received a Christopher Award for works "affirming the highest values of the human spirit." Parker's photographs have been exhibited widely throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America. After graduating from Aberdeen University Medical School in 1984, Dr. Scanlon trained in General Practice in South East England. He then spent two years working in Brazil in community development including undertaking outreach work with street children. On his return to the UK he trained in public health and started working with the Institute of Child Health in London. He is currently the Director of Public Health for the City of Brighton and Hove. He has published on street children and working children.