Urban Child Labor in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Port-au-Prince has a large population of child workers, many of whom work on the streets.
However, little previous research has been conducted on the working and living conditions of
these children. This study was commissioned by the United States Department of Labor
(USDOL) to contribute to the international discourse on exploitative child labor, raise awareness
about child labor in urban areas in Haiti, and inform current and future technical assistance
efforts of USDOL. The research objectives were to:
1. Understand the root causes of urban child labor;
2. Discover the types of work children perform and their working conditions;
3. Map and understand the geographic characteristics of child labor in urban areas in
Haiti;
4. Capture information about the lives of children outside of work, including their living
conditions, familial relationships, and educational status;
5. Understand the perceptions of children and adults on urban child labor;
6. Understand how the earthquake may have affected urban child labor in Haiti; and
7. Discover what programs and policies exist to address the root causes of urban child
labor.
This qualitative study provided findings on these objectives using a total of 216 in-depth
interviews with four types of respondents: formal experts, informal experts who witness child
work, child workers, and family members of child workers.
Unsurprisingly, the study concluded that poverty was an important factor in urban child work.
Many children worked to support themselves or their families and reported that they would not
be able to nourish themselves without working. Another cause of child labor was children living
away from their parents. The underlying causes for the large number of children living away
from their parents were varied. Many parents were deceased, suggesting that public health issues
were a cause. Other children left home because of discord within their families while others
simply seemed to relish independence. Children’s relationships with their parents varied greatly.
Some lived with their parents, some had never met them, and some were estranged.
The study did not find evidence that children were relocated to Port-au-Prince with the purpose
of exploitation among the children interviewed. There were possible indications of forced labor
for a few children, but the data were inadequate to declare conclusively whether these children
were indeed in conditions of forced labor.