1. Research on child migrants: Perspectives from the ILO programme to eliminate child labour
Yoshie Noguchi
ILO-IPEC Geneva
General Discussion
on the role of migration statistics
for treaty reporting and migration policies
22 April 2013

2. Outline
ILO standards cover: Child Labour, Migrant Workers, Labour Statistics, etc
Reporting obligations on ratified Conventions, including statistics
Experience of child labour statistics
Various ways of data collection and researches
Ethical considerations for research on children
ILO standards covering various subjects including: Child Labour (C138, C182); Migrant Workers (C97, C143); Labour Statistics (C63, C160)
Reporting obligations concerning the application of ratified Conventions in law and practice (Officially adopted “Report Forms” calling for relevant statistics by default)
Experience of child labour statistics –as a major area of action against child labour, including inter-agency efforts such as Rapid Assessment methodology, UCW project, facing challenges to reach out to children at special risk, e.g. street children
Various ways of data collection on child labour: quantitative vs. qualitative; sample surveys; secondary sources of information (e.g. records of labour inspection, crimes)
Ethical considerations when conducting research on children especially in the worst forms of child labour

3. Labour Statistics (C63 & C160)
ILO Standards
ILO Conventions cover various themes, including:
Child Labour (C138 & C182)
Migrant Workers (C97 & C143)
Labour Statistics (C63 & C160)
For more information:

4. Reporting on ILO Standards
Obligation to report periodically (every 3 years or 5 years)
On the ratified Conventions (under the ILO Constitution, article 22)
Report forms on each Convention (adopted by the Governing Body)
Not only on laws but also on practice, including Statistics!

5. Child Labour and Migration
Framework: ILO Conventions Nos 138 and 182 & UN CRC defining “child labour” / “economic exploitation”
The child is too young to work (below the minimum age), and should be in school
The work/activity is among worst forms of child labour (WFCL) not permissible for under-18: trafficking, forced labour; sexual exploitation; illicit activities; hazardous work;
C182, Art.7(2) (d) requiring measures to: identify and reach out to children at special risk
Roadmap for achieving the elimination of the WFCL by 2016, clause 5: ‘Governments should consider ways to address the potential vulnerability of children to, in particular, the worst forms of child labour in the context of migratory flows’.
The legal concepts under the ILO Conventions and the CRC offer basis for deciding what to measure in statistics.
This linkage is essential so as to ensure that data will be reliable, comprehensive and comparable.

6. Child Labour and Statistics
Report forms ask for STATISTICS also for C138/C182 :
“In so far as the information in question has not already been supplied in connection with other questions in this form – please supply copies or extracts from official documents including inspection reports, studies and inquiries, and, where such statistics exist, information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of infringements reported, penal sanctions applied, etc. To the extent possible, all information provided should be disaggregated by sex.” : Part V of the C182 Report Form
“(1) Detailed information and statistical data on the nature and extent of CL should be compiled and kept up to date to serve as basis for determining priorities for national action against CL, in particular WFCL.
(2) As far as possible, such information and statistical data should include data disaggregated by sex, age group, occupation, branch of economic activity, status in employment, school attendance and geographical location. The importance of an effective system of birth registration, including issuance of birth certificates, should be taken into account.” : ILO Recommendation 190, Para. 5:

7. Child Labour Statistics as action against child labour
Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC)
Help collecting and generating comprehensive and comparable quantitative and qualitative DATA: developing methodologies and concepts (e.g. ICLS Resolution, 2008)
The data and qualitative information form essential inputs to child labour policies and programmes
Their availability promotes further research and raises awareness of the problem of child labour.
For more information:
SIMPOC (Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour) - Launched in 1998 = Integral part of IPEC
SIMPOC, which is a unit within IPEC, provides technical assistance to ILO member States to generate reliable, comparable and comprehensive data on child labour in all its forms. The assistance includes developing and implementing child labour surveys as well as enhancing capacity in ILO member States to collect, process, disseminate and analyse data on child labour on a regular and sustainable basis. New techniques for investigating the more hidden forms of child labour have also been developed. The data and qualitative information generated by the various SIMPOC instruments form essential inputs to child labour policies and programmes. Further, their availability promotes research and raises awareness of the problem of child labour. The data and studies are made accessible through various publications and a data repository on the SIMPOC website.
Six basic methods have been applied to generate child labour statistics and information: (a) National Child Labour Surveys; (b) the Rapid Assessment Methodology; (c) Baseline Surveys; (d) Establishment-based Surveys; (e) Street Children Surveys; and (f) School-based Surveys. These child labour survey methodologies, however, are not mutually exclusive; instead they can be applied in a combined and complimentary way.

8. Child Labour Statistics (cont’d)
Global Estimates on child labour
“215 mio in child labour, 115 mio in hazardous work”
2002, 2006, 2010 – forthcoming later in 2013
= media attention; trend analyses
Some challenges:
New techniques needed for investigating the more hidden forms of child labour, e.g. domestic work
Hard to capture, elusive populations: e.g. street children (Capture-recapture methodology)
Some child labour, esp WFCL involving illicit or criminal activities
SIMPOC (Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour) - Launched in 1998 = Integral part of IPEC
SIMPOC, which is a unit within IPEC, provides technical assistance to ILO member States to generate reliable, comparable and comprehensive data on child labour in all its forms. The assistance includes developing and implementing child labour surveys as well as enhancing capacity in ILO member States to collect, process, disseminate and analyse data on child labour on a regular and sustainable basis. New techniques for investigating the more hidden forms of child labour have also been developed. The data and qualitative information generated by the various SIMPOC instruments form essential inputs to child labour policies and programmes. Further, their availability promotes research and raises awareness of the problem of child labour. The data and studies are made accessible through various publications and a data repository on the SIMPOC website.
Six basic methods have been applied to generate child labour statistics and information: (a) National Child Labour Surveys; (b) the Rapid Assessment Methodology; (c) Baseline Surveys; (d) Establishment-based Surveys; (e) Street Children Surveys; and (f) School-based Surveys. These child labour survey methodologies, however, are not mutually exclusive; instead they can be applied in a combined and complimentary way.

9. Child Labour Statistics - Inter-agency cooperation
Rapid Assessment methodology,
for qualitative information
collaboration between ILO and UNICEF
Understanding Children's Work (UCW) project
among ILO, UNICEF and World Bank
research activities designed to inform policies where child labour is prominent
a common understanding of child labour, and a common basis for action against it
SIMPOC (Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour) - Launched in 1998 = Integral part of IPEC
SIMPOC, which is a unit within IPEC, provides technical assistance to ILO member States to generate reliable, comparable and comprehensive data on child labour in all its forms. The assistance includes developing and implementing child labour surveys as well as enhancing capacity in ILO member States to collect, process, disseminate and analyse data on child labour on a regular and sustainable basis. New techniques for investigating the more hidden forms of child labour have also been developed. The data and qualitative information generated by the various SIMPOC instruments form essential inputs to child labour policies and programmes. Further, their availability promotes research and raises awareness of the problem of child labour. The data and studies are made accessible through various publications and a data repository on the SIMPOC website.
Six basic methods have been applied to generate child labour statistics and information: (a) National Child Labour Surveys; (b) the Rapid Assessment Methodology; (c) Baseline Surveys; (d) Establishment-based Surveys; (e) Street Children Surveys; and (f) School-based Surveys. These child labour survey methodologies, however, are not mutually exclusive; instead they can be applied in a combined and complimentary way.

10. Often seen limitations of research with children
Unclear definitions and insensitivity to age groups;
CL research often misses those forms which are illegal and invisible;
Badly chosen samples;
Single-method studies without triangulation;
Insufficient attention to context and local realities;
Poor use of time and other resources;
Numbers only tell part of the story.
Unclear definitions and insensitivity to age groups – e.g. Trafficking – migration – children on the move;
Statistics only tell the story of identified cases and tend to miss forms of CL which are illegal and invisible e.g. Trafficking, children in FL situations;
Badly chosen samples which tend to exclude migrants, homeless children, stateless children and unregistered children...
Inappropriate research methods (i.e. Large scale surveys are not well placed to uncover WFCL and mobility) and often single-method studies without triangulation of results against findings through other methods – recommend a sequence of methods and triangulation of findings;
Insufficient attention to context and local realities – e.g. History of migration, sensitivity to ethnic groups and their habits.
Poor use of time and other resources – seasonality; no research in evening or weekend; rapport building before interview?; outside harvest or migration season? Also, think of child participation and working with children/youth to reach other children.
Numbers only tell part of the story: examples of useful qualitative info: How does recruitment work & who are exploiters?; What are the methods & routes used by middle-men?; How do families decide on their child’s future (if at all)?; What are children’s opinions on effective remedial action?;
Adapted from: Action oriented research on the WFCL including child trafficking, RWG-CL

11. Sample surveys on child labour as opportunity
HH, establishment or point of transit based surveys
Ensure migration angle is part of the measurement objectives and included from the survey design;
Ensure sample captures (concentrated) migrant populations
Work towards standardization of Qs for improved comparability (while being sensitive to context);
Large scale surveys on CL are normally done by NIS through standardized approach with ILO SIMPOC technical assistance.
Until recently, only in a few countries do these surveys include Qs on CL. That is now changing. We are trying to work towards a standardization of Qs on migration/mobility to include in large scale CL surveys, with a view to better insights into the link between migration and child labour.
It is recommended that a variety of policy field (and related applied research) do include attention to migration in future research endeavours.
Point of transit surveys are particularly useful to measure the intensity of migration flows across regions or borders.
Ensure the migration angle is included: estimates on internal/international migration should be the explicit measurement objective. Crucial is that the sample targets the migrant population. In general, migrants form only a small part of the population and tend to be geographically concentrated.
For HH-surveys, there will be a need to also sample collective living quarters, including worker camps, else the resulting statistics will only refer to migrants living in HHs and exclude those living in camps...
Population census should always include Qs on place of birth, previous place(s) of residence in the past 5 yrs and past 12 months, citizenship at birth and current. These Qs are essential to create benchmark statistics AND serve as the basis for the development of samples for HH and establishment surveys.
For countries with high migration flows, include Qs on HH members who moved abroad in a recent times (past 12 months, past 5 years), age, sex, country of destination, and reasons for move (i.e. Labour market related, education related, or other).
Need for routine tabulation of demographic data for labour market characteristics – as generally, migration data are collected but tabulations by labour force status (and CL) are often not disseminated.

12. Sample surveys on child labour as opportunity (2)
Variables to include:
Internal versus cross border dimension
Family versus intermediary versus independent migration
Legal status (and birth registration)
Age and sex
Considerations:
Location: sending, transit or destination area
Timing: sensitivity to harvest, rainy season, migration season etc.
Large scale surveys on CL are normally done by NIS through standardized approach with ILO SIMPOC technical assistance.
Until recently, only in a few countries do these surveys include Qs on CL. That is now changing. We are trying to work towards a standardization of Qs on migration/mobility to include in large scale CL surveys, with a view to better insights into the link between migration and child labour.
It is recommended that a variety of policy field (and related applied research) do include attention to migration in future research endeavours.
[comments from Elisa - STAT]
1) Different types of sample surveys can be developed to produce relevant statistics, including household surveys, establishment surveys and point of transit surveys. These have different sampling and observation units and thus, can be used to produce statistics for different "target populations". The point of transit surveys are particularly useful to measure intensity of migration flows across regions or borders (and specially important to produce statistics on border/frontier migrant workers).
2) Ensuring that the "migration angle is included" would involve including as an explicit measurement objective of the survey the production of estimates of internal/international migration and/or of characteristics of the population by migration status. That means, that the sample should be designed to produce reliable estimates for this topic.
Without a sample design that targets the migrant population, the results will very likely not be adequate to produce statistics on migrant workers, as in general, migrants form only a small part of the population (rare population) and tend to be geographically concentrated.
In addition, for household surveys, there will be a need to also sample collective living quarters, including worker camps. Else, the resulting statistics will only refer to migrants living in private households.
Inclusion of questions to establish the migration status of the population in a sample survey is not sufficient without the necessary assessment of the adequacy of the sample design and sample frame.
3) Essential to include in the Population Census questions on place of birth, previous place of residence/ residence at a particular point in time in the past (past 5 years, past 12 months), citizenship at birth and current. These questions should be included in all census forms, including for private households and for collective living quarters.These basic questions are essential not only to produce benchmark statistics, but also to serve as basis for the development of samples for household and establishment surveys. For countries with high emigration, include question on household members who moved abroad in a recent period in the past (past 12 months, past 5 years), age, sex, country of destination, and reasons for move (labour market related vs. others).
4) Need for routine tabulation of the data by demographic and labour market characteristics. Generally, data is collected on migration through the population census, but detailed tabulations by labour force status and characteristics of employment are often not disseminated.

13. The power of secondary sources
Beyond sample surveys...
The power of secondary sources
Review administrative data bases – e.g. criminal statistics, venereal diseases dept, police reports, social services, successful court cases, NGOs, hotlines, trade unions, centers for detention, rescue, rehabilitation;
Example: Access to recorded case records by Child Helpline International recorded child labour cases in 3 countries where analyzed for migration status; - enabled us to compare the work situation of migrant children in child labour with local children in child labour; - Conclusion: migrant children are worse off in child labour compared to local children…
Despite small samples a clear pattern emerged across countries in different regions where migrant children were worse of in CL compared to local children. By and large, migrant children were worse off in child labour compared to local children in terms of working hours, pay, exposure to work hazards, violence and forced labour.

14. Beyond sample surveys...
Analyze context within which one gathers data and information on children
Review of migration and child labour legislation and enforcement;
Analysis of policies and programmes;
Budget and resource review at various levels;
Analysis of attitudes, beliefs and practices;
Loopholes and/or ambiguities in legislation
Enforcement capacity – Trained staff? Sufficient staff? Clear JDs?
Analysis of impact of a range of government policies (not necessarily migration) on child migrants – e.g. Free education, youth employment and training opportunities, birth registration system
KAB studies on Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour – understand child and youth perspectives. Appreciate that village life is boring and that there is a massive pull to the city.
(Note in Africa alone, according to UNDESA statistics, an estimated 27 mln children will join the age bracket in the period Many will be born in rural areas and will likely face shortcomings in public facilities such as schools.

15. Direct observations Beyond sample surveys... Places of interest:
Work sites
Encampments
Communities
Schools
Labour markets
Ports
Bus stops and train stations
Border crossings
Slums
Work sites – in particular in migrant prone ‘industries’ such as agriculture, construction and domestic work
Encampments of tents near work sites such as near plantations (think cocoa in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire)
Ports, bus stops, train stations and border crossings – to capture the mobile groups while on the move
Indirect – e.g. Through the eyes of children – e.g. Give them camera’s
...AND indirect observations...

16. Participatory research with children (1)
Beyond sample surveys...
Participatory research with children (1)
Appropriate methods:
Drawings and other visual methods
Drama and role play
Recall methods
Essay writing
Interviews
Focus group discussions
Para. 2 of Recommendation 190 to Convention 182:
‘taking into consideration the views of children’ (also Clause 2 of Roadmap against WFCL)
UN CRC (Art. 12):
‘Views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child’
Drawings – mapping, how does your day look like – excellent to brake the ice and talk about sensitive topics. Always let the children interpret their drawings as adults tend to misunderstand. ALSO, the drawings are the ownership of children.
Other visual technique: ranking – to find out children’s preferences or dislikes, and priorities – e.g. What do you dislike most in your work – list, then rank.
Role play – e.g. recruitment process
Recall methods – story telling, life stories – to gather information on past events
Essay writing on sensitive topics – e.g. Debt in the family; family members away, domestic violence
Interviews – individual, open/unstructured; if structured then only at the end for the research. Have interview guide for researchers.
FGDs: Particularly helpful to check opinions, language, ideas.
Age groups, gender composition – depends on context; in general, try to select people with similar characteristics – it does not work very well if for instance there is a person of high status who is used to speaking all the time... And the rest listens; Children of similar age; boys separate from girls – though sometimes it may be good to mix them... Depends on the purpose.
Size – not too big not too small: 8 to 15 kids in a group so all can speak and to keep things manageable
Preferably no spectators
Introduce yourself, explain purpose, seek informed consent and build rapport
Don’t focus on personal experiences (that is for a 1 on 1 interview)
Discuss through an object or means such as a map, a piece of paper with markers, a photo, 10 seeds, etc

17. Participatory research with children (2)
Beyond sample surveys...
Participatory research with children (2)
Access to children:
Fear of reprisals - best interest of the child
Geographical isolation
Timing
Building rapport:
Make time!
Seek informed consent
Safe and secure place
Employer not present
Intermediaries or go-betweens
Language, age, sex...
Leave the most sensitive Qs for last
Whatever the research method chosen, it is crucial to obtain access to children and build rapport. BUT FIRST: Determine whether you need to interview children in FL? Can it not be done through proxies?
Consider practicalities of access including isolated locations such as Jermals (fishing platforms hours by boat) and consider timing in terms of harvest season, migration season, rainy season, weekday versus weekend, and time of the day etc to ensure you are able to be in contact with children.
Assuming you are able to be in contact with children, remember that they are unlikely going to reveal much about their lives to a stranger with a quickly administered questionnaire... Trust and rapport are only built between people over time.
Always introduce yourself, explain the purpose of your visit, allow for questions, seek informed consent. Some researchers first do a picnic or go to a musical performance but this may create a relationship of dependency – always be clear upfront that you are a researcher.
Safe, non-threatening and secure place (privacy – home – time of day; Not with the door closed – may remind of being locked up; best to ask the child for suggestions (one researcher with street kids in Uganda found a rooftop of an unused house in this way).
If employer is present during the interview it will affect the child’s answer; Children who feel threatened will likely give the answer that is safe.
Where possible, work with and through local facilitators who are familiar with local context, customs, and behaviour. Training them takes time. They should preferably lead the FGD or interview while the researcher observes and takes notes – especially if the researcher is a foreigner, unfamiliar with the local culture and language.
Consider the language, age, sex, ethnic background of interviewer – where possible involve youth in facilitating, and preferably girls/women – least threatening (also for boys).
Finally, start with easy and non threatening topics and leave the most sensitive Qs for last…

18. 8 ethical rules for research with children
Protect all participants from harm;
All research participation must be voluntary;
Ensure the safety of researchers;
Respect cultural traditions, knowledge and customs;
Minimize the power imbalance;
Avoid raising unrealistic expectations;
Respect privacy;
Ensure confidentiality and anonymity;
Protect all children from harm – Children at risk of reprisals should not be interviewed; also think of possible stigma you may trigger by for instance interviewing sex workers; harm can arise from remembering distressing experiences. Informants may also be at risk of abuse by the researchers – do background check on them and have researchers work in teams of 2.
Children should agree freely to be interviewed & based on informed consent – explain who you are and introduce the research aim, allow time for asking Qs and seek informed consent; show for instance traffic light – green is if they want to participate;
Don’t put the researchers in danger either – best if the research was approved and a letter to that effect can be shown.
Respect culture, knowledge, customs: dress code; how to greet (no handshake); no touching of heads in SEA; respect Friday as rest day in muslim countries.
Minimize power balance: sit on the floor, work through young intermediaries, use simple language, use playful methods
Be clear on research aim. Don’t promise solutions if you can’t guarantee them. Don’t pay children – results in problems in the village later on. However, they could be compensated through a meal, some pencils/paper...
Respect privacy: Seek permission to use their drawings etc. Seek permission to take a photo. Don’t insist on Qs if they don’t want to answer.
Confidentiality – protect identity by changing their names (and that of the community). Be careful with photos revealing identities. Store information under a reference number. Present draft findings to children before finalization.
From: Action oriented research on the WFCL including child trafficking, RWG-CL

19. Recommendations and ways forward
Future research on social issues (including child labour) should systematically include attention to child migrants;
Promotion of pro-active policies that are partly based on forecasting (child/youth) migration flows;
Improved birth registration to make all children visible;
ILO member States, in their reporting under ratified ILO child labour Conventions (and the UN CRC) should include attention to child migrants in/from/through/to their territory;
Link up with academic networks to include a focus on child migrants in future research work;
Develop standards and tools (indicators, methodologies) for labour migration statistics, anchored on concepts in treaties.
It is assumed that research disaggregates for sex and age. In addition it would help if future research specifies international versus internal migration, and family migration versus independent child migration, and whether or not migrant children have birth registration (I do generalize a bit now, but my assumption is that independent child migrants are more at risk of exploitation than family migrants, especially if they cross international borders. Also, I assume that child migrants who were not registered at birth, and who travel without IDs are at the highest risk of exploitation).
Also on research: Focused research looking into how remittances - disaggregated by sex – contribute to prolonged school enrolment of children left-behind and reduced child labour.
Regarding forecasting: based on population dynamics in combination with labour market absorption capacity.
An unknown but substantial number of child migrants does not have proper birth registration documents. With those they would have better access to social services at source and possibly a reduced drive to migrate.

20. Relevant resources
Hard to see, harder to count; Survey guideline to estimate forced labour of adults and children (ILO), 2012
Training manual to fight trafficking in children for labour, sexual and other forms of exploitation – Textbook 1, section 1.7 on research (ILO, UNICEF, UN.GIFT), 2009
Training Modules on Child Labour Data Collection, Processing, Analysis and Reporting (ILO SIMPOC), 2004
Handbook for action-oriented research on the WFCL including trafficking in children (RWG-CL), 2003
Forthcoming – Manual on sampling elusive population in CL
For more: