Children's work report
In Germany, children work under harmful conditions
The children's work report 2024: Download as a PDF
Terre des Hommes asks the federal and state governments to deal with child labor in Germany and to reform child and youth work protection. "Our study" Child labor? In Germany? " Shows that in Germany children also work under conditions that affect their development, health, security and education, «says Joshua Hofert, spokesman for the board of Hommes.
In the study, Terre des Hommes found evidence that far more children work under harmful conditions than the responsible authorities are known. A survey of 37 working children and adolescents from various social classes in Brandenburg, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia showed 14 activities and working conditions that clearly violate the Youth Work Protection Act. This included forbidden work such as the door or the serving of alcohol, too long working hours, night work or dealing with dangerous tools such as large agricultural machinery. In many cases, the minimum age of 13 years was undercut. Most of these violations took place within the family or in family businesses: at home, in restaurants, agricultural companies, on construction and building cleaning. None of these activities were known to a youth welfare office or the trade supervision. In total, the responsible supervisory authorities of the federal states and the Federal Criminal Police Office report only 60 violations of the Youth Labor Protection Act per year. »Given over 14 million minors in Germany, this is a negligible number. She refers to a large number of unreported cases. Important actors such as schools, pediatricians or youth welfare offices do not recognize the risks for children. Youth welfare and the commercial supervisory authorities do not work systematically, «says Hofert.
To make matters worse, there is hardly anything known about numerous activities of children and adolescents. The Federal Ministry of Family Affairs estimates that around 480,000 children and adolescents in Germany maintain relatives who are chronically physically or mentally ill or have a disability. Young nurses do a lot for their family and society, but are at the same time exposed to risks to their own health, their social life and their educational and professional opportunities. Nevertheless, their concerns have so far hardly been perceived and taken into account. Further research and more effective aid and relief offers from schools and vocational schools, nursing and health insurance companies, hospitals and inpatient care facilities as well as municipalities and associations are therefore urgently necessary.
A new form of child labor within the family is the participation of children in digital channels of commercially working family influencers. Marketing with influencers is a billion dollar business in which families often include millions of followers in front of the eyes of their children to make money. Especially showing babies and toddlers brings a lot of positive response. Companies are increasingly using the channels for advertising. However, the children are exposed to high risks: their home is publicly visible, privacy does not exist, family life is largely staged. Not only the personal security, but also the health of the children is at risk, there is a risk of binding and developmental disorders. »According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children, the well-being of a child must be taken into account. This is not the case here. The Youth Labor Protection Act does not allow activities for children under three years of age. We therefore appeal to the responsible authorities to immediately stop the inclusion of babies and small children in digital channels of commercially working family influencers. Contributions that violate the privacy of older children or endanger their personal security should also be ended. Here we also see companies as a duty not to switch advertising in channels where children are exposed to such risks, «says Joshua Hofert.
Terre des Hommes urges the federal and state governments to deal with child and youth work protection urgently and comprehensively and to identify and regulate the risks for children based on the United Nations Child Rights Convention. All activities in the formal and informal sector, inside or outside the family, should be included legally or illegally, and put to the test.
Terre des Hommes has for the report "Child labor? In Germany?" spoken to 37 working children in Brandenburg, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The children attended high schools, comprehensive schools and special schools and came from rural regions and cities. The survey of working children is not representative. Terre des Hommes interviewed the corresponding ministries of all 16 federal states and evaluated the reports of the responsible authorities (usually trade supervisory offices) of all federal states and the Federal Criminal Police Office. In addition to the evaluation of current scientific literature, Terre des Hommes analyzed the legislation on child and youth work protection and evaluated with regard to the fulfillment of the provisions of the United Nations Child Rights Convention. In order to analyze the participation of children in channels of commercially working family influencers and the extent and form of advertising in such channels, Terre des Hommes saw all contributions in five channels of family influencers from December 1 to 31, 2023.