Mica comprises a group of 37 minerals that are also known as mica. The economy most often uses Muscovit and Phlogopit. Mica is used in countless products for different purposes: because it isolates heat and electricity, reinforces fabrics. It is usually only contained in small and small quantities in the products. Car manufacturers Terre des Hommes said that Mica was contained in many car parts, but only turns out of 0.1 percent of a car ( Terre des Hommes research ).

• Construction industry : joint mass, plasterboard
• Cosmetics and body care : eyeshadow, lipstick, blush, body glitter, nail polish, shampoo, toothpaste and in products for children such as bathing soap, shower gel and children's toothpaste (see also: problematic mineral for glitter cosmetics - including child labor)
• Plastic : as a filler and as a mica in shimmering plastic
• Colors and paints for cars, planes and boats
• Oil industry : Filling fabric for the walls of borehole cars: For shimmering effects, mica is contained in varnish
• Electrical and household appliances : cell phones, computers, iron, coffee machines, toaster, dimmable light switch, electrical heater etc. (mica in semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, boards, cables)

Consumers have no chance of recognizing whether the mica comes in a product from countries in which it is mined by children. In the case of complex products, such as electronic devices or cars, consumers cannot even determine whether and in which components mica is contained. In the list of ingredients of cosmetics or toothpaste there is an indication of the ingredient Mica - whether it is mica from a certain country or it was stipulated under fair conditions.

Terre des Hommes asks consumers to inquire about manufacturers or trade. Register using the contact form on the website of a company or via the accounts of companies on social media: contains a product mica? Where does it come from? Does the company ensure that no children are exploited? Does it take part in the responsible Mica Initiative ?

An indication of the commitment of companies is their membership in the responsible Mica Initiative . Terre des Hommes co -founded the international initiative in 2017. The RMI has set itself the goal of ending child labor in the mica supply chains: Together, companies, associations and aid organizations are committed to making the supply chain transparent and implementing basic labor rights. RMI supports municipalities that dismantle Mica and wants to improve legal foundations. 70 companies are currently participating .

Mica is dismantled in several states. Studies by Terre des Hommes have illuminated the situation in Bihar and Jharkhand, two of the poorest states in the country. According to estimates of local organizations, people in 800 villages are dependent on the mica dismantling. Around 22,000 children worked before the Covid 19 pandemic. Local organizations are currently observing significantly more children in mica: As a result of the lockdowns due to the Covid 19 pandemic, schools are closed and school feeds fail. In many cases, the support from family members who work in other regions of the country as day laborers in other regions.

In this existence-threatening situation, the families are further exploited: by selling their mica daily production, a family can achieve around 100 Indian rupees-the equivalent of around 1.10 euros . This means that the earnings are far below the poverty line of $ 1.90 per day and person. In emergency situations-for example during the Covid 19 pandemic-buyers use hopelessness and pay even less.

The youngest children who dig mica are four years old. They usually work with their parents. Because there is no way of looking after small children, mothers are forced to take infants and toddlers to work and to expose them to heat and dust. Working conditions are dangerous: children work up to twelve hours and mine mica or sort it by size. The mica is taken from self -dug holes. Some of these holes are up to 20 meters deep and not secured. Play accidents - also fatal - are common, because the shafts break or run with water when rain, so that children are spilled. The children suffer from diseases of the airways, dust flung and injuries (cuts) . They are often dehydrated because they cannot drink water during work. Due to the living conditions, a high number of children is anemic and malnourished. Infectious diseases such as tuberculosis are common.

The living conditions of families and communities are shaped by multidimensional poverty . In Bihar, the third largest state of India, around 40 percent of people live below the poverty line of $ 1.90 a day, in Jharkhand it is 39 percent . Every fifth child - around 20 percent - under the age of five is malnourished. The educational opportunities are also low: Terre des Hommes found only 1,800 children in a sample in 14 villages who attended a school, while 10,000 children worked in school -enabled aging and did not go to school.

Bihar and Jharkhand have over 40 percent of India's mineral resources and, among other things, deliver around 30 percent of the globally consumed mica . However, Mica is illegally dismantled, the mines are not subject to any control: a consequence of the law to limit deforestation from 1980. At that time, the mining company government withdrew the licenses to protect the forest. However, the microns continued, illegal, without any state regulation or control and with partly unexpective and mafia business relationships between buyers and customers.

Alternative income options are not accessible: agriculture hardly throws anything continuing drought In addition there is a lack of education to achieve income in other sectors. Either the digging of Mica or the migration in the country's cities and industrial centers remain.

Also in Madagascar, children are demonstrably working on the reduction of Mica. During a survey by Terre des Hommes Netherlands in 2019, the researchers found children in 14 mines in the south of the country: they worked together with their families. While the fathers raised shafts and partially raged tunnel systems, children and women raise the mica on the surface and sort it. There is also a significant risk of accidents here, since people work without professional equipment and protection. Depending on the quality of the mica, buyers pay between 27 cents and three US dollars for an adult's daily yield.

The risk of child labor in the reduction of Mica also exists in Brazil and China, but there are still no studies or other evidence here.

In 100 villages in the mica mining areas in India, Terre des Hommes ensures that all children can go to school and, above all, women are trained so that they can develop other sources of income. Our project partners are currently working with 2,700 children and adolescents and 600 women. In order for the situation to improve in the long term, we demand in India that the mica mines are legalized. Then the responsible authorities have to check the mines and working conditions and monitor that no children work there and receive minimum wages and social security. It is just as important that all children in the region go to school: That is why government programs for poor families have to be implemented. Schools have to be better equipped so that all children in school -enabled age can be achieved. Children from poor families must enjoy free school feeding, regular check -ups and medical care.

Terre des Hommes actively works in the RMI and asks manufacturers and trade to join the RMI and act responsibly.