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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide ethnographic data on the lives of children working in cocoa‐producing communities in Ghana and to illustrate the importance of contextualisation in understanding the phenomenon of child labour.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on anthropological fieldwork carried out in Ghana using participant observation and child‐focused participatory research methods. It also includes an analysis of media sources and policy documents.FindingsIt shows that the children involved in this study worked freely and willingly on family cocoa farms. It also shows that research and interventions must be context‐based and child‐centred as forms of child labour in cocoa are not uniform across West Africa.Research limitations/implicationsUnfortunately, the scope of the paper does not allow for a discussion of recent interventions and progress relating to child labour in the West African cocoa industry.Originality/valueThis paper challenges many of the assumptions made about child labour in cocoa and offers new insights into the lives of children in these communities.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline the emergence of pupils' firms in Germany since the beginning of the 1990s.Design/methodology/approachThe exploratory study is mainly based on a survey conducted with 88 projects that were presented at a pupils' firm fair in Berlin in November 2005, where pupils' firms from all over Germany presented themselves. During the fair, pupils, teachers and representatives of supporting organisations were interviewed. Furthermore, a comparison of other pupils' firms and supporting organisations' information material was undertaken.FindingsThe paper concludes with questioning the exclusive conceptualisation of the pupils' firms as educational projects within school and renders problematic their emphasis on providing business ideas and management skills. The paper argues for more reflection on the wider social and political implications around issues to do with pupils' autonomy and makes a case for preferred forms of self‐determined and cooperative working.Originality/valueThe paper discusses the goals and interests pursued in founding and promoting pupils' firms. It asks what experiences, opportunities and risks are involved for the pupils and what further approaches are becoming apparent, or are thinkable. In Germany, pupils' firms have not been systematically analysed.

PurposeBased on a case study of a small community in Thailand, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the explanations that child prostitutes give for selling sex. It looks at whether child prostitution can be considered as a form of labour and if children themselves understand what they do as work or exploitation. It focuses on children's relationships within their families and argues that international legislation calling for child prostitution to be abolished, while well meaning, is too simplistic and does not deal with the complex social relations underpinning prostitution and the lack of alternatives for many children.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation among a small group of child prostitutes in Thailand.FindingsCertain children have very different understandings of prostitution to those campaigning to end the practice. They do not see prostitution as a form of work or necessarily as a form of abuse. Instead they claim it as a way of fulfilling perceived social and moral obligations to their families.Research limitations/implicationsThe importance of listening to children themselves, even on such sensitive and emotive issues, is paramount as it reveals a gap between ground level realities and proposals put forward in international legislation.Originality/valueThe growing literature on child prostitution rarely takes into account children's own perspectives. This paper engages directly with children and takes seriously their own justifications and rationalisations.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the theory, policy and practice of child labour in Latin America. Interventions to reduce child labour are more likely to be successful if they are locally‐driven, supported by legislation and based on theoretical understandings of childhood that reflect the realities and needs of the children, families and communities whose lives they aim to improve.Design/methodology/approachSociological and anthropological discourses on children's life worlds are reviewed to situate changes in our understanding of child labour. These theoretical developments are then discussed in the light of changing international legislation, such as ILO's convention 182. Recent statistics suggest a trend for declining child labour and we study the link between statistics, theoretical and legislative positions.FindingsThe ILO's 2006 child labour statistics and examples of policies in Latin America support the hypothesis that theoretical developments in the concept of childhood have influenced successful interventions aimed at its reduction. This theory‐policy‐practice partnership appears to have been a catalyst for the development of successful "government–private‐enterprise – civil society" programmes to reduce child labour.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough these multi‐sectorial strategies have been successful in Latin America, further research is needed to see whether similar policies and interventions can be repeated in other regions.Originality/valueThe paper is original in its linking of theory, policy and practice in the context of recent statistics and programmes at reducing child labour in Latin America.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore associations between children's and mothers" work.Design/methodology/approachBrazilian household survey data are used to examine characteristics of children's and mothers' work in tandem.FindingsChildren are more likely to be in the labor force if their mothers are working, especially girls, younger children and rural children. There are strong connections between mothers' and children's employment characteristics, including industry and sector, location, commute times and whether paid. Employed children are more likely to work long hours if their mothers do, or if their mothers are not employed.Practical implicationsConnections between women's and children's work imply that changes in women's employment can change the work activities of their children. Policies and programs designed to influence women's labor force participation, such as micro‐credit programs, should consider their effects on children's time. Moreover, programs, laws, and international conventions that address only child labor ignore the family context of child work, limiting their potential impact.Originality/valueThe paper uses quantitative techniques and survey data to examine a topic usually investigated through small qualitative studies.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of accidents amongst child workers and to test the hypothesis that the tendency to have an accident is related to low perception of risk.Design/methodology/approachOver 700 Year 10 school students answered questionnaires concerning their experience of employment. The school students completed another questionnaire in year 11; from these 55 working children were selected to be interviewed and respond to a new tool, the Job Risk Card Sort.FindingsWhereas 45 per cent of the interviewees had reported having had an accident in the questionnaire, this rose to 80 per cent in the interview. Those who stated in the questionnaire that they had had an accident tended to have lower perception of risk on the card sort than those who did not, thus supporting the hypothesis.Research limitations/implicationsPrevious questionnaire‐based research on accidents amongst young workers may have underestimated their extent. Further investigation of risk perception and accidents should be undertaken with a larger sample and more sophisticated techniques.Practical implicationsProcedures to safeguard young workers against accidents should be strengthened.Originality/valueThis is the most detailed study of accidents to child employees so far undertaken in Britain.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between high school work experiences and self‐efficacy.Design/methodology/approachOrdinary least squares regressions are applied to longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study to examine work experiences and self‐efficacy.FindingsThe analyses indicate that employment fosters self‐efficacy in multiple realms. Occasional and sporadic workers exhibit less self‐efficacy than steady workers. Supervisory support may be especially important in enhancing adolescents' confidence as they anticipate their future family lives, community participation, personal health and economic achievements.Research limitations/implicationsThis research includes only a small set of the work dimensions that may be important for adolescents. Ethnography and in‐depth interviews are recommended to further explore the subjective and emotional dimensions of youth work experiences.Practical implicationsIn developing policies and guidance, educators, parents and employers should be aware that steady employment and supervisory support enhance the development of adolescent self‐efficacy.Originality/valueThis paper finds evidence that adolescent work experiences spill over to influence youth's developing confidence in the realms of family life, community and personal health. It also suggests that sporadic and occasional work patterns can impair the development of self‐efficacy in adolescence.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to call for re‐thinking of the universal minimum‐age approach to problems of child labour.Design/methodology/approachThe authors point out that there has been no serious policy analysis on universal minimum‐age approaches, and question common assumptions concerning such policies by reviewing available knowledge on the impact of work on children.FindingsAvailable research does not support a presumption that blanket minimum‐age laws are beneficial. In some cases, it is clear that they are injurious to children, underlining the need for systematic policy analysis.Practical implicationsThe promotion of universalized minimum‐age policies should cease until their effect on children has been reliably assessed. In the meantime, more energy and investment should be devoted to alternative, proven ways of combating forms and conditions of work that are genuinely likely to cause harm, and to promoting access to education.Originality/valueThis paper contributes towards introducing more appropriate policy on children's work.

AbstractIntroductionStigma undermines all aspects of a comprehensive HIV response, as reflected in recent global initiatives for stigma‐reduction. Yet a commensurate response to systematically tackle stigma within country responses has not yet occurred, which may be due to the lack of sufficient evidence documenting evaluated stigma‐reduction interventions. With stigma present in all life spheres, health facilities offer a logical starting point for developing and expanding stigma reduction interventions. This study evaluates the impact of a "total facility" stigma‐reduction intervention on the drivers and manifestations of stigma and discrimination among health facility staff in Ghana.MethodsWe evaluated the impact of a total facility stigma‐reduction intervention by comparing five intervention to five comparable non‐intervention health facilities in Ghana. Interventions began in September 2017. Data collection was in June 2017 and April 2018. The primary outcomes were composite indicators for three stigma drivers, self‐reported stigmatizing avoidance behaviour, and observed discrimination. The principal intervention variable was whether the respondent worked at an intervention or comparison facility. We estimated intervention effects as differences‐in‐differences in each outcome, further adjusted using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW).ResultsWe observed favourable intervention effects for all outcome domains except for stigmatizing attitudes. Preferring not to provide services to people living with HIV (PLHIV) or a key population member improved 11.1% more in intervention than comparison facility respondents (95% CI 3.2 to 19.0). Other significant improvements included knowledge of policies to protect against discrimination (difference‐in‐differences = 20.4%; 95% CI 12.7 to 28.0); belief that discrimination would be punished (11.2%; 95% CI 0.2 to 22.3); and knowledge of and belief in the adequacy of infection control policies (17.6%; 95% CI 8.3 to 26.9). Reported observation of stigma and discrimination incidents fell by 7.4 percentage points more among intervention than comparison facility respondents, though only marginally significant in the IPTW‐adjusted model (p = 0.06). Respondents at intervention facilities were 19.0% (95% CI 12.2 to 25.8) more likely to report that staff behaviour towards PLHIV had improved over the last year than those at comparison facilities.ConclusionsThese results provide a foundation for scaling up health facility stigma‐reduction within national HIV responses, though they should be accompanied by rigorous implementation science to ensure ongoing learning and adaptation for maximum effectiveness and long‐term impact.