For many children across China, there’s a sense of excitement in the air: the summer holidays are coming up, which means relief from long hours of tedious homework assignments and more time for play. But this scenario doesn’t apply to every child. The arrival of summer also ushers in a new wave of challenges for businesses and families. For one, about 62 million children won’t see their parents during the holidays as they’ll be too busy at work to come home – summer is usually the peak production season in factories, with no national holidays to allow for reunions.
 
Not surprisingly, child labor cases typically rise sharply during the summer months, with a stream of under-aged children finding employment through dubious agents or fake IDs trickling in. Juvenile (16-17 years) and student workers also typically pour into factories during the summer, and just like the child laborers, are at great risk of exploitation and working in unsafe conditions.
 
Our vast experience researching and working directly with supply chain factories in China has shown that grasping the tools and knowledge related to the management of these vulnerable groups, brings direct benefits to both workers and companies. In the short three months since the last newsletter, we’ve been busy refining our guidelines on child labor remediation and the management of juvenile workers. We’ve also been up and down the country carrying out trainings to help factories protect children, and giving them the tools and knowledge to better manage restless young workers, parent workers separated from their children and line managers who struggle to communicate and connect with the young workforce. But our work doesn’t end there. Keep reading to find out what else we’ve been up to over the past three months!
 
 
Best Wishes,
 
The CCR CSR team
 

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Virtual Youth development working group

Motivated by the positive work of the Hong Kong Working Group, CCR CSR has now launched a Virtual Youth Development Working Group that via quarterly online meetings, brings together international brands around the world committed to supporting children and young people affected by their supply chains in China. In addition to sharing best practices, ideas and experiences, the group can also join CCR CSR-initiated projects and avail of our tools and findings. 

Wechat platform for young factory workers

High staff turnover, internal conflicts, labor shortages and demotivated workers are all too common in China’s current manufacturing industry. To motivate and inspire young workers, we launched a WeChat platform that features weekly motivational stories told through low-res videos and photo stories, as well as knowledge-testing quizzes and articles. The platform can also be used for factory managers to set up communication and feedback channels with workers. 

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Left-behind children

Although a longstanding issue in China, the topic of how to safeguard and protect left-behind children has received increased attention of late. Following on from our “They Are Also Parents” study in 2013, which focused on the psychological impact of separation with children on parents, a number of interesting reports have been published recently, among them a new study on the psychological wellbeing of left-behind children in China. A summary of the report’s key findings can be found here.  

COMING UP

Child Labor Awareness Seminar
Guangzhou, September 2015

CCR CSR’s half-day seminar on child labor, juvenile worker and student worker awareness will take place in Guangzhou in September. The event aims to strengthen awareness of child rights and child protection in supply chains, and to equip factory owners and management with practical knowledge and skills related to child labor prevention and the hiring of juvenile and student workers. This seminar is by brand invitation ONLY. Please contact event@ccrcsr.com for more info. 



 

Child Rights & Business Principles Conference
Kuala Lumpur, October 2015

This half-day afternoon event will be held on 6 October 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, in conjunction with the CSR Asia Summit 2015. Co-developed by UN Global Compact, UNICEF and Save the Children, the CRBPs provide a comprehensive framework for business action to respect and support children’s rights in the workplace, marketplace and community. Click here to learn more about the CRBPs.