Kary Stewart looks at why 850,000 children work in Bolivia, and whether the numbers can be vindicated by the country’s unique cultural context

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When Bolivia’s government sought to protect children by keeping the minimum working age at 14, child protesters took to the streets. They demanded the legal working age be lowered. As a result, in some cases, children are allowed to work at the age of 10.

Can we draw a line between the notion of children working to help their impoverished families to survive, and more exploitative forms of child labour? And how can the state ensure children don’t miss out on education?

Kary Stewart listens to the arguments about whether the country’s unique circumstances provide a rationale for hundreds of thousands of children to go out to work.

There are contributions from Jaime Villalobos and Viviana Farfán, who both work for Save the Children in Bolivia; Tamara Antonieta Nuñez del Prado Aguilera, of Defensoría de la Ninez y Adolescencia, a government department that protects the rights of children; and Rosana Vega, chief of child protection for Unicef in Bolivia. Kary also speaks to former child workers Alfredo Ruben Targui Alunoca and Esther Ruth Valero Mamari.