Key Findings

There is a slight divergence between China and other countries when comparing the locations with the highest likelihood of discovering child labor , with fewer cases discovered in canteens in China than in other countries . However , what they all have in common is that factories with simple production processes such as finishing and packaging have the highest likelihood of employing child laborers , while heavy ones usually have the lowest likelihood ( Figure 4 ).

Figure 4 :

100 80 60 40

Bangladesh India Vietnam China

Key Findings

There are no major differences in the typical procedures used to identify child labor in different countries . While the vast majority of the auditors identify child labor by interviewing the child , less than half of the auditors ( even fewer in China ) interview other workers about suspected child labor cases .

Since interviewing the child is the number one means of verifying their age , the auditors ’ interviewing / communications skills might naturally play an important role in the successful identification of child labor . Such an internal factor might explain why we saw clear disparities when looking at the number of child labor cases between auditors of different gender , experience and , in some cases , training . We will explore these differences in depth in the “ Difference Between Auditors ” section below .

An experienced auditor from Vietnam who preferred to stay anonymous stresses the importance of being able to adapt one ’ s communication style to the child ’ s age . She thinks it is a must-have skill for an auditor . “ Children shouldn ’ t be asked direct questions [ about their age ] as this may scare them off ”. She is also one of the few auditors who interviews other workers to determine whether or not this was an isolated case ( for full story , please refer to appendix 3 ).

5 Best Response : Auditors ’ Insights on Child Labor in Asia