According to the Ministry of Labor, 46,984 inspection actions in Brazil removed more than 60,000 children and adolescents from the situation between 2006 and 2015.
Data from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) indicate that between 2014 and 2015 there was an 18.2% reduction in the number of child labor occurrences among those aged 5 to 17 years. In 2015, 2.7 million children were working. In 2014, there were 3.3 million.
The head of the Division for the Eradication of Child Labor, Marinalva Cardoso Dantas, explains that operations were intensified last month throughout the country: “The ministry, in each regional headquarters, started conducting operations: each one chose a concerning focus in the state to address. The most chosen activities were car washes, tire shops, and mechanical workshops.”
The International Labour Organization (ILO) indicates that 168 million children and adolescents are engaged in labor activities worldwide, with 85 million in jobs considered dangerous. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the number reaches 12.5 million, with 9.6 million in dangerous work.
“Brazil is committed to the countries in the region to be the first in the world free from child labor,” says Marinalva. The country is developing, in addition to inspections, a clean list of child labor, with activities where the problem has been eradicated. Punishment, in the case of companies, involves the payment of fines. When the exploitation is familial, the action is one of awareness, in addition to the requirement that the child be enrolled in school.
Differences
According to the specialist, the problem is spread throughout the territory, but each region has different characteristics. In the North and Northeast, for example, agriculture and fairs concentrate child labor. In the Southeast, they 
work in industries or clandestine production lines, while in the Midwest, due to the intense truck traffic, children work in car washes and workshops. In the South, cases are related to family agriculture.
Children under 14 years old are prohibited from working according to Brazilian legislation. From this age, adolescents can gain experience as apprentices, with adult guidance and performing age-appropriate activities.
Source: Portal Brasil