Nearly
half a million schoolchildren are working illegally in the UK despite the
introduction of the European Young Workers Directive last year.
The
TUC/MORI survey of 2,500 schoolchildren in England and Wales, reveals that one
in four schoolchildren under 13 are doing some form of paid work. It shows that
35 per cent of 13 year olds are either working during term-time or had worked
in the last summer holidays.
Although
children under 16 are banned from working before 7am or after 7pm, the report
found that 45 per cent of the working children are working after eight at
night, and 23 per cent said they worked before six in the morning.
The most
common jobs are baby-sitting (37 per cent) and paper rounds (35 per cent)
followed by cleaning (19 per cent).
