Bolivia Legalizes Child Labor

Published July 18, 2014 at 1:45 PM EDT

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A boy helps his older siblings to wash a car in a street of La Paz, Bolivia, on May 7. Bolivian children work on farms, in mines, and other dangerous jobs for children. Now, child labor is officially legalized in the country. (Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images)

Bolivia has passed a law allowing “self-employed children” as young as 10 to work, as long as they still attend school.

Here & Now’s Meghna Chakrabarti speaks to Jo Becker, advocacy director for the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, about why Bolivia is taking the measure, which appears to run contrary to the rest of the world.

Guest

Jo Becker, advocacy director for the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. She tweets @jobeckerhrw.