This survey was limited in focus. It was designed simply to establish the extent to which small enterprises in the leather sector that employed children were primarily supplying the domestic market.
In a purposive sample of 158 small leather enterprises – mostly in the informal economy – that hired children in the Hazaribagh, Hemayetpur, and Bhairab areas of Bangladesh, the majority were found to be supplying their products only to the domestic market. However, a considerable number of leather enterprises directly or indirectly sell their products in foreign markets. This has significant implications for reducing the worst forms of child labour because price points are typically lower in domestic markets, the regulatory levers applied to global value chains are not relevant, and incentives for politicians to act are minimal as none of this work affects the country’s positioning in export markets.
