Children in a post-collapse settlement will do real work, and work that is matched to a child’s skill, supervised, kept to reasonable hours and balanced with rest, play and learning builds competence and a sense of belonging. Judge each job by its hazard, its hours, whether the child can refuse it and whether it benefits the child, rather than by age alone.
An orientation to children’s contribution to community work: what makes it beneficial, what makes it harmful, and where the details are.
Children Will Work, So Decide How
In most farming and foraging societies, children have taken part in work from a young age, and a small community short of hands will lean on them. Pretending otherwise helps no one. The useful question is what work, how much and under what protection. Work done well teaches skills and gives a child a real place in the group (Building Competence & Pride). Work done badly injures or exhausts children and takes their play, sleep and schooling (Avoiding Exploitation).
Five Tests For Any Job
- Hazard. What could hurt the child, and can that be designed out or watched? See Task Assignment by Age.
- Hours and rest. Does the child still sleep, eat, play and learn?
- Choice. Can the child say no, or say it is too hard, without punishment?
- Benefit. Does it teach something, and is the child recognised for it?
- Fairness. Is it spread among children, and between children and adults?
An Older Reference Point
International labour standards before the collapse set minimum ages for work, with higher ages for hazardous work (ILO Conventions 138 and 182, recalled; the exact ages are not given here and should not be treated as law for a settlement). The principle they express fits this guide: the more dangerous the job, the older and more trained the worker must be, and “light” work for younger children must not harm health or schooling.
The Parent Article’s Age Table
The parent’s guide table pairs age groups with suitable tasks and tasks to avoid. It is a useful starting point and its ages are the parent’s, with no source in this guide. Individual children differ in size, strength and judgement, so adapt it by watching the child, as set out in Task Assignment by Age.
Where To Go Next
- Matching tasks to hazards and judgement: Task Assignment by Age
- Building skill and pride: Building Competence & Pride
- Spotting and preventing harm: Avoiding Exploitation
Common Mistakes
- Treating “traditional” as “safe”. Children have died and been maimed doing traditional work.
- Using age as the only test.
- Assigning all the dull work to children.
- Counting any work as good for them.
The main ways children are hurt at work
Machinery and moving parts, large animals, heights, water, edged tools, fire and heavy loads. A child’s judgement of risk develops later than the child’s physical capability, so a job a child can physically do may still be one they cannot do safely alone. See Task Assignment by Age for how to handle each.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Task Assignment by Age
- Combine with: The Role of Play