Public Policies for the Eradication of Child Labor: Zamba Care Spaces in the Province of Misiones, Argentina

This article examines the implementation of Zamba Care Spaces (ECZ), a public policy that provides care, food, and support to the sons and daughters of tarefero workers (yerba mate harvesters) and seeks to eradicate child labor in yerba mate production in the province of Misiones, Argentina. Based on interviews with key informants, it is argued that this policy currently lacks state funding and that ECZ workers are in precarious employment conditions. Consequently, the ECZ do not achieve the objective for which they were created. To transform child labor in the “tarefa”, school dropout, and the limited life opportunities of boys and girls, greater state investment, a sustained public policy, changes in the patterns of informality that characterize yerba mate production, and improved working conditions for those who work in the ECZ are necessary.

• Main Author: Flores Pérez, Ezequiel Alejandro (author)
• Format: article
• Language: spa
• Published: 2026
• Subjects: Comandante Andresito; Colonia Wanda; deserción escolar; niñez e infancia; políticas sociales; precarización laboral; tarefa; trabajadores rurales; obreros; cuidado infantil; regulacionismo; abolicionismo; riesgos; ocupación; hogar; school dropout; childhood and infancy; social policies; job insecurity; rural workers; laborers; childcare; regulationism; abolitionism; risks; occupation; home
• Online Access: https://revistas.iaen.edu.ec/index.php/estado_comunes/article/view/410