Child Labour Governance and Institutional Fragmentation: Evidence from a Cross-Border Urban Context in Argentina

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative case study on the prevention of child labour in Posadas, Argentina, focusing on structural living conditions and governmental child protection resources. Data were collected through 67 semi-structured interviews with professionals from governmental and non-governmental organizations, field observations, and visits to child protection institutions conducted between 2021 and 2022. The study describes a typology of child labour observed during this period and evaluates three support resources: the day home, non-residential temporary shelters, and the municipal urban patrol program. Drawing on extended case method and grounded in a social work and public management perspective, the findings reveal persistent child labour trajectories and underscore the necessity of a unified, multi-stakeholder child protection system. The article adopts an explicit abolitionist position, arguing that institutional fragmentation between labour and social development sectors constitutes the central difficulty to effective prevention. These insights contribute to broader debates on abolitionism versus regulation, offering practical implications for policy development and social intervention in Argentina.