child labour
Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that
deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend
regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally
dangerous and harmful.[3] This practice is considered exploitative by
manyinternational organisations. Legislations across the world prohibit
child labour.[4][5] These laws do not consider all work by children as child
labour; exceptions include work by child artists, supervised training,
certain categories of work such as those by Amish children, and others.
[6][7]
Child labour was employed to varying extents through most of history.
Before 1940, numerous children aged 5–14 worked in Europe, the
United States and various colonies of European powers. These children
worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories,
mining and in services such as newsies. Some worked night shifts
lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of
schools and passage of child labour laws, the incidence rates of child
labour fell.[8][9][10]
In developing countries, with high poverty and poor schooling
opportunities, child labour is still prevalent. In 2010, sub-saharan
Africa had the highest incidence rates of child labour, with several
African nations witnessing over 50 percent of children aged 5–14
working.[11] Worldwide agriculture is the largest employer of child labour.
[12]
Vast majority of child labour is found in rural settings and informal
urban economy; children are predominantly employed by their parents,
rather than factories.[13] Poverty and lack of schools are considered as
the primary cause of child labour.[14]
The incidence of child labour in the world decreased from 25% to
10% between 1960 and 2003, according to the World
Bank…………….
What is child
labour
Considerable differences exist between the many kinds of work children do.
Some are difficult and demanding, others are more hazardous and even
morally reprehensible. Children carry out a very wide range of tasks and
activities when they work.
Defining child labour
Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be
targeted for elimination. Children’s or adolescents’ participation in work that
does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their
schooling, is generally regarded as being something positive. This includes
activities such as helping their parents around the home, assisting in a family
business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school
holidays. These kinds of activities contribute to children’s development and to
the welfare of their families; they provide them with skills and experience,
and help to prepare them to be productive members of society during their
adult life.
The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their
childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and
mental development.
It refers to work that:
is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to
children; and
interferes with their schooling by:
depriving them of the opportunity to attend school;
obliging them to leave school prematurely; or
requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with
excessively long and heavy work.
In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved,
separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses
and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a
very early age. Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child
labour” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed,
the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by
individual countries. The answer varies from country to country, as well as
among sectors within countries.
The worst forms of child labour
Whilst child labour takes many different forms, a priority is to eliminate
without delay the worst forms of child labour as defined by Article 3 of ILO
Convention No. 182:
(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and
trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory
labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in
armed conflict;
(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production
of pornography or for pornographic performances;
(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for
the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international
treaties;
(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is
likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.
Labour that jeopardises the physical, mental or moral well-being of a child,
either because of its nature or because of the conditions in which it is carried
out, is known as “hazardous work”.
Child labour distribution by branch of economic activity, 5-17
years old
The agriculture sector comprises activities in agriculture, hunting forestry,
and fishing.
The industry sector includes mining and quarrying, manufacturing,
construction, and public utilities (electricity, gas and water).
The services sector consists of wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and
hotels; transport, storage, and communications; finance, insurance, real-
estate, and business services; and community as well as social personal
services.
Causes and Solutions to the Problem of Child Labor
Every year on 12 June, people around the world celebrate the World Day
against Child Labour, a day dedicated to the goal of creating a world in which
children everywhere can grow up without the threat of being forced into child
labor. An estimated 246 million children are engaged in child labor, with
nearly 70 percent of them (about 171 million) working in hazardous
conditions, including work in mines and quarries, work with chemicals and
pesticides or with dangerous machinery. “Children as young as five are
forced to spend long hours doing back-breaking labor, often in harsh weather
and without access to health care,” UNICEF Executive Director Ann M.
Veneman said. “Children mining rock, gold, coal, diamonds and precious
metals in Africa, Asia and South America are at constant risk of dying on the
job, being injured or becoming chronically ill.” While very few will argue that
child labor is beneficial to today’s world, many do contend that because of
the current state of affairs around the globe, it is a necessary evil for child
labor to be used in some places. This paper will examine some of the biggest
causes of child labor and outline ways to put them to an end.
POVERTY
International financial institutions like the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund contributed to the rise in child labor when they called on
countries heavily indebted to them to reduce public expenditure on health
care and new jobs. These structural adjustment programs have resulted in
increased poverty and child labour. The World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund should rethink their loan plans to developing countries in an
effort to increase social expenditure rather than reduce it. Government
organizations and industries should be pressured to act in a socially
responsible manner and to put an end to child labor or to provide children
with better working conditions. Boycotting is not the solution because it
forces children, who otherwise have no specific training, to quit...
THE PROBLEM OF CHILD
LABOUR
Consider for a moment the way most of us in our society are lucky enough to
be sitting in a warm, safe, clean office or classroom each day, surrounded by
all the material things we take for granted. Then consider the 200 million
children around the globe who have barely enough money for survival, that
have been made to enter the workforce simply to keep their families alive.
While they work in extremely unhealthy and unsafe conditions, in jobs not fit
at all for little children, our kind of life isn’t an option for them. Dream large is
not what they’re told. They are just focused on surviving in the appalling
conditions they live in. This is not just a few, but more than 200 million
children we are talking about, some barely four years old, who don’t have the
basic rights that children should have. So I think it’s time, firstly, that we were
made more aware of what suffering is actually out there because of child
labour, and secondly, I think it’s time our government took on more
responsibility in providing aid to these disadvantaged countries, so these
children can live their lives just as you and I are trying to live ours.
Selling flowers for only 5 cents in Bangladesh
There are endless stories that could be told about the miserable working
conditions these child labourers endure, such as those working in brick kilns
making bricks from dawn to dusk, for only a few cents a day, or those who are
physically and verbally abused by employers. Stories even more shocking are
of children like Nagashar, a labourer in a carpet factory with scars all over his
body, including his voice box, where he’d been branded with red hot irons for
trying to escape. This treatment is sadly what is normal in the factories and
workplaces that exploit children. Their treatment is bad, but the work they are
forced to do is often even more dangerous, some little children working in
factories where they have to mix gunpowder for firecrackers, or sort through
used syringes from hospitals. Hardly any payment, abuse by their employers
and dangerous, unsafe jobs are the conditions in which children work in many
developing countries. “It was like a prison, we worked from 5 a.m. until
midnight making carpets and we slept among the machines” – a quote from
one little child, Kumar, that truly expresses such misery. This is not just facts
statistics, it’s real children. The truth is, child labour is a form of child abuse.
To add to this unhappy reality, these children miss out on having a normal
childhood when they’re forced to work from such young ages and don’t
receive the education they should. How is it fair that children are sitting on the
ground 12 hours a day, sewing soccer balls for famous brands, soccer balls
shipped off to other countries perhaps for people like you or me to buy, and
these children sitting on the ground sewing soccer balls will never have the
chance to buy one for themselves. Because this is their childhood, this hard
gruelling labour is how they are growing up.
Unfortunately, child labour is closely associated with poverty. So even though
the right to education has a central place in human rights, many poor families
are unable to afford school fees or other school costs. The family then sends
a child to work to contribute to the household’s income. Children as young as
four are forced into factories, and so they miss out on education. But, more
than ever today, children need a good quality education and training to
acquire the skills necessary to help lift themselves out of poverty. When
children who’ve had the benefits of education grow up, they are more likely to
choose to send their own children to school. So investing in education is a
sound economic decision. This is why I believe it is so important for our
government to take on more responsibility in aiding poorer countries so they
can send their children to school, not a factory.
Hard labour in a brick factory
Even though the argument for child labour has long been that families in
poverty need their children to work, there is no excuse for child abuse.
Studies by UNICEF have shown that child labour is actually keeping
developing countries poor, because a child at work means an adult out of
work. This is much worse for a family in poverty because factory owners
prefer to hire children over adults as they are paid less, easily intimidated and
won’t organize trade unions. India has 50 million child workers, but 55 million
adults unemployed. Yet surely as it is the adults who can negotiate for better
rights and working conditions, work should be given to adult members of the
family – even more so because these children aren’t able to go to school, so
they remain illiterate, and the cycle of poverty continues.
Perhaps it would be better to argue that companies that go into developing
countries contracting cheap labour should be paying their workers a fair wage
so that children will not have to work instead of adults. The argument that
child labour is an ‘unavoidable part’ of poverty is immoral. We should not
accept the exploitation of children under any circumstances and they should
not be condemned to a life of poverty and lost opportunity.
Children fishing for their employer in Bangladesh
It’s clear that this awful crime of child labour must be stopped, and as
consumers, I say we bear part of the responsibility. Instead of accepting that
the world we live in is just unfair and that’s the way it is, it’s up to us to keep it
a place worth living for every single little person out there. It’s time our country
reached out a hand to those poor suffering children – citizens of the world as
much as we are – and let them live their lives to their full potential, as children
should.
If you would like to play a part in putting an end to the injustice of child labour,
click on these links to get informed, discover which retail organisations are
child labour free, and ways to become involved:
United Nations
Ethical Consumer Guide
Stop the Traffik
Only Just – Fair Trade Store in Montmorency……
Solution Of Child Labour
India has the largest number of children employed than any
other country in the world .According to the government of
India , 179 million children in the 6- 14 age group do not go
to school and are engaged in some occupation or other .80%
of the children work in hazardous conditions .
A large number of children work in cottage industries and
houses .Poverty has often been cited as the reason for child
labour in India.
Solutions to avoid Child Labour :-
1) Increased family incomes .
2) Education - That helps children learn skills that will help
them earn a living .Children need to learn how to read and
write. They need social and professional skills that only
school and a nurturing environment can provide.Some
countries have compulsory schooling and some provide free
public schooling. However, in many countries, particularly
for those where structural adjustment lending has led to the
privatization of schools-the cost of teaching, books,and
uniforms makes it impossible for children to get an
education.
3) Social Services - That helps children and families survive
crises such as diseases or loss of home and shelter.
4) Family Control or Fertility - So that families are not
burdened by children.
5) Eliminate poverty - Boycotting is not the solution because
it forces children, who otherwise have no specific training,to
quit their jobs and return to the streets or to more
dangerous activities.
6) Enforce labour laws - Most countries have laws against
child labour; however, some governments support child
labour (regardless of existing laws) as a way of gaining a
competitive market advantage.Preventing children from
working is not necessarily the best solution; children may
end up in worse situations and their families may become
even poorer.
7) Abolish child trafficking - Everywhere in the world, there
are adults who earn a living by buying and selling children.
The governments of all countries must take harsh measures
against child trafficking.
8) Promote fair trade Fair trade practices guarantee a fair
price to small-scale producers. In 44 developing countries,
fair trade helps keep 550 co-operatives in business. These
co-operatives consequently provide goods to 5 million people
and often reinvest profits in the community, where the
money is used to build schools, medical clinics, wells, etc.
9) Replace child workers by adult workers - There are 800
million unemployed adults in the world; and yet, the number
of working children is estimated to be at over 300 million. ….
Possible Solutions
1) Our first solution is to create more unions to protect and prevent
against child labor. With more unions, more people will be encouraged
to help against child labor and they will be aware of what is really
happening inside the work force. In order to create these workers
unions, revolts and strikes may be necessary, this can be very brutal
and difficult process, the workers will be tested and some violence may
occur. This solution is a very risky and dangerous, if the workers fail to
create the unions, the working condidtions and treatment of workers
may worsen in response of their rebelion.
2) Our second solution to stop and prevent child labor is to give
education to these children. By doing this, we can better the chances
that these children will succeed in life and they will be occupied with
going to school and not bing forced to work. The only downfall to this
option is that it will take time, money, and the cooperation of the
community to build these schools and enroll these children.
3) Our third solution is to change how the public views this problem. If
we can change how the people see what child labor does to the
children, more people will be determined to stop it and want to help. On
the other hand, this exposure to child labor could possibly cause the
public to demand reforms in the government's labor laws and
restrictions. If the the government refuses to support the misfortunate
children then revolts and rebellions may occur, this is not our goal, we
want to solve this issue in a peaceful and most productive way.
4) Our final solution is to create a minimum family income. Many
families need child labor or they wind up putting their kids out on
the streets or selling them in order to survive. If we can help these
families come out of poverty and get a steady money income, more and
more children won't have to work in these type of conditions. However
we must consider the fact that the government would be the one who
has to support this system, and they may not be as enthusiastic about
supporting such an idea. They may not even have the capability to do
so especially if it is a developing country.
UNICEF, in one of its annual reports, has evocatively observed, "The day will come when
nations will be judged not only by their military or economic strength, nor by the splendour of
their capital cities and public buildings but by the well-being of their people;…..by the
provision that is made for those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged and by the protection
that is afforded to the growing minds and bodies of their children."
India fully subscribe to this universal aspiration. Our Constitution makers had known that India
of their vision would not be a reality if the country’s children are not nurtured and educated.
Article 24 dealing with prohibition of employment of children in factories and Article 45 relating
to provision of free and compulsory education for children bear testimony to this realisation.
The other provisions relate to prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour (Article
23) and certain principles of policy to be followed by the State stipulates that children be
secured against exploitation.
