Child Labour

Introduction
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour.
This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is
illegal in many countries. Child labour was utilized to varying extents through most of
history, but entered public dispute with the advent of universal schooling, with
changes in working conditions during the industrial revolution, and with the emergence
of the concepts of workers' and children's rights.
In many developed countries, it is considered inappropriate or exploitative if a child
below a certain age works excluding household chores or school!related work". #n
employer is usually not permitted to hire a child below a certain minimum age. This
minimum age depends on the country and the type of work involved. $tates ratifying
the %inimum #ge Convention adopted by the International &abour 'rganization in
()*+, have adopted minimum ages varying from (, to (-. Child labour laws in the
.nited $tates set the minimum age to work in an establishment without restrictions
and without parents' consent at age (-.
The incidence of child labour in the world decreased from /0 to (1 percent between
()-1 and /11+, according to the 2orld 3ank.
Present day
# young boy recycling garbage in 4o Chi %inh City, 5ietnam in /11-
$ee also6 Children's rights
Child labour is still common in some parts of the world, it can be factory work, mining,
prostitution, 7uarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents' business, having one's own
small business for example selling food", or doing odd 8obs. $ome children work as
guides for tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for shops and
restaurants where they may also work as waiters". 'ther children are forced to do
tedious and repetitive 8obs such as6 assembling boxes, polishing shoes, stocking a
store's products, or cleaning. 4owever, rather than in factories and sweatshops, most
child labour occurs in the informal sector, 9selling many things on the streets, at work
in agriculture or hidden away in houses:far from the reach of official labour
inspectors and from media scrutiny.9 #nd all the work that they did was done in all
types of weather; and was also done for minimal pay. #s long as there is family poverty
there will be child labour.
#ccording to .<IC=>, there are an estimated (0? million children aged 0 to (, in
child labour worldwide, excluding child domestic labour. The .nited <ations and the
International &abour 'rganization consider child labour exploitative,
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with the .<
stipulating, in article +/ of the Convention on the Bights of the Child that6
...$tates Carties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic
exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to
interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or
physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. #lthough globally there is an
estimated /01 milllion children working.
In the ())1s every country in the world except for $omalia and the .nited $tates
became a signatory to the Convention on the Bights of the Child, or CBC. 4owever
according to the .nited <ations >oundation $omalia signed the convention in /11/,
the delay of the signing was believed to been due to $omalia not having a government
to sign the convention. The CBC provides the strongest, most consistent
@citation neededA
international legal language prohibiting illegal child labour; however it does not make
child labour illegal.
# boy repairing a tire in Dambia
Coor families often rely on the labours of their children for survival, and sometimes it
is their only source of income. This type of work is often hidden away because it is not
always in the industrial sector. Child labour is employed in subsistence agriculture and
in the urban informal sector; child domestic work is also important. In order to
benefit children, child labour prohibition has to address the dual challenge of
providing them with both short!term income and long!term prospects. $ome youth
rights groups, however, feel that prohibiting work below a certain age violates human
rights, reducing children's options and leaving them sub8ect to the whims of those
with money.
@citation neededA
In a recent paper, 3asu and 5an ())?" argue that the primary cause of child labour is
parental poverty. That being so, they caution against the use of a legislative ban
against child labour, and argue that should be used only when there is reason to
believe that a ban on child labour will cause adult wages to rise and so compensate
ade7uately the households of the poor children. Child labour is still widely used today
in many countries, including India and 3angladesh. C#C& estimated that there are
between *1 and ?1 million child labourers in India.
Child labour accounts for //E of the workforce in #sia, +/E in #frica, (*E in &atin
#merica, (E in .$, Canada, =urope and other wealthy nations. The proportion of child
labourers varies a lot among countries and even regions inside those countries.
Recent child labour incidents
33C recently reported on Crimark using child labour in the manufacture of clothing. In
particular a F,.11 hand embroidered shirt was the starting point of a documentary
produced by 33C's Canorama T5 series" programme. The programme asks consumers
to ask themselves, 92hy am I only paying F, for a hand embroidered topG This item
looks handmade. 2ho made it for such little costG9, in addition to exposing the violent
side of the child labour industry in countries where child exploitation is prevalent. #s
a result of the programme, Crimark took action and sacked the relevant companies,
and reviewed their supplier procedures.
The >irestone Tire and Bubber Company operate a metal plantation in &iberia which is
the focus of a global campaign called $top >irestone. 2orkers on the plantation are
expected to fulfil a high production 7uota or their wages will be halved, so many
workers brought children to work. The International &abor Bights >und filed a lawsuit
against >irestone The International &abor >und vs. The >irestone Tire and Bubber
Company" in <ovember /110 on behalf of current child labourers and their parents
who had also been child labourers on the plantation. 'n Hune /-, /11*, the 8udge in
this lawsuit in Indianapolis, Indiana denied >irestone's motion to dismiss the case and
allowed the lawsuit to proceed on child labour claims.
'n <ovember /(, /110, #n Indian <D' activist Hunned Ihan, with the help of the
&abour Jepartment and <D' Cratham mounted the country's biggest ever raid for
child labour rescue in the =astern part of <ew Jelhi, the capital of India. The process
resulted in rescue of ,?1 children from over (11 illegal embroidery factories
operating in the crowded slum area of $eelampur. >or next few weeks, government,
media and <D's were in a frenzy over the exuberant numbers of young boys, as young
as 0!- year olds, released from bondage. This rescue operation opened the eyes of the
world to the menace of child labour operating right under the nose of the largest
democracy in the whole world.
#fter the news of child labourers working in embroidery industry was uncovered in
the $unday 'bserver on /? 'ctober /11*, 33# activists swung into action. The D#C
Inc. in a statement accepted that the child labourers were working in production of
D#C Iids blouses and has already made a statement to pull the products from the
shelf. In spite of the documentation of the child labourers working in the high!street
fashion and admission by all concerned parties, only the $J% could not recognise
these children as working under conditions of slavery and bondage.
Jistraught and desperate that these collusions by the custodians of 8ustice, founder
of 33# Iailash $atyarthi, Chairperson of Dlobal %arch #gainst Child &abour appealed
to the 4onourable Chief Hustice of Jelhi 4igh Court through a letter at ((.11 pm. This
order by the 4onourable Chief Hustice comes when the government is taking an
extremely retrogressive stance on the issue of child labour in sweatshops in India and
threatening 'retaliatory measures' against child rights organisations.
In a parallel development, Dlobal %arch #gainst Child &abour and 33# are in dialogue
with the D#C Inc. and other stakeholders to work out a positive strategy to prevent
the entry of child labour in to sweatshops and device a mechanism of monitoring and
remedial action. D#C Inc. $enior 5ice Cresident, Jan 4enkle in a statement said6 92e
have been making steady progress, and the children are now under the care of the
local government. #s our policy re7uires, the vendor with which our order was
originally placed will be re7uired to provide the children with access to schooling and
8ob training, pay them an ongoing wage and guarantee them 8obs as soon as they reach
the legal working age. 2e will now work with the local government and with Dlobal
%arch to ensure that our vendor fulfils these obligations.9
'n 'ctober /?, Hoe =astman, president of Dap <orth #merica, responded, 92e
strictly prohibit the use of child labor. This is non!negotiable for us K and we are
deeply concerned and upset by this allegation. #s we've demonstrated in the past, Dap
has a history of addressing challenges like this head!on, and our approach to this
situation will be no exception. In /11-, Dap Inc. ceased business with /+ factories due
to code violations. 2e have )1 people located around the world whose 8ob is to ensure
compliance with our Code of 5endor Conduct. #s soon as we were alerted to this
situation, we stopped the work order and prevented the product from being sold in
stores. 2hile violations of our strict prohibition on child labor in factories that
produce product for the company are extremely rare, we have called an urgent
meeting with our suppliers in the region to reinforce our policies.9
In early #ugust /11?, Iowa &abor Commissioner Javid <eil announced that his
department had found that #griprocessors, a kosher meatpacking company in Costville
which had recently been raided by Immigration and Customs =nforcement, had
employed 0* minors, some as young as (,, in violation of state law prohibiting anyone
under (? from working in a meatpacking plant. <eil announced that he was turning the
case over to the state #ttorney Deneral for prosecution, claiming that his
department's in7uiry had discovered 9egregious violations of virtually every aspect of
Iowa's child labor laws.9 #griprocessors claimed that it was at a loss to understand
the allegations.
In ())*, research indicated that the number of child labourers in the silk!weaving
industry in the district of Ianchipuram in India exceeded ,1,111. This included
children who were bonded labourers to loom owners. Bural Institute for Jevelopment
=ducation undertook many activities to improve the situation of child labourers.
2orking collaboratively, BIJ= brought down the number of child labourers to less
than ,,111 by /11*
Child labour is also often used in the production of cocoa powder, used to make
chocolate. $ee =conomics of cocoa.
In Jecember /11), campaigners in the .I called on two leading high street retailers
to stop selling clothes made with cotton which may have been picked by children. #nti!
$lavery International and the =nvironmental Hustice >oundation =H>" accused 4L%
and Mara of using cotton suppliers in 3angladesh. It is also suspected that many of
their raw materials originates from .zbekistan, where children aged (1 are forced to
work in the fields. The activists were calling to ban the use of .zbek cotton and
implement a 9track and trace9 systems to guarantee an ethical responsible source of
the material.
4L% said it 9does not accept9 child labour and 9seeks to avoid9 using .zbek cotton,
but admitted it did 9not have any reliable methods9 to ensure .zbek cotton did not
end up in any of its products. Inditex, the owner of Mara, said its code of conduct
banned child labour .
Defense of child labour
Concerns have often been raised over the buying public's moral complicity in
purchasing products assembled or otherwise manufactured in developing countries
with child labour. 4owever, others have raised concerns that boycotting products
manufactured through child labour may force these children to turn to more
dangerous or strenuous professions, such as prostitution or agriculture. >or example, a
.<IC=> study found that after the Child &abor Jeterrence #ct was introduced in the
.$, an estimated 01,111 children were dismissed from their garment industry 8obs in
3angladesh, leaving many to resort to 8obs such as 9stone!crushing, street hustling,
and prostitution9, 8obs that are 9more hazardous and exploitative than garment
production9. The study suggests that boycotts are 9blunt instruments with long!term
conse7uences, that can actually harm rather than help the children involved.9
@(+A
#ccording to %ilton >riedman, before the Industrial Bevolution virtually all children
worked in agriculture. Juring the Industrial Bevolution many of these children moved
from farm work to factory work. 'ver time, as real wages rose, parents became able
to afford to send their children to school instead of work and as a result child labour
declined, both before and after legislation.
#ustrian school economist %urray Bothbard also defended child labour, stating that
3ritish and #merican children of the pre! and post!Industrial Bevolution lived and
suffered in infinitely worse conditions where 8obs were not available for them and
went 9voluntarily and gladly9 to work in factories.
4owever, the 3ritish historian and socialist =. C. Thompson in The %aking of the
=nglish 2orking Class draws a 7ualitative distinction between child domestic work and
participation in the wider waged" labour market. >urther, the usefulness of the
experience of the industrial revolution in making predictions about current trends has
been disputed. =conomic historian 4ugh Cunningham, author of Children and Childhood
in 2estern $ociety $ince (011, notes that6
9>ifty years ago it might have been assumed that, 8ust as child labour had
declined in the developed world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, so it would also, in a trickle!down fashion, in the rest of the world.
Its failure to do that, and its re!emergence in the developed world, raise
7uestions about its role in any economy, whether national or global.9
#ccording to Thomas JeDregori, an economics professor at the .niversity of 4ouston,
in an article published by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think!tank operating in
2ashington J.C., 9it is clear that technological and economic change are vital
ingredients in getting children out of the workplace and into schools. Then they can
grow to become productive adults and live longer, healthier lives. 4owever, in poor
countries like 3angladesh, working children are essential for survival in many families,
as they were in our own heritage until the late ()th century. $o, while the struggle to
end child labour is necessary, getting there often re7uires taking different routes:
and, sadly, there are many political obstacles.
&awrence Beed, president of the >oundation for =conomic =ducation contends that
the infamously brutal child labour conditions during the early industrial revolution
were those of 9apprentice children9 who were forced to work, even actually sold as
slaves, by government!owned 2orkhouses" and not those of 9free!work children9
those who worked voluntarily". $o, the government and $tate!managed institutions,
and not &aissez!faire capitalism, is to blame. 4e further contends that, although work
conditions of free!work children were far from ideal, those have been wildly
exaggerated in such 9authoritative9 sources as the $adler report, a fact that even the
anti!capitalist >riedrich =ngels acknowledged.
Efforts against child labour
The International &abour 'rganizationNs International Crogramme on the =limination
of Child &abour IC=C" was created in ())/ with the overall goal of the progressive
elimination of child labour, which was to be achieved through strengthening the
capacity of countries to deal with the problem and promoting a worldwide movement to
combat child labour. IC=C currently has operations in ?? countries, with an annual
expenditure on technical cooperation pro8ects that reached over .$O-( million in
/11?. It is the largest programme of its kind globally and the biggest single
operational programme of the I&'.
The number and range of IC=CNs partners have expanded over the years and now
include employersN and workersN organizations, other international and government
agencies, private businesses, community!based organizations, <D's, the media,
parliamentarians, the 8udiciary, universities, religious groups and, of course, children
and their families.
IC=C's work to eliminate child labour is an important facet of the I&''s Jecent 2ork
#genda. Child labour not only prevents children from ac7uiring the skills and education
they need for a better future, it also perpetuates poverty and affects national
economies through losses in competitiveness, productivity and potential income.
2ithdrawing children from child labour, providing them with education and assisting
their families with training and employment opportunities contribute directly to
creating decent work for adults.
India
In ())*, research indicated that the number of child labourers in the silk!weaving
industry in the district of Ianchipuram in India exceeded ,1,111. This included
children who were bonded labourers to loom owners. Bural Institute for Jevelopment
=ducation undertook many activities to improve the situation of child labourers.
2orking collaboratively, BIJ= brought down the number of child labourers to less
than ,,111 by /11*.
'n <ovember /(, /110, an Indian <D' activist Hunned Ihan,@++A with the help of the
&abour Jepartment and <D' Cratham mounted the country's biggest ever raid for
child labour rescue in the =astern part of <ew Jelhi, the capital of India. The process
resulted in rescue of ,?1 children from over (11 illegal embroidery factories
operating in the crowded slum area of $eelampur. >or next few weeks, government,
media http6PPwww.tehelka.comPstoryQmain+).aspG
filenameRcr101*1?laterdayslave.asp and <D's were in a frenzy over the astonishing
number of young boys, as young as 0K- year olds, released from bondage. This rescue
operation opened the eyes of the world to the menace of child labour operating right
under the nose of the largest democracy in the whole world.
<ext few years Hunned Ihan did extensive campaigning on the issue of children
involved in hazardous labour,@+,A advocating with the central and state governments
for formulation of guidelines for rescue and rehabilitation of children affected by
child labour. In /110, after the rescue, Hunned Ihan, collaborated with 33# to file
petition in the Jelhi 4igh Court for formulation of guidelines for rescue and
rehabilitation of child labour. In the following years, Jelhi's <D's, came together
with the Jelhi Dovernment and formulated an #ction Clan for Bescue and
Behabilitation of child labour.

References
I&' %inimun =stimate of >orced &abour in the 2orld. /110"
The Cost of Coercion I&' /11)
International &abour 'ffice. /110". # global alliance against forced labour
'perational Indicators of Trafficking in 4uman 3eings /11) I&'P$#C!>&
&ists of indicators of Trafficking in 4uman 3eings /11) I&'P$#C!>&
=radication of forced labour ! Deneral $urvey concerning the >orced &abour
Convention, ()+1 <o. /)", and the #bolition of >orced &abour Convention, ()0*
<o. (10" ! I&' /11*
>orced &abour6 Jefinition, Indicators and %easurement /11, ! I&'
$topping >orced &abour /11( ! I&'