ILO Conventions and

Recommendations on child labour

Unit -1
Child Labour
 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
 .

• A majority of countries have adopted legislation

to prohibit or place severe restrictions on the
employment and work of children, much of it
stimulated and guided by standards adopted by
the International Labour Organization (ILO).
•  In spite of these efforts, child labour continues
to exist on a massive scale, sometimes in
appalling conditions, particularly in the
developing world. If progress has been slow or
apparently nonexistent, this is because child
labour is an immensely complex issue. It cannot
be made to disappear simply by the stroke of a
pen.
• Nevertheless, the basis of determined and
concerted action must be legislation, which
sets the total elimination of child labour as the
ultimate goal of policy, and puts measures into
place for this purpose, and which explicitly
identifies and prohibits the worst forms of
child labour to be eliminated as a matter of
priority.
 Hazardous work
•
Any work which is likely to jeopardize
children’s physical, mental or moral heath,
safety or morals should not be done by
anyone under the age of 18
 Basic Minimum Age
•
The minimum age for work should not be
below the age for finishing compulsory
schooling, and in any case not less than 15
 Light work
•
Children between the ages of 13 and 15 years
old may do light work, as long as it does not
threaten their health and safety, or hinder
their education or vocational orientation and
training.
Effective abolition of child labour
• Children enjoy the same human rights accorded to
all people. But, lacking the knowledge, experience
or physical development of adults and the power
to defend their own interests in an adult world,
children also have distinct rights to protection by
virtue of their age. One of these is protection from
economic exploitation and from work that is
dangerous to the health and morals of children or
which hampers the child's development.
• The principle of the effective abolition of child labour
means ensuring that every girl and boy has the
opportunity to develop physically and mentally to her or
his full potential. Its aim is to stop all work by children
that jeopardises their education and development. This
does not mean stopping all work performed by children.
International labour standards allow the distinction to
be made between what constitutes acceptable and
unacceptable forms of work for children at different
ages and stages of development.
• The principle extends from formal
employment to the informal economy where,
indeed, the bulk of the unacceptable forms of
child labour are to be found. It covers family-
based enterprises, agricultural undertakings,
domestic service and unpaid work carried out
under various customary arrangements
whereby children work in return for their keep
 To achieve the effective abolition of child
labour
• Governments should fix and enforce a
minimum age or ages at which children can
enter into different kinds of work.
• These ages may vary according to national
social and economic circumstances.
• The general minimum age for admission to
employment should not be less than 15 years.
 exceptions
• But developing countries may make certain
exceptions to this, and a minimum age of 14
years may be applied where the economy and
educational facilities are insufficiently
developed.
• Sometimes, light work may be performed by
children two years younger than the general
minimum age.
 .

• The worst forms of child labour" are however totally

unacceptable for all children under the age of 18
years, and their abolition is a matter for urgent and
immediate action.
• Forms of dangerous work that can harm the health,
safety or morals of children & subject to national
determination, by government in consultation with
workers' and employers' organisations
 Forms of dangerous work
• These forms include such inhumane practices
as slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other
forms of forced labour; prostitution and
pornography; forced recruitment of children
for military purposes; and the use of children
for illicit activities such as the trafficking of
drugs
 Effective strategy to abolish child
labour
• provision of relevant and accessible basic education
is central.
• But education must be embedded in a whole range
of other measures,
• aiming at combating the many factors, such as
• poverty,
• lack of awareness of children's rights an
• inadequate systems of social protection, that give
rise to child labour and allow it to persist.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of
Children Act of 2015
:
• This law made it a crime, punishable with a
prison term, for anyone to keep a child in
bondage for the purpose of employment.
 The Right of Children to Free and
Compulsory Education Act of 2009
• The law mandates free and compulsory
education to all children aged 6 to 14 years.
This legislation also mandated that 25 percent
of seats in every private school must be
allocated for children from disadvantaged
groups and physically challenged children
 In India
• India formulated a National Policy on Child
Labour in 1987. This Policy seeks to adopt a
gradual & sequential approach with a focus on
rehabilitation of children working in hazardous
occupations.
• It envisioned strict enforcement of Indian laws
on child labour combined with development
programs to address the root causes of child
labour such as poverty.
• No, child below age of 14 years shall be
employed to work in any factory or mine or
engaged in any hazardous employment
 Causes
•  UNICEF suggests that poverty is the biggest cause
of child labour. 
• Schools and teachers are unavailable. 
• Parents with limited resources
• Educating girls tends to be a lower priority across
the world, including India.
• Girls are also harassed or bullied at schools
•  Income from a child's work is felt to be crucial 
•  The unorganised agriculture sector which employs
60% of child labour.