J. P. H. School Child labour/Life without parents M.

Youssef

DEFINITIONS OF CHILD LABOUR

(i). Children who are engaged in work unsuitable for their capacities as children or in work that may jeopardize their health,
education or moral development and whose age is below 14 years. Children who practice and engage in economic activities,
on a part or full-time basis.
(ii). The practice deprives children of their childhood and is harmful to their physical and mental development
and (iii). Child labourers constitute a group of working children who are either too young to work or are engaged in hazardous
activities- that is, work that is potentially harmful to their physical, social, psychological or educational development. The term
"child labour" is frequently defined that "work which deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and
that is detrimental to physical and mental development. It refers to the work that: socially or morally, mentally, physically
dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school,
forcing them to leave school prematurely, or by requiring them to try to combine school attendance with excessively long and
heavy work. / Work that deprives children of their childhood, endangers their health and well-being, and hinders their personal
development. Something that happens in the dark corners of far-off places, but the reality is, child labour remains a rampant
issue today, both at home and abroad. Child labour is the exploitation of children who are deprived of their childhood by work
that prevents them from attending school or causes physical, mental, or social harm. In their early developmental
years, children are especially vulnerable to injuries, though physical and mental health problems may not be evident for years.
Child labour is concentrated in the world’s poorest countries, where 40.7% of children are engaged in exploitative work. Sub-
Saharan Africa, home to 27 of the world’s 28 lowest income countries, now has more children in child labour than the rest of
the world combined. Child labour is also common in areas where there is insecurity or armed conflict.

1) What is child labour?

The use of children in industry or business, especially when illegal or considered inhumane. The work that these children do is
often harmful to their health, interferes with their education, or inhibits their physical mental, spiritual, moral or social
development.
Approximately 4.3 million children work in forced labour, which includes children in situations of debt bondage, slavery and
commercial sexual exploitation.
A child’s age, the type of work and the hours of work performed are determining factors in whether a particular form of work
can be classified as child labour.

Generally, unsafe child labour practices are defined in part by the number of working hours for a specific child’s age. Unsafe
child labour includes: any of the worst forms of child labour: including excessively long hours, night work, work with heavy
machinery or work that takes place underground or underwater. / any labour performed by a child under the age of 12 / more
than 14 hours of work, per week, by a child aged 12-14 / more than 43 hours of work, per week, by a child aged 15-17. In its
most extreme forms, child labour causes children – at very young ages – to be separated from their families, exposed to
hazardous work, left to fend for themselves or enslaved.

Child labour in numbers: According to estimates by the International Labour Organisation (2017), there are 152 million children,
aged between 5 and 17, subject to child labour.

Almost 1 in 10 children between the age of 5 and 17 years old have to work

About 4.3 million children aged below 18 years are in forced labour

70.9% works in agriculture

17.2% in the service sector

11.9% in heavy industry

Most child labour takes place in the informal sector

Nearly 70% of the children does unpaid work supporting their family

2) What are the causes of child labour?

Poverty : Like so many other issues in the world, the root cause of child labour is poverty. Unemployment and the need to
survive often lead families to make desperate decisions. Lack of education can also impact children – since their parents may
not understand or see the short and long-term value of their child receiving an education instead of working.

Crisis: Natural disasters or the death of one of both parents can force children into hazardous work to help their family survive
day-to-day.

Chronic emergencies: Things like repeat drought or famine can leave families in dire circumstances where working to survive is
one of the few options.

Conflict: War or government corruption can turn the lives of children upside down, forcing them to abandon schooling and
regular routines to earn a living.

Demand: The demand for low prices and cheap obedient labour can trap children in hazardous work.

3) What are the effects of child labour?

There are many ways that child labour can affect children, and these can vary depending on which industry the child is working
in. Generally, child labourers can suffer from long-term health problems due to malnutrition, exposure to chemicals, abuse,
injuries, exhaustion and psychological harm. In agriculture, children may be exposed to toxic pesticides or fertilizers. They work
with dangerous blades and tools and carry heavy loads. In mining, children may use poisonous chemicals, face the risk of
mine collapse, and sometimes work with explosives. In construction, children may carry heavy loads, work at heights without
safety equipment, and risk injury from dangerous machinery. In manufacturing, children may use toxic solvents, perform
repetitive tasks in painful positions, and risk injury from sharp tools. In domestic work, children risk abuse, work long hours,
and often live in isolation from their families and friends. It is also true that children who work often don’t get a proper
education. Long, strenuous work days can leave kids exhausted and unable to attend classes or do their homework. For
parents who are struggling to keep their families afloat, sending kids to school is a luxury they cannot afford.

Family poverty and poor schools are two major reasons children in low-income countries are in the labour force.

Different forms of Child labour have high prevalence rates in different parts of the world.

Forced labour of children in domestic work is primarily high in parts of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and South Asia.
Debt bondage is largely still practiced inform of traditional practices such as wahaya practice in Niger involving domestic work
and sexual exploitation and Haliya and Kamaiya practices in Nepal involving agricultural bonded labour. In South Asia, where
endemic levels of debt bondage persist among brick kiln workers, children work alongside their indentured parents. UNODC
statistics indicate that children account for one in every three detected victims of trafficking worldwide, rising to one in two in
low-income countries.

What are the worst forms of child labour?

The ILO’s Convention No. 182 defines hazardous and morally damaging forms of labour and calls for their immediate and total
elimination. As defined by the convention, the worst forms of child labour include: Slavery or similar practices - Child trafficking
- Forced recruitment into armed conflict - Sexual exploitation - Drug production and trafficking or other illegal acts - Debt
bondage - Hazardous work that can cause injury or moral corruption. Child labour is one of the most prominent social
phenomena that has spread in various communities with devastating effects on children's lives. Poverty is one of the most
common causes that makes children feel they have no choice but to engage in work, as many of them find themselves
obligated to support their family or contribute to providing for various needs.
Child abuse in any form of forced child labour can cause harm to children’s mental and physical development, deprive children
of their natural childhood, affect their dignity and capabilities, and impede their ability to enjoy their basic rights, such as
education, health and protection. The deprivation of childhood is one of the worst experiences a child can be exposed to, and it
can have long-lasting psychological and physical effects throughout that child’s life.

How can I help end child labour? Together we can stop child labour

Give to support World Vision’s grassroots work around the world to protect children from child labour and other forms of
exploitation, abuse, and violence. Sponsor a child. By investing in a child’s life, you’ll help them stay in school. You’ll also help
to build up their community so that there’ll be more job opportunities for them to pursue as adults. By no longer accepting it,
not in mines, not on fields, not in factories, not in domestic settings and not in the products we buy… Child labour is a global
problem that requires a global solution. In India, Africa and Latin America, local authorities, teachers, employers, parents and
children in child labour free zones work together to get children out of work and into school. They are all convinced that no child
should be working: every child should be in school. These child labour free zones are successful and are continuing to spread
to other areas and countries.

But real change requires more. This is why we call on governments, businesses and consumers worldwide to shoulder their
responsibility. And work together towards a child labour free world.

Children are the greatest gift to humanity and childhood is a state of vulnerable human development as it has the budding for
future development of any society. Children are the future of society. "The child is a father of man," Wordsworth said. Nehru
considered "The child the greatest asset of the nation". The child is usually a person who is less than 14 years of age; therefore
,immature and cannot understand the consequences of any work and is not adequately aware of his rights.. Every child has
every right to enjoy his childhood. Yet, children of every society have always participated in economic activities; Children help
their families at home, in farms, in shops, etc. However, not all work is bad for kids. Some activities make a positive
contribution to their development as they prepare them for future tasks and help pass traditional skills from one generation to
another. The pre-permissible falls under the category of work whereas later it is under exploitative. As committee on child
labour observed that, “Labour becomes an absolute evil in the case of child when he is required to work beyond his physical
capacity, when heaves of employment interfere with the education, recreation and rest, when his wages are not proportionate
with the quantum of work done, and when the occupation in which he is engaged endangers his health and safety”. Still, it is
not easy to draw a sharp line between destructive and beneficial child labour. Most of the child labour fall into a grey area in
these two extremes. Child labour is an enemy of our children’s development and an enemy of progress. Child labour is a
violation of a basic human right, and our goal must be that every child, everywhere is free from it. We cannot rest until that
happens.” most child labour in Africa – some 70 per cent - is in the agricultural sector, often in settings where children are
working alongside other family members. Action is needed to be taken, action that will outline concrete commitments to scale
up action to eliminate child labour.

Children are the future citizens of the nation and their adequate growth is the topmost priority of the nation. Children around the
world are engaged in a large number of activities classified as work. These ranges from harmless, even admirable, to activities
like helping at home, physically dangerous and morally objectionable people. Child labour is a complex and contentious issue.
Millions of children work in outrageous and exploitative conditions that are clearly dangerous to them. India is one of the top
countries where the percentage of labour force constitutes 'child labour' is very high. In recent years, a lot of attention has been
paid to child labour from the government, social scientists, voluntary organizations, etc. The Constitution of India also
guarantees protection of the rights of children. Despite social consciousness and many prohibitions, the number of child
labourers is increasing. There are also many social factors of child labour such as inadequate family income, large families,
poverty, illiteracy etc. Therefore, the issue of child labour needs to be looked into not only by the legislature, the executive and
the courts, but also to the social reformers, research and educational institutions of the NGO’s who look after the development
and development of the nation. Child labour cannot end overnight because its roots are very deep. Laws should be strictly
implemented to prevent child labour. Children around the world are routinely engaged in paid and unpaid forms of work that
are not harmful to them. However, they are classified as child labourers when they are either too young to work or are involved
in hazardous activities that may compromise their physical, mental, social or educational development. In the least developed
countries, slightly more than one in four children (ages 5 to 17) are engaged in labour that is considered detrimental to their
health and development.

Child labour is increasingly recognized as a crime against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The labour is likely to
interfere with the education and normal development of the children which can be harmful to their health and morals. Child
labourer’s risk to be exposed to abuse, violence and hazards which can be endanger their very lives. Effects of labour on
children are not the same as on adults as there are major psychological, physical and social differences between the two
groups. Children may be seriously harmed by work which makes little or no risk to adults. Hazardous work during development
and growth during childhood can have lasting effects which can affect the children for the rest of their lives. Child labour is a
complex issue and various factors behind the labouring predominate in different contexts. Child labour was for a long time not
recognized as a subject worth studying. One of the reasons for that was that in some countries even childhood itself was given
little attention, especially in the official statistics. Children had mainly only figured in statistics concerning under-five morbidity
and mortality and education enrolment. They have been studied in the context of the family or the school, not as individuals.
Child labour has often been studied by looking at school attendance with the hypothesis of a negative correlation between a
child’s economic activity and schooling. With this type of research the children’s perspective is excluded. Many children do not
even have birth certificates; in other words, they do not exist officially which excludes them from statistics and further studies. It
is easy to find general research and studies concerning child labour. Since there are many organizations dealing with children’s
rights, much literature is published based on surveys and interviews with children, but few studies have had interest in the
children’s view about possible causal factors behind their labouring. A majority of the research about child labour tend to focus
on the export sector alone, a serious problem as the most common child labourers’ are not to be found in that industry, but
rather in family enterprises and inside households.

The International Labour Organization defines child labour as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and
their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development”. At the most extreme, it involves child slavery, separation
from families or exposure to life-threatening hazards. Other examples may involve children being kept home from school in
order to help the household.

Child labour is not new. To varying extents, it has existed throughout history. In 19th-century Britain, Victorian factories and
mines exploited children on a massive scale. Indeed, it was a worldwide problem not just during industrialisation but throughout
the last century. Today, contrary to popular belief, most child labourers are employed by their parents rather than in
manufacturing or the formal economy. In Africa, where many areas have no social security or social services to support the
vulnerable, families are responsible for educating and training the next generation to become capable adults. Those with good
life skills become self-reliant and resilient because they can support themselves against all odds. There is an African proverb:
by crawling, a child learns to stand. Without these life skills, the young adult is the laughing stock of the community, dependent
on others for food, clothing and even shelter.

Local context is the hallmark of effective development work. What works in one community may have no place in another, and
an appreciation of diversity and cultural norms is key to success. Over the past decade, there has been a significant shift
towards “localisation” – local experts and communities receiving aid have become much more involved in development rather
than having values imposed from the west. Programmes are now run by talented and empowered national staff. The
beneficiaries are no longer passive recipients of grant funds but are part of the solution, defining the challenge and how best to
tackle it.

Involving parents enables them to make the right decisions. My advice has always been that children should have the chance
to go to school, as I did 60 years ago, to play and to act their age. However, we cannot tell mothers and fathers how to parent
or what to do in their own homes.

Understanding the distinction between exploitation and transfer of life skills is critical for development workers stepping into any
community. We need to embrace the blurred lines and complexities of cultural norms. The world should not be painted with one
brush.
Causes of child labour: Poverty is often cited as the main cause of child labour. It is widely believed that families will not be
able to cope if their children do not work. In practice, however, the poverty argument does not hold water. Precisely the
opposite is true: child labour maintains poverty.

Experience shows that deep-rooted social norms, the violation of workers’ rights, discrimination against certain groups, and a
poorly-functioning education system are the main reasons why children aren’t attending school.

Because children are easy to exploit and are cheap labourers, they are hired in preference to adults. Child labour thus leads to
lower wages and higher unemployment among adults. Children who work and do not go to school will end up in low paid jobs
later, and so will their children – and so the vicious cycle of poverty is perpetuated.

There is no single reason for why children find themselves in child labour and are not able to fully attend school. In many
cases, the work demands so much time and energy that it becomes impossible for children to enter, persist and succeed at
school. In other instances, children work because they lack access to quality, free schools. Additionally, decisions concerning
children’s education can be influenced by family perceptions of its importance. Girls have the double burden of doing unpaid
work — household chores and family care, which prevent many from attending school full time. In 2020, the pandemic
increased the number of children in income-poor households by an estimated 142 million, which is a massive 24 % increase on
the previous year. Their families have suffered job and income losses, seen cuts in remittances and experienced other shocks.

Families turn to child labour as a coping mechanism in times of crises. Moreover, school closures during lockdowns have
added to the risks, especially for children in vulnerable situations, as they are even more likely to work when school is not an
option. Pandemic-related school closures have affected over 90 % of the world’s students and remote learning failed to reach
463 million learners. When children leave school and enter paid employment, it is usually very difficult to resume their
education. Without a robust response, the education emergency may easily spiral into a child labour emergency.

It is an unfortunate reality that children around the world are often forced to start work that is physically, mentally and morally
harmful. Child labour is a violation of human rights and is considered a "necessity evil" in a poor economy like India. This
hinders the normal, physical, mental, moral and emotional development of child labour. Child labour is essentially a problem of
development. The concept of child labour leads to confusion as it is guided by various individual views. It refers to a child's
employment in cartable businesses or national contributions to family income. Child labour is generally interpreted in two
International Journal different ways, namely economic evil and social evil. Economic evil embodies the employment of children
to earn for them and their families, while the social evil reference prevents children from disrupting development educationally.

Today the common view is that child labour is deeply rooted in poverty, but the causes of child labour are complex and should
not be oversimplified. The many causes behind child labour vary enormously between different contexts and cultures.
Literature concerning child labour often treats the subject of underlying causes simplistically with the common view that the
causes of child work and the surrounding exploitation are already well known. The problem is that the imputed underlying
causes are not always as obvious as they appear. It is essential to discover the root of the problem, and not to generalize the
issue which can be devastating as different underlying causes imply different measures if action is to be effective. According to
the theory of child labour as a contribution to the family, most children in developing countries work because they want to
support their families. Most children start to work on command or at least by a request from their family. In many cases children
work simply for the reason that they are told to, some voluntary and some against their will. Most children work because the
family need help both with contributing to the family income and help with unpaid household work. As children often value
themselves as a part of the family unit, most children say that it is plausible to contribute to the household, especially when the
family survival depends upon it.

a-Child labour as a contribution to the family: According to the theory of child labour as a contribution to the family, most
children in developing countries work because they want to support their families. Many children start to work on command or
at least by a request from their family. In many cases children work simply for the reason that they are told to, some voluntary
and some against their will. Most children work because the family need help both with contributing to the family income and
help with unpaid household work. As children often value themselves as a part of the family unit, most children say that it is
plausible to contribute to the household, especially when the family survival depends upon it.
‘Child Labour’ is work performed by a child that is likely to interfere with his or her right to education, or to be harmful to their
health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. All work done by children under the age of 15 and dangerous
work done by children under the age of 18 is illegal. Child labour is prohibited under international treaties and agreements.

Child labour exists because:

people accept it and invent excuses for it; children’s rights are not respected; governments do not provide compulsory, free and
accessible education; international agreements and conventions are not observed; the education system excludes poor and
vulnerable children; consumers worldwide demand cheap products; employers can benefit from cheap labour; there is no
decent work for adults; we have not done enough to stop it.

Why does child labour happen? Here are some of the root causes

Children are most often involved in child labour because their parents or guardians consider it ‘normal’ for children to work, and
sometimes for children’s own survival and that of their families. When talking about child labour, it is important to understand it
from the perspective of the children, families and communities themselves. Below are some of the root causes which make
children particularly vulnerable to child labour.

Poverty

‘Poverty is certainly the greatest single force driving children into the workplace.’ When families cannot afford to meet their
basic needs like food, water, education or health care, they have no choice but to send their children to work to supplement the
household income. Poverty is considered as one of the most important causes of child labour as it is linked to other driving
factors including: low literacy and numeracy rates, lack of decent work opportunities, natural disasters and climate change,
conflicts and mass displacement. Poverty and child labour form a vicious cycle, without tackling one, we cannot eradicate the
other.

Lack of access to quality education

‘The availability and quality of schooling is among the most important factors.’ School needs to be a welcoming environment,
with appropriate class sizes, a curriculum designed for the local context, and affordable for rural communities. Getting children
into school and out of harmful work is one thing but keeping them there a means creating quality education accessible for all.

Poor access to decent work

‘Children who were involved in child labour often lack the basic educational grounding which would enable them to acquire
skills and to improve their prospects for a decent adult working life.’ If young people cannot access work which is safe, with
social protection, fair pay, equality for men and women and which provides a space for workers to express their opinions, they
often have no choice but to do work which is hazardous. When children above the minimum working age are doing hazardous
work, this is also considered child labour.

Limited understanding of child labour

‘The view that work is good for the character-building and skill development of children.’ When families do not understand the
dangers of child labour, and how these impact on the health, safety, well-being and future of their child, they are more likely to
send their children to work. Some cultural beliefs and social norms can also be drivers of child labour.

Natural disasters & climate change

‘In rural areas, farmers who see their crops destroyed on account of climate changes have no other choice but to send their
children out to work.’ The effects of natural disasters and climate change is one which is becoming of increasing concern. Rural
families who depend on reliable seasons for farming are particularly vulnerable to altered patterns of rainfall, soil erosion, or
extreme weather. When crops are destroyed or farming land is ruined, families struggle to make a living and are more likely to
send their children to work in neighbouring farms.
Conflicts & mass migration

‘There is a strong correlation between child labour and situations of conflict and disaster’ According to the ILO children make
up more than half of the total number of people displaced by war. These children are particularly vulnerable to forms of
exploitation, including child labour, due to an increase in economic shocks, a breakdown of social support, education and basic
services, and disruption of child protection services. The incidence of child labour in countries affected by conflict is almost
twice as high as the global average. Children are also vulnerable to becoming involved in armed conflict, this is considered one
of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

Fighting child labour

SDG Goal 8.7 calls for the elimination of all forms of child labour by 2025. With 152 million children involved in child labour
worldwide, we still have a long way to go. Programmes and policies which take into account the voices of the communities
where child labour occurs, and the root causes, can advance real and sustainable progress in the fight against child labour.

Child labour as a result of poverty: poor families put their children in child labour more often than families in a better economic
situation. Increase of the household income is one reason but it is also a safety strategy to even out the risk of losing economic
income, for example with the loss of an adult income earner or a failed harvest. According to ILO child labour commonly may
represent around 20 per cent of the household income, and as poor families spend the majority of its income on food,
consequently the children’s incomes are crucial. In many households not all income is equally allocated to meet basic needs.
Income earned by the mother of the household is more likely to be available for the family than income earned by the father.
Children’s earnings given to mothers may therefore be more important for the family than the earnings gained by the father. It
is common that children think about such factors, they are fully aware of their work as an important part to support their family.
Most common is to think that poverty is an explanation for the flow of children in to the labour market, but poverty can also be
an important factor regarding the demand for child labourers. Employers with a bad economical situation often turn to child
labour with the wish to keep their cost to a minimum, and poor children come cheap. Poor children have less education, fewer
employment options and are less aware of their rights. The globalization of the market puts pressure on the prices and in the
search for the lowest prizes child labour seems to be the cheapest option. The relationship between child labour and poverty is
varied, vague and indirect. If poverty would be the only determinant, the same patterns would be found over the world, but they
are not. In rich countries it is often the opposite; children from high-income families are more likely to work. The explanation is
that children from wealthier families have more work opportunities and are less exposed to ethnic and racial discrimination.

Due to extreme poverty, parents are unable to invest not only in the development of their children, they are also reluctant to
support them and want them to become a source of income for the family as soon as possible. Poverty causes diseases or
other forms of disabilities, which often causes imbalances in family budgets and forced poor parents to send their children to
work. The committee on child labour says in its report that "chronic poverty is the factor responsible for the prevalence and
perpetuation of child labour."

1ii. Child Labour a Cheap Commodity: Children in a large number of factories are paid very low wages, they are overworked
and they are made to work under terrible conditions. Child labour exists not because children are more competent workers, but
because they can be hired for less money. Thus, preference for child labour by many employers is mainly due to the fact that it
is cheap, safe and without any problem. Child labour is not only very cheap, but also hassle-free because children are
voiceless: they cannot organize their own movement and being minors. The membership of trade unions is not open to them.
Neither can they demand any overtime, nor medical and other benefits. In our country, very young children are engaged in
domestic work because they are very cheap. Middle-class families fall within low-income groups, especially girls aged 8 to 14
are sent to more affluent regions to work as domestic servants and get some pocket money for food. However, these
employers, educated in the formal sense, appear to be the least concerned for these children and then hardly conscious of
their plight. Employers also find children more suitable for discipline and control. They can be coaxed, warned, pulled and
punished for default without endangering relationship.

iii. Large Family Size: A family, which is big in size with low income, cannot lead a life of ease. As a result, family members
cannot get better education, entertainment, health care and opportunities to grow into a healthy family environment. On the
other hand, a family, which is limited in size and well-planned, assures all possible development opportunities for its member
and helping them to protect themselves from the insecurities of life. This indicates that the nuclear family, which holds a low
number of hand help, is producing a higher number of children. Large families with relatively low incomes may not have happy
perceptions in their minds. As a result, they cannot protect and encourage their children's childhood. If a family is limited and
well planned, there will be no scope for sending children to the labour market and the children can be carefully educated.
Illiterate and innocent parents think the opposite. Thus, if the parent's family size is small, they can provide all the facilities that
are necessary for mental, physical and social development to their children. But, unfortunately, poor and illiterate parents think
otherwise. They think that when God has given the body, he will feed him. They also consider three or four children better than
having just one or two. For them, more children mean more income. They argue that while every human body has just one
mouth to eat, it has two hands to feed it. But, they forget.

iv. Compulsory Education: Education enhances human resource development which includes a better and sustainable and
valuable natural upbringing for all. The primary objective of the education system is to provide knowledge skills and to transmit
certain values equally important. The resulting education package will vary economically in all countries and cultures. Child
labour, in another dimension, has observed that the limited number of schools, their absence, the clash of school time and
agricultural operations, and the cost of schooling as well as its limited nature of providing jobs opportunity to enter the labour
market facilitates the route of children belonging to the state class. Children are ready to receive education, but only with the
consent of the owners and parents. They have a very strong concern about fees and other expenses on education so they
want it as free and near their home. Out of 140 million rural children in the age group of 5-14 years, more than 86 million rural
children have not been enrolled in the school register. About 62% of children in rural areas are not present in primary schools.
Whereas Article 45 (Directive Principles of State Policy), states that “The state shall endeavour to provide” within a period of 10
years, from commencement of this constitution for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of
14 years.” Compulsory schooling for children as a part of assimilative measure is however, found deceptive. As such, the
phenomenon of child labour is the product of such indifference to education. So this phenomenon of child labour is the product
of this indifference to education.

v. Backwardness: Even after four decades of Independence, Africa has been one of the poorest continents in the world in
terms of per capita income. According to an estimate, 45 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. On the one
hand, the concentration of money is increasing and, on the other hand, there is a corresponding pauperism, quasi-proletariat
ion and unemployment. Thus, child labour is the product of such a continuing situation. Backwardness and stagnation are once
again evident from the statistical world distribution data of child labour as an important factor for the intensity of child labour.
This shows that 90% of child labour is concentrated in the world's under developed countries. Since child labour is a socio-
economic phenomenon, it is generally believed that illiteracy, ignorance, low wages, unemployment, lack of living standards,
deep social prejudice and appalling backwardness on the part of African countries. etc. are all, many and collectively, the root
cause of child labour. Officially stating that, "child labour is no longer a means of economic exploitation, but the economic need
of parents and in many cases the need of the child." Child labour is a product of such a factor, traditional attitude, lack of school
or reluctance of parents to send children to school, urbanization, industrialization, migration and so on.

IMPACTS OF CHILD LABOUR: Child labour, a matter of the gravest importance, includes working children under a certain
minimum age. This practice has been going on for a long time and is the worst form of child exploitation. Consequences of
child labour are not only limited to harm a child's physical and mental health but also it deprives him of basic rights as
guaranteed by our constitution such as right to education, development and freedom.

i. Negative Impact on the Health Children are working in hazardous export oriented industries such as brassware, lock making,
glass blowing, lead mining and stone excavation fireworks, match works, electroplating, glass blowing. These are places that
have a serious negative impact on the health of the child working there as long as they start touching their adolescence, they
are already suffering from many life-threatening diseases.

ii. Impact on Studies: Child labour not only negatively affects a child's health, but it also negatively affects her ability to receive
schooling and perform academically. When children are forced to work by their families, they now have time to attend school.
While there are a significant number of children going to school and working, work can have a negative impact on their studies.

iii. Permanent Disabilities and Premature Death: As per the data provided by UNICEF, it is estimated that about 250 million
children in the age group of 5-14 years are working in child labour worldwide and this figure is steadily increasing. The ILO
(ILO) has awarded that about 165 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 years are involved in child labour. Many of
these children work for long hours, and often have poverty-related health problems in dangerous conditions, malnutrition,
fatigue; Anaemia increases the risk and consequences of work-related hazards and can lead to permanent disability and
premature death.

iv. Deficiency of Nutrients: Deficiency of Vitamin B-complex, Iron, and protein in child labourers is in very large scale and there
is a negative impact on physical development, mental and intellectual development, causing disorders in biochemical functions
and irregular secretion of hormones (adrenals, corticoids, sex hormones, and growth hormone). Most of the child labour suffers
from handicapped, malnutrition emotional imbalance, behavioural problems, night blindness, weak yellow form, stunted growth,
cracked lip and mouth corners, malnutrition and failure of child growth etc.

Child Labour: Global estimates 2020

The latest global estimates indicate that the number of children in child labour has risen to 160 million worldwide – an increase
of 8.4 million children in the last four years. 63 million girls and 97 million boys were in child labour globally at the beginning of
2020, accounting for almost 1 in 10 of all children worldwide.

This report warns that global progress to end child labour has stalled for the first time in 20 years. The number of children aged
5 to 17 years in hazardous work – defined as work that is likely to harm their health, safety or morals – has risen by 6.5 million
to 79 million since 2016. In sub-Saharan Africa, population growth, extreme poverty, and inadequate social protection
measures have led to an additional 16.6 million children in child labour over the past four years.

Additional economic shocks and school closures caused by COVID-19 mean that children already in child labour may be
working longer hours or under worsening conditions, while many more may be forced into the worst forms of child labour due to
job and income losses among vulnerable families. The report warns that globally 9 million additional children are at risk of
being pushed into child labour by the end of 2022 as a result of the pandemic.

Children in child labour are at risk of physical and mental harm. Child labour compromises children’s education, restricting their
rights and limiting their future opportunities, and leads to vicious inter-generational cycles of poverty and child labour.

COVID-19 and Child Labour: A time of crisis, a time to act

Recent years have seen significant progress in the fight against child labour. The current COVID-19 pandemic, however, can
potentially reverse the positive trends observed in several countries and further aggravate the problem in regions where child
labour has been more resistant to policy and programme measures.

The level of global economic integration and the current crisis are likely to have a large and possibly lasting worldwide adverse
socio-economic and financial impact. The pandemic is increasing economic insecurity causing disruptions in supply chains,
falling commodity prices, in particular oil, and halting the manufacturing industry. The financial markets have been particularly
affected, tightening liquidity conditions in many countries and creating unprecedented outflows of capital in many economies.

The paper discusses the main channels through which the current pandemic can influence child labour, including fall in living
standards; deteriorating employment opportunities; rise in informality; reduction in remittances and migration; contraction of
trade and foreign direct investment; temporary school closures; health shocks; pressure on public budgets and international aid
flows.

Key facts

-The number of children in child labour has risen to 160 million worldwide – an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four
years – with 9 million additional children at risk due to the impact of COVID-19.

-Progress to end child labour has stalled for the first time in 20 years, reversing the previous downward trend that saw child
labour fall by 94 million between 2000 and 2016.

-The incidence of hazardous work in countries affected by armed conflict is 50% higher than the global average.
-30 million children live outside their country of birth, increasing their risk of being trafficked for sexual exploitation and other
work.

Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward takes stock of where we stand in the global effort to end
child labour. Published in the United Nations International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour by the International Labour
Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), co-custodians of target 8.7 of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), the report describes the scale and key characteristics of child labour today, and changes over
time. In line with child labour estimates produced by the ILO every four years since 2000, the 2020 calculations are based on
the extrapolation of data from national household surveys. The new estimates use more than 100 household surveys covering
two thirds of the world’s population of children aged 5 to 17 years. What the report tells us is alarming. Global progress against
child labour has stalled for the first time since we began producing global estimates two decades ago. In addition, without
urgent mitigation measures, the COVID-19 crisis is likely to push millions more children into child labour. These results
constitute an important reality check in meeting the international commitment to end child labour by 2025. If we do not muster
the will and resources to act now on an unprecedented scale, the timeline for ending child labour will stretch many years into
the future.

GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS:

Child labour remains a persistent problem in the world today. The latest global estimates indicate that 160 million children – 63
million girls and 97 million boys – were in child labour globally at the beginning of 2020, accounting for almost 1 in 10 of all
children worldwide. Seventy-nine million children – nearly half of all those in child labour – were in hazardous work that directly
endangers their health, safety and moral development. Global progress against child labour has stagnated since 2016. The
percentage of children in child labour remained unchanged over the four-year period while the absolute number of children in
child labour increased by over 8 million. Similarly, the percentage of children in hazardous work was almost unchanged but
rose in absolute terms by 6.5 million children. The global picture masks continued progress against child labour in Asia and the
Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. In both regions, child labour trended downward over the last four years in
percentage and absolute terms. Similar progress in sub-Saharan Africa has proven elusive. This region has seen an increase
in both the number and percentage of children in child labour since 2012. There are now more children in child labour in sub-
Saharan Africa than in the rest of the world combined. Global child labour goals will not be achieved without a breakthrough in
this region. 5 Continued progress was registered over the last four years among children aged 12 to 14 and 15 to 17. Child
labour in both age groups declined in percentage and absolute terms, continuing a consistent downward trend seen in previous
estimates. Child labour rose among young children aged 5 to 11, however, after the 2016 global estimates signalled slowing
progress for this age group. There were 16.8 million more children aged 5 to 11 in child labour in 2020 than in 2016. The
COVID-19 crisis threatens to further erode global progress against child labour unless urgent mitigation measures are taken.
New analysis suggests a further 8.9 million children will be in child labour by the end of 2022 as a result of rising poverty driven
by the pandemic. Yet the predicted additional rise in child labour is by no means a foregone conclusion. The actual impact will
depend on policy responses. Two additional scenarios demonstrate the huge influence of social protection coverage on child
labour in the near term. Where social protection coverage is allowed to slip, a significant further increase in child labour could
occur by the end of 2022. A rise in social protection coverage, on the other hand, could more than offset the impact of COVID-
19 on child labour, returning us to progress on the issue. Other key results from the 2020 global estimates include:

• Involvement in child labour is higher for boys than girls at all ages. Among all boys, 11.2 per cent are in child labour compared
to 7.8 per cent of all girls. In absolute numbers, boys in child labour outnumber girls by 34 million. When the definition of child
labour expands to include household chores for 21 hours or more each week, the gender gap in prevalence among boys and
girls aged 5 to 14 is reduced by almost half.
• Child labour is much more common in rural areas. There are 122.7 million rural children in child labour compared to 37.3
million urban children. The prevalence of child labour in rural areas (13.9 per cent) is close to three times higher than in urban
areas (4.7 per cent).
• Most child labour – for boys and girls alike – continues to occur in agriculture. Seventy per cent of all children in child labour,
112 million children in total, are in agriculture. Many are younger children, underscoring agriculture as an entry point to child
labour. Over three quarters of all children aged 5 to 11 in child labour work in agriculture.
• The largest share of child labour takes place within families. Seventy-two per cent of all child labour and 83 per cent of child
labour among children aged 5 to 11 occurs within families, primarily on family farms or in family microenterprises. Family-based
child labour is frequently hazardous despite common perceptions of the family as offering a safer work environment. More than
one in four children aged 5 to 11 and nearly half of children aged 12 to 6 14 in family-based child labour are in work likely to
harm their health, safety or morals.
• Child labour is frequently associated with children being out of school. A large share of younger children in child labour are
excluded from school despite falling within the age range for compulsory education. More than a quarter of children aged 5 to
11 and over a third of children aged 12 to 14 who are in child labour are out of school. This severely constrains their prospects
for decent work in youth and adulthood as well as their life potential overall. Many more children in child labour struggle to
balance the demands of school and child labour at the same time, which compromises their education and their right to leisure.

THE ROAD FORWARD: Child labour is not just a historical problem but also an ongoing one. It is still depriving children of their
childhoods, limiting their access to education, shortening their life expectancy, and perpetuating poverty. The 2020 ILO-
UNICEF global estimates indicate a critical juncture in the worldwide effort against child labour. Global progress has ground to
a halt over the last four years after having already slowed considerably in the four years before that. The ongoing COVID-19
crisis threatens to further erode past gains. While there are nearly 86 million fewer children in child labour now than when we
began measuring global levels in 2000, recent trends suggest we are falling far behind on the collective commitment to end
child labour in all its forms by 2025. In this United Nations International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, we must act
with renewed urgency to put progress back on track. Immediate steps are needed to avoid falling further behind during the
ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has clearly heightened the risk of child labour, above all through a sharp rise in
poverty that may increase families’ reliance on child labour, and through school closures that deny families the logical
alternative to sending children to work. To reduce these risks, expanded income support measures for families in situations of
vulnerability, through child benefits and other means, will be critical. So too will back-to-school campaigns and stepped-up
remedial learning to get children back in the classroom and help them make up for lost learning once there, when conditions
permit. During the acute and recovery phases of the crisis, it will be important not to lose sight of broader policy imperatives for
ending child labour. Child labour harms the physical and psychological health of children while inflicting a tangible productivity
loss on society. By ending this exploitation of children, we enable more people to receive an education, start small businesses,
and foster more economic activities.

1. Educate ourselves and then share knowledge with others

Child labour is a challenge that touches our own social and economic lives. And we can only become fully aware of it after we
have made an effort to educate ourselves. For example, while many people enjoy the sweet taste of milk chocolate, not
everyone is aware of the bitter practice of child labour used by a segment of cocoa producers. About 65% of the global cocoa
supply originates in West Africa, and 2 million children in the region were engaged in hazardous labour in the cocoa growing
industry.

We can also learn about the international responses to this finding. Since the report was released, chocolate companies have
been implementing the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems to identify and prevent child labour in their supply
chains. And knowledge of this phenomenon will allow us to buy chocolate from producers who are free of child labour.

When we become aware of the ongoing nature of child labour, we can further contribute to ending it by sharing this knowledge
with family and friends. This process need not be confrontational; instead, we can personalize the message by connecting the
issue of child labour to our personal values. We would also work to save our children if they were forced into dangerous work
situations at a young age.

2. Support journalists who shed light on child labour

Journalism can often be a form of advocacy that can push for social change to curb child labour. From 1908 to 1924, American
investigative photographer Lewis Hine documented children working in factories across the US. With over 5,000
photographs later displayed by the National Child Labour Committee, Hine played a pivotal role in registering the suffering of
child labourers in the public consciousness, eventually leading to the Fair Labour Standards Act of 1938 which eliminated the
worst forms of child labour in America.
We can support journalists making discoveries that inform the public. The first simple step is to open their article and spend
more time reading it. The number of views and the time spent on each webpage let the media outlet know what issues
resonate with their audiences. We can also share journalistic reports with friends and colleagues, helping expand the reach of
the article. Finally, we can post encouraging comments on the journalists’ social media posts to let them know that people
appreciate their discoveries.

3. Make ethical investments

Another method is for individual and institutional investors to assess the ethical impact of their investments. Child labour
persists because of the perceived economic benefits to be gained from exploiting low-wage children. By cutting investment in
these producers who exploit children, investors not only send a clear signal of opposition to human rights abusers but also
fundamentally remove the economic drivers behind child labour.

Investors can develop quantitative social responsibility metrics that survey companies' employee safety records, average
wages, and the average age of workers. Individual investors can also use public databases to assess a company's human
rights record and ensure that they invest in companies that meet their own ethical standards.

4. Advocate for a labelling initiative to certify products

Civil society organizations can push for a universal labelling initiative that certifies products free from child labour. Such a label
would enable consumers to identify and purchase ethical products in an open marketplace, providing companies with direct
economic incentives to end child labour in their global supply chains.

Eradicating child labour

No parent should ever have to look at a tiny infant and fear that one day that child would be a victim of exploitative child labour.
Eradicating child labour should be a shared moral responsibility for civil society, businesses, and governments alike. With these
tangible steps, every one of us, regardless of our professional capacities, can contribute to the end of child labour.

• Extending social protection for children and their families to mitigate the poverty and economic uncertainty that underpin child
labour.
• Ensuring free and good-quality schooling at least up to the minimum age for entering employment to provide a viable
alternative to child labour and afford children a chance at a better future.
• Guaranteeing that every child’s birth is registered so that children have a legal identity and can enjoy their rights from birth.
• Promoting decent work that delivers a fair income for young people (of legal working age) and adults, with a particular
emphasis on workers in the informal economy, in order for families to escape poverty-driven child labour.
• Promoting adequate rural livelihoods and resilience, including through supporting economic diversification, investing in basic
services infrastructure, extending social protection and devising agricultural extension policies for crop diversification. Family
farms and enterprises that depend on the (mostly unpaid) labour of their children need greater support to improve their
livelihoods and end that dependence.
• Ensuring that necessary laws and regulations are in place to protect children, backed by enforcement machinery and child
protection systems, and the services required to apply them.
• Addressing gender norms and discrimination that increase child labour risks, particularly for girls, related to domestic work
and unpaid household chores.

-aligning the minimum working age and the end of compulsory schooling
-improving the overall quality of education, which increases the chances of students staying in school and succeeding
-abolishing or reducing school costs, which may be unaffordable for some and include school-feeding facilities
-register every child at birth, as a birth certificate with proof of legal identity and age is often required to access education
-providing or increasing universal child benefits as part of countries’ social protection system (see below) and other policy
instruments, which could potentially promote more equitable access to education
back-to-school campaigns and outreach in response to pandemic related school closures and to sensitise parents on the
importance to invest in education.
-flexible school calendar and curricula to incentivise school attendance and cope with family farms needs for seasonal light
work.
-facilitate school-to-work transition for children aged 15-17 years through vocational, education and training (VET) to provide
them with knowledge, skills and competencies to access decent jobs when they reach working age
-involving the formal and informal private sector operators and reduce the mismatch between skills and labour market
requirements.
-empowering teachers’ unions to improve teachers’ working conditions and wages
-improving school infrastructure, including safe roads, water and sanitation

To eliminate child labour, we need careful effort from businesses on the ground. Dropping operations that utilise underage
workers from a supply chain does not always stop them from finding other outlets. Removing child workers abruptly from their
jobs can have the unintended consequence of depriving poor households of a source of income, leaving the children at risk of
even more serious exploitation without necessarily ensuring that they end up in school.

A multi-dimensional, multi-stakeholder, collaborative approach seems to be what works best. Any response should not merely
move child workers from one supplier's workplace to another, but should enable viable and sustainable alternatives. Working
with Unicef and child rights organisations, the company helps to mobilise communities around better schools and higher
enrolment.

Crucially, the approach also involves women by improving their access to credit and income-generating opportunities and
helping them to act as advocates for child rights.

When children have access to quality education, child labour prevalence is greatly reduced and economic and social
development is promoted." This is a commonsense approach. Parents who see no educational opportunities for their children
have less motivation to withdraw them from work situations and less reason to hope that something better awaits their
daughters and sons.

Special attention should address the heightened risk of child labour in growing crises, conflicts and disasters. Child labour
concerns should factor in all phases of humanitarian action – from crisis preparedness and contingency plans to humanitarian
responses to post-crisis reconstruction and recovery efforts. Addressing child labour risks in domestic and global supply chains
continues to be important. Especially relevant are the informal micro- and small enterprises operating at the lower tiers of
supply chains, where child labour and other human rights risks are often most pronounced. Governments can lead through
public procurement that discourages child labour risks in vendor supply chains. The COVID-19 crisis has made actions across
all these policy areas and contexts even more urgent at a time when governments are grappling with restricted fiscal space.
Sound policy choices and resource allocation decisions will be critical. Strengthening the country-level evidence base on child
labour can help to identify local priorities and guide policy and spending decisions. Social dialogue among governments,
employers’ organizations and workers’ organizations is also key to developing appropriate and responsive policies for
addressing child labour and related challenges, wherever they occur. Governments will need to adopt creative resource
mobilization strategies to expand their fiscal space. Given budget shortfalls generated by the pandemic, the international
community will need to fill the financing gap. Many industrialized countries still fall short of long-standing commitments to
official development assistance (ODA) and financing for sustainable development. This needs to change. Debt relief should be
extended and debt re-structured in already heavily indebted countries so that social spending is not crowded out by increasing
debt service payments. We must avoid the mistakes of the past that saw urgently needed credit flows made contingent on
austerity measures that inflicted the most harm on children and families in greatest need. The COVID-19 crisis has served as
an important reminder of the need for international cooperation and partnership in overcoming global challenges. This is as true
for ending child labour as for other critical development priorities in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Eliminating
child labour is a task too big for any one party to solve alone. Countries must work together within the spirit of article 8 of the
universally ratified ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182). Alliance 8.7 plays an important role in facilitating
cooperation on child labour among governmental and non-governmental actors. A global partnership launched in 2016,
Alliance 8.7 groups governments, multilateral organizations, workers’ organizations, employers’ organizations, non-
governmental organizations, academic institutions and think tanks to find ways of accelerating action on target 8.7. The alliance
focuses on three strategies: conducting research and sharing knowledge, driving innovation, and increasing and leveraging
resources. It is urgent to put action to end child labour back on track, in line with global commitments and goals. The evidence
in this report outlines the risks and points to the solutions. While ambitious measures and investments are required, the
COVID-19 pandemic has amply illustrated that these are possible when the wellbeing of humanity is at stake. We have made a
promise to children to end child labour. There is no time to lose.