Child Labour refers to the employment of children of the age group of 5 to 17 years, so as to deprive them of their childhood and force them into a life of deprivation and illiteracy. The main factor behind child labour is poverty; therefore, it is more rampant in developing or under developed countries. Children in these countries are often forced into labour to supplement the everyday income of their families.
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After going through the essays you will know a lot of information about child labour and its vital statistics. You will also know about the industries employing child labour in India; negative effects of child labour on the children; ways to tackle child labour; how child labour is related to poverty; history of child labour; types of child labour in India and statistics of child labour in India 2019.
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Child labour is defined as the employment of children, often belonging to the age group of 5 to 17 years. At such a young age children are a lot less demanding and could be very easily managed by the employees. For this reason many unorganized sectors around the world prefer to work with child labors.
There are nearly 152 million child labors the world over; most of them are driven by poverty. Poor families unable to meet their everyday requirements of nourishment are forced to send their children to manual work in different sectors. This way the children could also supplement their family’s income apart from fending for their own vital requirements.
Child labour is defined as the employment of children in such a way so as to deprive them of their childhood, education and growth opportunities. Many unorganized small sectors around the world prefer to employ children for they are less demanding and easily manageable.
Sometimes, the families of the children, themselves push the children into child labour for want of money or they find it unable to feed the children. Such children often live in unhygienic and deprived conditions, with no medical aid at all as well as no education opportunity.
Child labour forces a child into the vicious cycle of deprivation, illiteracy and poverty. Such children are not able to find a reputed and suitable job as adults and are often regarded as socially backward. They live a solitary life of isolation and often take to unwanted and unethical means.
Child Labour refers to the employment of children in various sectors around the world. It includes sectors like mining, production industries, farming and other unorganized sectors. Children are often employed in these sectors for they are paid less and easy to manage.
Child labour is widely practised throughout the world and deprives the children of their childhood, education and other growth opportunities. Children are forced to engage in hazardous working conditions to support their families by supplementing its income.
They work under a verbal or written contract between their employer and parents. Sometimes, it is to repay a debt taken by their families from the employer. Child labour is more common in developing and under developed nations. Poverty is the main driving factor behind the child labour as the children are forced into child labour by their own families in order to fend for their everyday requirements for food and other necessities.
There are many strict laws against child labour in the world and many countries including India have norms of imprisonment and fine if a person and organization is found involved in child labour. Despite all the laws, still there is a need to forcibly implement them if we want the child labour to be eliminated.
The term “Child Labour” is used to refer to the employment of young children into various sectors like industries, hotels, farming etc. The term is used mainly to denote the employment of children falling in the age group of 5 – 15 years.
Child labour deprives the children of their childhood and proper physical and mental growth opportunities. It also considerably reduces a child’s possibility to get educated and progress in life.
Worldwide around 218 million children in the age group of 5 to 17 years are employed as child labour. These children are subjected to live in poor hygienic conditions and are deprived of very basic necessary amenities of life.
They never get an opportunity to go to school, thereby forcing them into decades of poverty and labour. Working in poor health conditions they also become susceptible to various kinds of diseases and their conditions are rarely addressed.
Such children are also subjected to live a life of isolation and are not allowed to socially interact with people and to make friends to play. Such poor work environment is stressful for a child and often results in several mental conditions like depression etc. Such children often tend to take drugs and other substances, consequently resulting in further physical and mental damages.
There is a need to strictly supervise the sectors prone to employing children and impose harsh penalties with money and imprisonment on them for doing so.
Introduction
The employment of children for different works, so as to interfere with their normal mental, physical and social growth opportunities is termed as child labour. It also deprives the children of the much-needed education.
Industries Employing Child Labour in India
There are five major sectors in India, employing the children as child labors. They are as described below-
1) Garment Industry
Child labour constitutes a considerable workforce in the Indian garment industry. These industries operate in small owner-managed setups mainly operated from homes. Thousands of children in Delhi are employed by the garment industry and are subjected to loud noise, extensive working hours and sharp tools.
2) Unorganized Sectors
This sector is one of the greatest employers of children in India. It is very easy to spot a child working in dhabas, roadside eateries, tea shops and other businesses. The children are also employed in small shops as servants or help. Family based businesses prefer to employ children as they are easily manageable and cost less.
3) Brick Kilns
The brick kiln industry of India has long been witnessing child labour. Often the children in brick kilns, work for long hours along with their parents. Children working in brick kiln are subjected to hazardous conditions and are exposed to toxic fumes and heated temperatures.
4) Fireworks
Fire sector is one of the biggest employers of children in India. Children in this sector often work in cramped spaces and are exposed to dangerous chemicals and hazardous substances, posing a risk to their health and life. They are also forced to work for longer hours in festive season.
5) Agriculture
Agriculture sector might be the biggest employer of children in India. Children are hired in cotton industries, sugarcane industries, paddy fields and other agriculture related fields. The children working in agriculture sectors have to work for longer hours are paid less and have to work in unhygienic conditions.
Conclusion
Children are forced into child labour as a result of poverty and in order to supplement their family’s income. There is a need to identify these sectors and make necessary policies and laws to prevent the employment and exploitation of children in these sectors.
Introduction
The engagement of children as manual labors in different organized and unorganized sectors is termed as child labour. It deprives the children of their educational opportunities, opportunity to growth, socialize and health. Child labour is physically and mentally harmful to the students.
Negative Effects of Child Labour
Child labour has many negative impacts on the children. Children working as child labour often work in challenging and life threatening conditions with no one to take care of them. They are paid less as compared to an adult doing the same job; moreover, they are also underfed.
Their employers do everything to keep them cut-off from the other parts of the world, forcing them to live a life of isolation and labour. They are even not allowed to talk or meet anyone. Situations like these often results in mental disorders like depression and leads to drug addiction and substance abuse etc.
How can we Help to Stop Child Labour?
There are few simple steps that we can take to help stop child labour. One should be aware of the child labour laws in the country and must always diligently follow them.
Also by keeping an eye for the businesses employing children and by reporting the same to the competent authorities will also prove helpful in elimination child labor.
A risk assessment of the workplace for the dangers it poses to the children must also be carried out. Also, hiring children for wok should be immediately stopped at any cost.
Child Labour and Poverty
One of the main factors behind the child labour is poverty. Children are forced in labour mainly to supplement their families’ income. Either they are given as contractual labour by family to the employer in exchange of money, or they are employed by the family itself in any of its traditional businesses of occupation.
For instance, poor farmers in India are forced to use their own children as labour as it would be difficult to pay for adult labors.
Conclusion
Child labour is one of the serious threats that impede the growth of a nation and the world as well. Moreover, it deprives the children of childhood, love and education and forces them into arduous, hazardous, non sociable and pathetic conditions.
Introduction
Child Labour refers to the employment of children in various sectors so as to deprive them of their childhood, education and other growth opportunities and causing physical and mental harassment to them. The prime reason behind child labour is poverty and more often than not the children are employed to supplement their family’s income.
History of Child Labour
During the preindustrial societies the concept of childhood was inexistence. Children as young as 10-13 years were engaged in works like hunting, wood cutting and farming etc. Though, it wasn’t child labour in true sense and the children did these jobs to facilitate the survival of their group or family.
Low productivity and low life expectancy were two of the main characteristics of preindustrial area. Hence, preventing the children from engaging in productive work would mean to stalling their progress and lowering their survival chances. Education in those days wasn’t considered necessary for survival than the skills.
The exploitation of children as child labour began in the late 18th century with industrial revolution. Cities like Birmingham and Liverpool in Britain fast grew into big industrial cities, attracting millions from villages and other rural areas. The situation was same in other developing economies.
The Victorian era in Britain that ranged from 20th June 1837 to 22 January 1901 was the most infamous for child labour in its period. Children as young as four years are known to have employed in factories and mines in the Victorian era. They worked in unimaginably arduous and life threatening conditions.
World Statistics on Child Labour
World Statistics reveal that nearly 218 million children all over the world are employed. These children fall in the age group of 5 to 17 years and approximately 152 million are in true sense employed as child labour.
Statistics also reveal than nearly 73 million children worldwide, work in hazardous and life threatening conditions.
Going by the numbers, Africa has around 72.1 million children employed as child labour, which is nearly half of the world’s figure of 152 million. Asia and the pacific have 62.1 million child labors; America has 10.7 million child labors while Central Asia, Europe and Arab states have 5.5 million and 1.2 million respectively.
Conclusion
Child Labour has been in existence for centuries even in some of the developed economies of the world. Sometimes the reason is to make the child employable and sometime it is to supplement their family’s income, nevertheless, in both of the cases, it interferes with the child’s ability to grow, get educated and be happy.
Introduction
Child Labour refers to physical exploitation of the children by engaging them into any form of work that deprives them of their childhood, education, growth and development and is physically and mentally harmful. Strict laws prohibiting child labour are in place in countries around the world including India, but there is a need to implement them more effectively than before.
Causes of Child Labour in India
The UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to the children around the world, states poverty as the biggest cause of child labour in India as well as in the other developing and under developed countries around the globe.
Due to poverty, children are subjected to labour, in order to supplement their family’s income. Also, the absence of adequate educational infrastructure in rural India along with a lack of awareness is also a reason behind child labour in India.
Types of Child Labour in India
There are two types of Child Labour existent in India, one is the debt bondage child labour and other form includes the employment of children to supplement their family’s income. Nevertheless, in both kinds of child labour, the will of others is partially or fully forced upon the child.
In debt bondage child labour, a child is employed for work, through a verbal assurance or written agreement, specifically to clear the debt taken by his parents from the creditor. Though, the solicitation of child labour is banned by legislature in India, the instances of bonded child labour continue even today.
Another form of child labour is where the parents of a child have an agreement with the employer, for employing their child in order to supplement the family’s income. However, poverty is the main factor behind all the types of child labour in India as well as in other parts of the world.
Child Labour in India Statistics 2019
Statistics provided by the UNICEF reveal that nearly 10.1 million children in India are engaged as child labour. These children fall in the age group of 5 to 14 years and consist of 4.5 million girls and 5.6 million boys. Over 90% of child labors are employed in rural India.
Child Labour in India is more prevalent in Uttar Pradesh (2.1 million), Bihar (1 million), Madhya Pradesh (0.7 million), Maharashtra (0.72 millions) and Rajasthan (0.84 millions).
Indian industries employing a major share of child labors in India are cotton industry, match box making industry, agriculture sector and other small unorganized sectors.
Child Labour Laws in India
There are several laws enacted in India those prohibit engagement of children in workforce. Two of the major laws are Juvenile Justice (care and protection) of Children Act -2000 and Child Labour (Prohibition and Abolition) Act -1986. These acts form the basis of all other child labour laws in India.
Conclusion
Child Labour is a serious hindrance in the growth of a nation and its social and economical development. Though there are many laws to eliminate child labour, yet they are required to be effectively implemented.
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