labor3

Many children work. After school hours children can help with household chores,
fetch water, run errands, or look after their younger brothers and sisters. In this
way they can participate in family life and contribute to the family income. In doing
so they pick up useful skills, learn more about their own communities and
prepare themselves for the responsibilities of adult life. “Child labour”, however,
implies something different – that children are doing things that are harmful to
their healthy development. They may be labouring long hours, sacrificing time
and energy that they might have spent at school or at home, enjoying the free
and formative experience of childhood.
The impact on a child
Crucially, children working for long hours are missing out on the vital opportunity
that education provides to equip themselves with the knowledge, life skills and
confidence to participate fully in the economic and social development of their
communities and to improve their own lives. In the worst cases, they may be
doing work that is physically, emotionally and/or psychologically dangerous,
putting their young bodies and minds under terrible strain that can lead to
permanent damage.
Most people would agree that some types of child work are evidently wrong –
working in coal mines, or rubbish tips, or glass factories. But other cases are less
clear cut. Much will depend on the age of the child: clearly there are some tasks
that a child of sixteen might reasonably do that would be far more harmful for a
child of six or eight.
The extent of the problem
How many child labourers are there? There will never be a definitive answer to
this question, given inconsistencies in national standards and definitions as well
as weaknesses in data collection. The most comprehensive global statistics on
child labour come from the ILO (International Labour Organization), which
estimated that in 2002, the number of children worldwide who were “economically
active” – doing some type of work – amounted to 352 million. Of these, 211 million
were aged 5-14. But whether this activity constitutes “child labour” depends both
on the nature of the work and the age of the child. Of the 352 million economically
active children, the ILO counted 246 million as “child labourers”.
Thus some 16% of the world’s children are caught up in child labour and around
one in twelve children are engaged either in hazardous work or in the very worst
forms of child labour. Boys and girls appear to be working to a similar extent.
Girls make up around half of all child labourers, though they make up a slightly
smaller proportion – around 45% – of those engaged in hazardous work.
Where are the child workers and what do they do?
Child labourers are certainly not confined to poor countries. In the industrial
countries, around 2.5 million children aged 5-14 are economically active, or
around 2% of the total child population. In countries with transition economies,
including former socialist countries, 2.4 million children aged 5-14, or around 4%
of the total child population, are economically active. Nevertheless, the largest
numbers of working children are to be found in the developing world. The most
serious problems are in sub-Saharan Africa where 29% of children aged 5-14 are
working (48 million), followed by Asia and the Pacific (19% or 127.3 million), Latin
America and the Caribbean (16% or 17.4 million), and the Middle East and North
Africa (15% or 13.4 million).
These children take on a huge variety of tasks. The majority work in agriculture,
which employs 70% of child workers. This is followed by 8% working in
manufacturing, and a further 8% in wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, hotels,
and in various services. Most of the latter activities are performed in urban
centres.
Why children work
Children work primarily because the environment they live in has failed to protect
them from exploitation. A large number of factors interact to influence whether or
not children will be working. These include:

Persistent poverty – in overall terms, the dominant issue is poverty. In countries
with an annual per capita income of $500 or less, the proportion of children who
are working is usually between 30% and 60%, while for countries with incomes
between $500 and $1,000, the proportion drops to between 10% and 30%.
Economic shocks – a sudden family disaster, particularly death or illness, may
force children to leave school and work. HIV/AIDS has now become a major factor,
especially in Africa where over 28 million people are living with the disease.
HIV/AIDS generally kills the main wage earners and shifts more of the income-
earning burden to children.
Inadequate education – there is a close link between education and child labour.
Education – particularly free and compulsory education of good quality up to the
minimum age for entering into employment – is a key tool in preventing child
labour. Attendance at school removes children, in part at least, from the labour
market. As well as laying the basis for the acquisition of employable skills needed
for gainful employment, school is also a place where children can be made aware
of some of the risks inherent in their interaction with unscrupulous adults. The
skills acquired at school may lead directly to the sort of gainful employment that
will help children rise above the poverty into which they were born – and thus
make them, and their own children in turn, less exposed to exploitation.
Furthermore, when children who have had the benefits of an education –
particularly girls – grow up, they are more likely to make the choice of education
for their own children, thus helping to reduce the future ranks of child labourers.
Educated girls also marry later, have fewer unwanted pregnancies, and their
children have lower infant mortality rates because of better health practices – all
of which will contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty that underpins the ready
supply of child labourers.
The demand for child labour – children may be pushed into work by poverty or the
lack of alternatives but they can also be pulled towards work. Employers are often
keen to recruit children since they will work more cheaply than adults and are
likely to be more submissive. If the “employers” are the parents, then the
children’s labour is free. In addition, employers may consider that some tasks are
particularly