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A child is considered to be involved in Child Labor activities under the below classification given by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF):
• Children 5 to 11 years of age, those who did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work during the week preceding the survey did and
• Children 12 to 14 years of age those who did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work combined during the week preceding the survey.
Child labor is a complicated and ongoing issue in the present world. According to the statistics given by International Labor Organization (ILO) and other government agencies, more than 73 million children between 10 to 14 years of age are considered as child labor. Asian countries occupies distinctive place with 44.6 million child labor followed by Africa with 23.6 million and Latin America with 5.1 million. Child labor is wide spread in rich and industrialized economies than in poor countries. It is also estimated that there are 60 to 115 million working children in India- which was the highest in 1996 according to human rights watch. As per the statistics, child labor appears to be more in villages than in urban areas. Nine out of ten village children are employed in agriculture or household industries and craft work. Due to urbanization, more children are getting in to the service and trading sectors rather than marketing. To differentiate on the basis of gender, it is considered that more boys are employed in laborious activities than girls. This consideration is made based on the fact that it is difficult to take a count of girls working in households.
A survey conducted by 7th All India Education Survey reveals below facts on Child Labor:
• At present there are 17 million children labor in India.
• A study found that children were sent to work by compulsion and not by choice, mostly by parents, but with recruiter playing a crucial role in influencing decision.
• When working outside the family, children put in an average of 21 hours of labor per week.
• 19% of children are employed as domestic help.
• 90% working children are in rural India.
• 85% of working children are in the unorganized sectors.
• About 80% of child labor is engaged in agricultural work.
• Millions of children work to help their families because the adults do not have appropriate employment and income thus forfeiting schooling and opportunities to play and rest.
• Children also work because there is demand for cheap labor.
• Large numbers of children work because they do not have access to good quality schools.
• Poor and bonded families often “sell” their children to contractors who promise profitable jobs in the cities and the children end up being employed in brothels, hotels and domestic work.
• There are approximately 2 million child commercial sex workers between the age of 5 and 15 years and about 3.3 million between 15 and 18 years.
• 500,000 children are forced into this trade every year.
Other Causes include-
• Lack of elementary education at the primary level
• Parental ignorance
• Ineffective implementation of child labor laws
• Non availability of schools in rural areas
• Unpractical school curriculum
• Lack of proper guidance
• Poverty
• Excessive population
• Illiterate and ignorant parents
• Adult unemployment
• Urbanization
• Availability of child labor at cheap rates
• Adult exploitation of children
• Industrial revolution
• Multinationals preference to employ child workers.
State-wise Distribution of Working Children according to 1971,1981, 1991 and 2001 Census in the age group 5-14 years
Way back in 1979, Government formed the first committee called Gurupadswamy Committee to study the issue of child labor and to suggest measures to tackle it. The Committee examined the problem in detail and made some far-reaching recommendations. It observed that as long as poverty continued, it would be difficult to totally eliminate child labor and hence, any attempt to abolish it through legal recourse would not be a practical proposition. In consonance with the above approach, a National Policy on Child Lab our was formulated in 1987.The Policy seeks to adopt a gradual & sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations & processes in the first instance.
• Children 5 to 11 years of age, those who did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work during the week preceding the survey did and
• Children 12 to 14 years of age those who did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work combined during the week preceding the survey.
Child labor is a complicated and ongoing issue in the present world. According to the statistics given by International Labor Organization (ILO) and other government agencies, more than 73 million children between 10 to 14 years of age are considered as child labor. Asian countries occupies distinctive place with 44.6 million child labor followed by Africa with 23.6 million and Latin America with 5.1 million. Child labor is wide spread in rich and industrialized economies than in poor countries. It is also estimated that there are 60 to 115 million working children in India- which was the highest in 1996 according to human rights watch. As per the statistics, child labor appears to be more in villages than in urban areas. Nine out of ten village children are employed in agriculture or household industries and craft work. Due to urbanization, more children are getting in to the service and trading sectors rather than marketing. To differentiate on the basis of gender, it is considered that more boys are employed in laborious activities than girls. This consideration is made based on the fact that it is difficult to take a count of girls working in households.
A survey conducted by 7th All India Education Survey reveals below facts on Child Labor:
• At present there are 17 million children labor in India.
• A study found that children were sent to work by compulsion and not by choice, mostly by parents, but with recruiter playing a crucial role in influencing decision.
• When working outside the family, children put in an average of 21 hours of labor per week.
• 19% of children are employed as domestic help.
• 90% working children are in rural India.
• 85% of working children are in the unorganized sectors.
• About 80% of child labor is engaged in agricultural work.
• Millions of children work to help their families because the adults do not have appropriate employment and income thus forfeiting schooling and opportunities to play and rest.
• Children also work because there is demand for cheap labor.
• Large numbers of children work because they do not have access to good quality schools.
• Poor and bonded families often “sell” their children to contractors who promise profitable jobs in the cities and the children end up being employed in brothels, hotels and domestic work.
• There are approximately 2 million child commercial sex workers between the age of 5 and 15 years and about 3.3 million between 15 and 18 years.
• 500,000 children are forced into this trade every year.
Other Causes include-
• Lack of elementary education at the primary level
• Parental ignorance
• Ineffective implementation of child labor laws
• Non availability of schools in rural areas
• Unpractical school curriculum
• Lack of proper guidance
• Poverty
• Excessive population
• Illiterate and ignorant parents
• Adult unemployment
• Urbanization
• Availability of child labor at cheap rates
• Adult exploitation of children
• Industrial revolution
• Multinationals preference to employ child workers.
State-wise Distribution of Working Children according to 1971,1981, 1991 and 2001 Census in the age group 5-14 years
Way back in 1979, Government formed the first committee called Gurupadswamy Committee to study the issue of child labor and to suggest measures to tackle it. The Committee examined the problem in detail and made some far-reaching recommendations. It observed that as long as poverty continued, it would be difficult to totally eliminate child labor and hence, any attempt to abolish it through legal recourse would not be a practical proposition. In consonance with the above approach, a National Policy on Child Lab our was formulated in 1987.The Policy seeks to adopt a gradual & sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations & processes in the first instance.