Introduction:
Child Labor, designation formerly applied to the practice of employing young
children in factories, now used to denote the employment of minors generally,
especially in work that may interfere with their education or endanger their
health. Throughout the ages and in all cultures children joined with their
parents to work in the fields, in the marketplace, and around the home as
soon as they were old enough to perform simple tasks. The use of child labor
was not regarded a social problem until the introduction of the factory system.
The term "child labor" is defined by the United States Department
of Labor as the employment of boys and girls when they are too young to work
for hire or when they are employed at jobs unsuitable or unsafe for children
of their ages or under conditions injurious to their welfare. It is any employment
that robs children of their rightful heritage of a chance for healthful development,
full education opportunities, and necessary playtime.
The term has had different meanings at various times and in various communities, depending on society's concept of its responsibility for its youth. This concept steadily broadened in scope as knowledge of the needs of children and young people has expanded, as awareness of the necessity for an educated citizenry in a democracy has increased, and labor standards in general have risen to higher levels.
History of Child Labor:
As the first country to experience the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain
was the first to exhibit particular problems of child labor associated with
the factory system. During the latter part of the 18th century, owners of
cotton mills collected orphans and children of poor parents throughout the
country, obtaining their services merely for the cost of maintaining them.
In some cases children five and six years of age were forced to work from
13 to 16 hours a day.
Social reformers attempted as early as 1802 to obtain legislative restrictions
against the worst features of the child-labor system, but little was done
even to enforce existing laws limiting hours of labor and establishing a minimum
age for employment. Conditions as bad as those imposed on pauper children
rapidly developed in enterprises employing non-pauper children. Often with
the approval of political, social, and religious leaders, children were permitted
to labor in hazardous occupations such as mining. The resultant social evils
included illiteracy, further impoverishment of poor families, and a multitude
of diseased and crippled children.
Popular agitation for reform steadily increased. The first significant British
legislation was enacted in 1878, when the minimum age of employees was raised
to 10 years and employers were required to restrict employment of children
between the ages of 10 and 14 to alternate days or consecutive half days.
In addition to making every Saturday a half holiday, this legislation also
limited the workday of children between 14 and 18 years of age to 12 hours,
with an intermission of 2 hours for meals and rest.
Meanwhile the industrial system developed in other countries, bringing with
it abuses of child labor similar to those in Great Britain. In the early years
of the 19th century children between the ages of 7 and 12 years made up one
third of the work force in US factories. The shortage of adult male laborers,
who were needed for agriculture, contributed to the exploitation of child
laborers. In addition, the majority of adults cooperated with employers, helping
them to recruit young factory hands from indigent families.
Legislation followed to check illiteracy among child laborers, establish minimum
working ages, maximum working hours, and restricting child labor in dangerous
industries. The first International Labor Conference in Berlin in 1890 was
the first concerted international attempt to formulate standards for employment
of children. The International Association for Labor, founded in Basel in
1900 with branches in over 16 countries, was organized to press for statutes
on child labor to be incorporated into international labor legislation. Abuses
were gradually addressed, so that now all developed countries operate extensive
restrictions on the employment of children.
Modern legislation against child labor in the developed world is usually tied
to educational legislation on school attendance. Though most industries and
businesses are prohibited from employing underage staff on a full-time basis,
many children are able to work as newspaper deliverers and sales personnel,
as part-time workers at home, or even as actors and performers in radio, television,
and films.
In the latter part of the 20th century, child labor remains a serious problem
in many parts of the world. Many of these children live in underdeveloped
countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Their living conditions are
crude and their chances for education minimal. The insufficient income they
bring in is, however, necessary for the survival of their families. In other
cases, children are bonded, working to pay off an initial cash advance from
the employer with escalating interest that leaves them effectively slaves.
Existing Scenario:
In some countries industrialization has created working conditions for children
that rival the worst features of the 19th-century factories and mines. In
some countries legal provisions are evaded through clauses, which permit work
within the family. Precise statistics are difficult to arrive at because child
labor is formally illegal almost everywhere, and consequently authorities
have the greatest difficulty quantifying the problem, let alone controlling
it.
Anti-Slavery International gives the following estimates by country for
children below the age of 15 enduring exploitative child labor, although these
countries do not necessarily have the worst records and others with poor records
may have been excluded: Bangladesh: 5-6 million; Brazil: up to 5 million;
Egypt: 1.4 million; Guatemala: 1 million; India: up to 40 million; Indonesia:
over 2 million; Mexico: up to 8 million; Nepal: up to 2 million: Nigeria:
12 million; Pakistan: over 2 million; the Philippines: 5 million; Thailand:
4 million. Widely accepted estimates put child labor at 2 to 10 per cent of
the labor force in some areas of Latin America and Asia, and more than 10
per cent in some Middle Eastern countries. The continuing problem of child
labor is evidenced by the fact that in October 1998 Pakistan's carpet manufacturers
were given up to 10 years to remove child laborers from their workforce, part
of an agreement reached with the International Labor Organization (ILO). The
agreement followed similar arrangements to phase out child labor in Pakistan's
soccer ball industry and in Bangladesh's clothing industry.
Child-labor problems are not, of course, limited to developing nations. They
occur wherever poverty exists in Europe and the United States. In Great Britain,
the Low Pay Unit recently estimated that up to 2 million children were engaged
in part-time work: the worst record in the European Union. A growing concern
in recent years has been the increase in prostitution among youngsters in
urban centers.
International Efforts for the elimination of Child Labor:
The most important efforts to eliminate child-labors abuses throughout the
world come from the ILO, founded in 1919 and now a special agency of the United
Nations. The organization has introduced several child-labor conventions among
its members, including a minimum age of 16 years for admission to all work
(whether within the family or not), a higher minimum age for specific types
of employment, compulsory medical examinations, and regulation of night work.
The ILO, however, does not have the power to enforce these conventions; it
depends on voluntary compliance of member nations.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989,
includes restrictions on child labor and is formally binding on all countries,
which have ratified it, but it also has no enforcement mechanisms attached.
Members of the ILO passed a new treaty, known as the Worst Forms of Child
Labour Convention, taking effect in late 2000 and intended to outlaw the most
serious abuses of children, such as slavery, debt bondage, and child prostitution,
unanimously in June 1999. Again, the treaty is dependent on ratifying nations
enforcing it within their borders, and contains no sanctions against violating
parties. UN estimates state that by the year 2000 there will be 375 million
child laborers worldwide. Looking at this scenario it is important for the
world community to launch joint efforts to combat the issue.
