CHILD LABOUR
Child labor is work that harms children or keeps them from attending school. Around the world and in the U. S., growing gaps between rich and poor in recent decades have forced millions of young children out of school and into work.
WHAT IS CHILD LABOUR ?
Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations. Legislation across the world prohibit child labour. These laws do not consider all work by children as child labour; exceptions include work by child artists, supervised training, certain categories of work such as those by Amish children, some forms of child work common among indigenous American children, and others.
Child labour was employed to varying extents through most of history. Before 1940, numerous children aged 5–14 worked in Europe, the United States and various colonies of European powers. These children worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, mining and in services such as newsies. Some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labour laws, the incidence rates of child labour fell.
In developing countries, with high poverty and poor schooling opportunities, child labour is still prevalent. In 2010, sub-saharan Africa had the highest incidence rates of child labour, with several African nations witnessing over 50 percent of children aged 5–14 working. Worldwide agriculture is the largest employer of child labour.] Vast majority of child labour is found in rural settings and informal urban economy; children are predominantly employed by their parents, rather than factories. Poverty and lack of schools are considered as the primary cause of child labour.
The incidence of child labour in the world decreased from 25% to 10% between 1960 and 2003, according to the World Bank.Nevertheless, the total number of child labourers remains high, with UNICEF and ILO acknowledging an estimated 168 million children aged 5–17 worldwide, were involved in child labour in 2013.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
During the industrial revolution, children as young as four were employed in production factories with dangerous, and often fatal, working conditions.Based on this understanding of the use of children as labourers, it is now considered by wealthy countries to be human rights violation, and is outlawed, while some poorer countries may allow or tolerate child labour. Child labour can also be defined as the full-time employment of children who are under a minimum legal age.VICTORIAN era
The Victorian era became notorious for employing young children in factories and mines and as chimney sweeps.Child labour played an important role in the Industrial Revolation from its outset, often brought about by economic hardship. Charles dickens ,for example, worked at the age of 12 in a blacking factory, with his family in debtor's prison. The children of the poor were expected to help towards the family budget, often working long hours in dangerous jobs for low pay,earning 10–20% of an adult male's wage. In England and Scotland in 1788, two-thirds of the workers in 143 water-powered cotton mills were described as children. In 19th-century Great Britain, one-third of poor families were without a breadwinner, as a result of death or abandonment, obliging many children to work from a young age.
Children working in home-based assembly operations in United States (1923).
Karl Marx was an outspoken opponent of child labor, saying British industries, "could but live by sucking blood, and children’s blood too," and that U.S. capital was financed by the "capitalized blood of children"
Children also worked as errand boys, crossing sweeepers,shoe blacks, or selling matches, flowers and other cheap goods. Some children undertook work as apprentices to respectable trades, such as building or as domestic servants (there were over 120,000 domestic servants in London in the mid-18th century). Working hours were long: builders worked 64 hours a week in summer and 52 in winter, while domestic servants worked 80 hour weeks.
Early 20th Century
In the early 20th century, thousands of boys were employed in glass making industries.Glass making was a dangerous and tough job especially without the current technologies. The process of making glass includes intense heat to melt glass (3133 °F). When the boys are at work, they are exposed to this heat. This could cause eye trouble, lung ailments, heat exhaustion, cut, and burns. Since workers were paid by the piece, they had to work productively for hours without a break. Since furnaces had to be constantly burning, there were night shifts from 5:00 pm to 3:00 am Many factory owners preferred boys under 16 years of age.
Children as young as three were put to work. A high number of children also worked as prostitutes Many children (and adults) worked 16-hour days. As early as 1802 and 1819 Factory Acts were passed to regulate the working hours of workhouse children in factories and cotton mills to 12 hours per day.
Child labor involves at least one of the following characteristics:
Violates a nation’s minimum age laws
Threatens children’s physical, mental, or emotional well-being
Involves intolerable abuse, such as child slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor, or illicit activities
Prevents children from going to school
Uses children to undermine labor standards
Child labor can be found in nearly every industry
Agriculture
An estimated 60% of child labor occurs in agriculture, fishing, hunting, and forestry. Children have been found harvesting:
bananas in Ecuador
cotton in Egypt and Benin
cut flowers in Colombia
oranges in Brazil
cocoa in the Ivory Coast
tea in Argentina and Bangladesh
fruits and vegetables in the U.S.
Children in commercial agriculture can face long hours in extreme temperatures, health risks from pesticides, little or no pay, and inadequate food, water, and sanitation.
2.Manufacturing
About 14 million children are estimated to be directly involved in manufacturing goods, including:
Carpets from India, Pakistan, Egypt
Clothing sewn in Bangladesh; footwear made in India and the Philippines
Soccer balls sewn in Pakistan
Glass and bricks made in India
Fireworks made in China, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, and Peru
Surgical instruments made in Pakistan
3.Mining and Quarring
Child laborers suffer extremely high illness and injury rates in underground mines, opencast mines, and quarries. Children as young as 6 or 7 years old break up rocks, and wash, sieve, and carry ore. Nine-year-olds work underground setting explosives and carrying loads. Children work in a range of mining operations, including:
Gold in Colombia
Charcoal in Brazil and El Salvador
Chrome in Zimbabwe
Diamonds in Cote d’Ivoire
Emeralds in Colombia
Coal in Mongolia
WHY CHILD LABOR EXIXTS ?
"Child labour exists because we allow it to exist"
It exists because people accept it and make excuses for it. There are no excuses for child labour. All forms of child labour are unacceptable.
It exists because it is allowed to exist. Child labour could be eliminated with political will and action.
It exists because the right of children to full-time education is not respected.
It exists because the formal education system in some countries is allowed to discriminate against the poor and vulnerable by making schools inaccessible and unaffordable.
It exists because consumer do not care about who makes the products they buy as long as they are cheep.
It exists because often times, it is 'invisible'
It exists because there is a demand for sex with young children, male and female
It exists because armies force children to fight or to support older soldiers
It exists because we haven't done enough to end
Why is child labour a problem?
Because it denies children their most basic rights - protection and freedom from exploitation.
Because it means children are at work instead of going to school. Children are denied their rights to full-time quality education which is the key to escaping poverty. By working instead of learning, the cycle of poverty is perpetuated.
Because young children around the world are involved in dangerous and damaging work.
Because it makes it difficult for adults to find employment when children can be employed for cheaper. Child labour excluded adults from the work force. This creates poverty.
1. Isn't child labour illegal?
Throughout the world, legislation exists that makes the exploitation of children illegal. However, all too often, the monitoring component of these legal frameworks is week or non-existent and the finances and political will to improve them have not materialised. Many governments and businesses see child labour was a way to compete internationally as it keeps their costs, and therefore the price for their goods, low.
2. Is all child labour harmful?
No! But, let's be clear! Child labour is any labour that prevents a child from receiving a full time formal education. Helping around the house or farm, or working in a local shop on weekends or for a few hours after school during the
week is not child labour. In fact, this kind of work can be good for a young person - it helps them learn valuable life skills. If this work prevents a child from receiving a full time formal education and when it contravenes existing laws on the minimum age and conditions for employment, it become child labour.
3. How does child labour harm young people?
The impact of child labour on children includes:
· serious damage to children's health as a result of violence, injury or disease
· impinges on the social, emotional and moral development of children
· continuing poverty for individuals, families and whole communities
· denial of the basic rights of millions of people
· continuing poverty for individuals, families and whole communities
· denial of the basic rights of millions of people
4. Isn't child labour necessary for poor families to survive?
Child labour cannot be tackled as a family issue only; it is a societal issue, a cultural issue, and a human rights issue. Put simply, child labour should not exist and no excuses should be made for it. Child labour in not a 'necessary evil'. Child labour is not just an issue for poor families; it is something that affects us all. Parents, employers, government officials, teachers, police and other community representatives should all be involved in providing the necessary conditions to ensure that children do not have to work.
5. What can be done about Child Labour?
Eliminating child labour is within our reach and it can happen. We all have a role to play - governments, international organisations, businesses, NGOs, community and faith-based organisations, trade unions, employers, teachers, parents, communities and you.
"What this is all about is political will. If our own country [Canada] and other countries made it clear that child labour is both illegal and unacceptable, then this problem wouldn't exist."
Governments and Donors (such as the European Union and the Irish Government) must continue to increase funding for basic education in developing countries and support initiatives that aim to get out-of-school children back to the classroom - and keep them there. They must also develop policies that actively target the elimination of child labour as part of their Official Development Assistance.
