12 June 2019, Kathmandu
Every year on June 12 the ‘World Day Against Child Labor’ is observed to raise awareness of the plight of child laborers world-wide. Hundreds of millions of girls and boys around the world are affected.
Child labour refers to the use of children as a source of labour while depriving them of their fundamental rights in the process of growth and development. Such rights include the opportunity to enjoy their childhood, attend school regularly, have peace of mind, and live a dignified life.
It is a violation of children’s rights – the work can harm them mentally or physically, expose them to hazardous situations or stop them from going to school. Child labour is a global issue that prevents children from fulfilling their potential.
Child labour can also refer to the practice of exploiting children for financial gain. Some industries employ children in order to cut down on labour costs since their wage demand is low.
Not all work done by children is classed as child labour. There is not an issue when a child is working to progress their life skills without compromising their health, their well-being or their education. Often older children may do chores for their parents or small jobs to earn pocket money or gain work experience. This work prepares them for their adult working life.
Child labour to be eliminated is a subset of children in employment. It includes:
All “unconditional” worst forms of child labour, such as slavery or practices similar to slavery, the use of a child for prostitution or for illicit activities.
Work done by children under the minimum legal age for that type of work, as defined by national legislation in accordance with international standards.
Child Labour in Nepal
In Nepal, millions of children are found chasing a living in unacceptable working conditions that highlight a serious violation of their rights. However, the silver lining is that child labour in Nepal has been decreasing by 50 per cent every year, according to ILO. Although the charts depict a steady decline in child labour, the progress in child development is still far too slow.
Although Nepal’s constitution Article 22(5) says that children cannot be employed in factories, mines or other hazardous labour-centric work, and cannot be recruited into the police or armed forces, child labour practices are mostly seen in the very same fields — brick kilns, agricultural work, street hawking, mining and construction work, shoe shining, car washing, auto repair and conducting minibuses. Among these sectors, most have intolerable working conditions and exploitative work area where children are in risk of physically strenuous labour and domestic sexual exploitation. Trafficking of both girls and boys is also quite active in the country where children are trafficked both nationally and internationally for forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation.
According to Daily Times, 03 August 2018, there is around 70 million child labour in the world out of which approximately 3.8 million children registered as child laborer.
The Major Causes are:
Lack of Education.
Illiteracy, on the other hand, makes it difficult for many people to understand the importance of education. Most of the illiterate people do not provide support to children and they cannot go to school and cannot build solid foundations for future success.
High Demand Unskilled Labourers.
The demand for unskilled labourers is another cause of child labour. Children are mostly unskilled and provide a cheap source of labour, making them an attractive option for many greedy employers. These types of employers can also force children to work under unfavorable working conditions.
Poverty.
Children who come from poor families may be forced to work to support their siblings and parents or supplement the household income when expenses are more than the parents’ earnings. It is a huge problem especially in developing countries where parents are unable to generate income due to the lack of employment opportunities or education.
Expensive Education.
To many parents who live in poverty, priority is given to providing food for the family because education is too expensive to afford especially when there are many children to pay school fees for. Instead of letting children stay at home because there is lack of money to send them to school, parents choose to have them working as unskilled labourers to help support the family.
Low Aspiration.
It is important for parents and children to understand that they can work hard and make something great of themselves. A low aspiration by parents and children is a major cause of child labour because in such a situation, being employed in a local factory, or selling grocery in the streets is the normal way of life. They do not aspire to become professionals in the society or great entrepreneurs.
Early Marriages.
Marrying at an early age is a major contributing factor to overpopulation. Young parents are able to have a lot of children because they remain fertile for a long time. Having many children with little or no resources to support, leads to child labour. Older children are forced to work in order to help their parents support the family.
The Major Consequences are:
Deterioration of Health.
Child labour can also lead to health complications due to undernourishment and poor working conditions. It is highly unlikely that people who employ children also have the moral capacity to ensure that they have good working conditions. Working in places such as mines and badly conditioned factories may result in lifetime health issues for children employed to work in these places.
Illiteracy.
Children that are employed do not have the time to go to school. They spend a lot of time in their workstations as the days and years go by. The lack of education and illiteracy makes them individuals with limited opportunities for employment.
Loss of Quality Childhood.
A child should play with friends and make memories for a lifetime. Child labour, therefore, leads to loss of quality childhood as children will be deprived of the opportunity to enjoy the amazing experiences that come with being young. A child forced to work will miss many of the good things associated with childhood.
Mental Issues.
It is not a pleasant experience to be kept working as a child while your age-mates are out playing and going to school. Children also lack the ability to shield themselves from most of the challenges that occur in the workplace. Issues such as discrimination, sexual exploitation, and unfavorable working hours may result in mental upset in these children. Child labour may also result in the lack of emotional growth and thus selfishness.
The difficulty of tasks and harsh working conditions create a number of problems such as premature ageing, malnutrition, depression, drug dependency etc.
From disadvantaged backgrounds, minority groups, or abducted from their families, these children have no protection. Their employers do whatever necessary to make them completely invisible and are thus able to exercise an absolute control over them. These children work in degrading conditions, undermining all the principles and fundamental rights based in human nature.
The Solutions /Alternatives are:
If one thing is for certain, it is this: people will never prioritise education until and unless their family can afford decent meals every day. And we will never move past such grim issues without an educated society.
Therefore, we need to invest in skills-training and vocational education for the country’s parents and youths so that they can find a means of employment. If we are asking parents to send their children to school, we also need to create an environment where this can be a possibility for everyone. Once they have a stable source of income, families can then begin to think about education for their offspring. We need to ensure that parents and community members understand why child labour will have a crippling effect not only on the fate of the country, but also on the fate of their child. Some points are as follows:
Awareness.
Creating awareness about the illegality of child labour can also help in stop this practice. Parents should be made aware that sending their children to work and illegal practice. Conducting a campaign to create awareness about its harmful effects would eliminate the practice of child labour. The government, together with non-governmental organizations and the civil society, can create a strategy to make such an initiative in this regard.
Free education.
Free education holds the key to eliminating child labour. Parents that do not have money for school fees can use this as an opportunity to provide their children with education.
Create Demand for Skilled Workers.
Establishing skill-based learning centers, vocational training centers, and technical training institutions improves literacy and contributes to the availability of skilled and trained workers in the job market.
Change in Mindset.
Child labour is legally and morally wrong. Children should not be allowed to provide labour at the expense of getting an education and enjoying their childhood. Factory owners, shopkeepers, and industries among others should not employ children.
Empowerment
The poor living standards and financial constraints sometimes make them unwilling participants in this vice. Empowering poor people through knowledge and income generating projects would go a long way in reducing cases of child labour. Parental literacy also plays an important role that minors are not to be used as a source of labour. Empowering parents with this kind of knowledge can create a positive change in the society and discourage the child labour practices in communities.
Advocacy efforts to uproot child labour through regulations need to go hand in hand with advocacy efforts to create alternatives for children and their families so that parents do not rely on children to supplement the family income. We owe it to the future of our country to give children the childhood they deserve.
Some Facts About Child Labour
Worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment.
Among them, 152 million are victims of child labour; almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labour.
In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.
In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3%in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).
Almost half of all 152 million children victims of child labour are aged 5-11 years.
42 million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.
Hazardous child labour is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless up to a fourth of all hazardous child labour (19 million) is done by children less than 12 years old.
Among 152 million children in child labour, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.
58% of all children in child labour and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labour than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under-reporting of girls’ work, particularly in domestic child labour.
Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining.
Conclusion
The future is much brighter when the younger generation has a good foundation for success. The innocence of a child should never be taken away for the purpose of making the lives of young people easier. It is both unfair and morally unacceptable.
