Facts, History, FAQs, what you need to know about Child Labour.

Child Labor.

 

What is the definition of Child Labour?

“Child labour” is a term used to describe work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and dignity, endangers their health and well-being, and hinders their personal development (both physical and mental).It often refers to work that prevents children from attending school and also causes mental, social and physical harm.

Children are vulnerable to injuries in their early developmental years, even though physical and mental health problems from child labour may not be evident for years. Childhood injury and violence is a major killer of children, globally responsible for about 950,000 deaths in children and young people under the age of 18 years annually. In a report published by World Health Organization, unintentional injuries account for almost 90% of these cases for children aged 10-19 years.

Global Recognition of Child Labour.

In 2002, The International Labor Organization launched World Day Against Child Labour, to focus on the global impact of child labour, to bring organizations together to highlight the plight of child labourers and provide solutions to eliminate it. World Day Against Child Labour is marked on 12 June each year to remember the young workers who have been robbed of their childhood, education and the future they deserve.

About 218 million children aged 5-17 around the world are engaged in child labour; working in jobs that deprive them of their childhood, interfere with schooling, or harm their mental, physical, or social development. Nearly – 152 million – work under hazardous conditions.

 

History of Child Labour.

Throughout history, children have contributed to the economic upkeep of their families through farm labour and handicrafts. However, the growth of manufacturing and farm mechanization during the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries led to many children working under dangerous conditions in factories and farms.

In the Victorian era, child labour notoriously became fatal and hazardous with children as young as four years working in industrial factories. They were expected to crawl through tunnels that were too narrow for adults in coal mines, endangering their lives. The working hours were long ranging between 52 to 80 hours while their wages were very low, 10-20% of an adult male’s pay. Several children also worked as prostitutes.

This in turn prompted laws that not only regulated conditions for kids working but also mandated education. Through the years:

1938: The U.S. Fair Labour Standards Act restricts hours and types of jobs for children under age 16.

1973: The Minimum Age Convention, ratified by 172 countries, sets the minimum age for employment but allows some exceptions.

1989: The U.N. enacts the Convention on the Rights of the Child to guarantee the protection of children’s rights to grow and thrive.

1992: The International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is founded to promote the global elimination of child labour and support countries in their efforts.

1999: The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, ratified by 186 countries, requires ending practices like slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labour in armed conflict, prostitution, pornography, drug trafficking, and other illicit activities.

2021: The U.N. General Assembly declares this to be the Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.

2025: International commitment is set to end all forms of child labour this year under Target 8.7 of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Statistics on Child Labour.

At the beginning of 2020, 1 in 10 children aged 5 and over were engaged in child labour worldwide. This is equivalent to 160 million children – 69 million of whom were girls and 97 million were boys.

Today, an estimated 218 million children are working as child laborers while 152 million of these children are engaged in dirty, dangerous and degrading work.

Africa tops the list of regions with the highest prevalence of child labour, accounting for 72 million of all child labourers globally. Since 2012, Sub-Saharan Africa has seen the largest increase in the number of children involved in child labour - the region has more child labourers than in the rest of the world combined. Asia and the Pacific ranks second-highest with 62 million child workers. The two regions account for nearly nine out of 10 children involved in child labour worldwide.

The numbers are alarming despite significant progress in reducing child labour in the last twenty years. Furthermore, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising poverty will push an estimated 9 million additional children into child labour by the end of 2022. 

 

Findings on current state of Child Labour Globally.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), a UN agency, 70% of child labourers are involved in family agriculture.

Some work long hours in factories or in domestic service. Others are in forced labour, including child soldiers and sexual exploitation.

The number of children in child labour has risen for the first time in 20 years, according to the latest UNICEF/ILO report. 

Additional economic shocks and school closures caused by COVID-19 mean that children already in child labour may be working longer hours or under worsening conditions, while many more may be forced into the worst forms of child labour due to job and income losses among vulnerable families.

Prevalence of Child Labour.

Child labour is concentrated in the world’s poorest countries, where 40.7 % of children are engaged in exploitative work. Sub-Saharan Africa, home to 27 of the world’s 28 lowest income countries, now has more children in child labour than the rest of the world combined.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of child labourers (26 percent of children aged 5 to 17 years), in comparison to Latin America and the Carribbean, where only 7 percent of children in the same age group are performing potentially harmful work.

However, child labour is not confined to low-income countries. About 93 million children, or 58% of those in child labour, live in middle-income countries; 1.6 million child labourers live in high-income countries.

Worst Forms of Child Labour.

The ILO’s Convention No. 182 defines hazardous and morally damaging forms of labour and calls for their immediate and total elimination. As defined by the convention, the worst forms of child labour include:

·  Slavery or similar practices

·  Child trafficking

·  Forced recruitment into armed conflict

·  Sexual exploitation

·  Drug production and trafficking or other illegal acts

·  Debt bondage

·  Hazardous work that can cause injury or moral corruption

 

Factors that contribute to the increase of Child Labour.

Child labour is often catalyzed by the need of children to fend for themselves due to high levels of poverty, dodgy adults who abuse their vulnerability, faulty education systems and cultural influence/practices in some communities.

Traditions and culture play a primary role in the induction of children to work as they believe that it may be a way of instilling responsibility, skill development and character building, debt payment as subjected by wealthier families and family business inheritance which causes parents to undermine the value of education.

Child labour is also common in areas where cases of insecurity and armed conflict are high. Family poverty and poor schools are two major reasons why children in low-income countries are in the labour force.

What World Vision is doing to eliminate Child Labour.

 

How you can help to end Child Labour Globally.