Child Labour

 Introduction The term “child labor” is defined as work that deprives children of their childhood and is harmful to their physical and mental development. Contrary to what popular culture makes us believe, this does not include household chores or helping your parents. Work that interferes with the education and general well-being of a child is called child labor. In its most severe form, it involves children being separated from their families, exposed to dangerous hazards, or left to fend for themselves on the streets– often at a very early age. Before the onset of the modern age, children from poor families regularly worked jobs. From the late 1900s, the rise of household income, availability of schools, and passage of child labor laws, all culminated into the decrease of child labor on a worldwide scale. The outbreak of COVIDṣ-19 in 2020 saw the number of children imprisoned in child labor rising to 160 million worldwide. This means that 1 in 10 children worldwide is now a victim of the vicious cycle of child labor. 

Causes: 

● Poverty is the most prominent cause of child labor. For impoverished households, income from a child's work is usually crucial for their survival. 

● In several war-torn countries, children are forcefully recruited as soldiers by different factions. For refugee children traveling alone, the risk of being trapped in child labor increases. 

● Lack of meaningful alternatives, such as affordable schools and quality education, is a huge factor in child labor. Many rural areas do not possess adequate school facilities. Even when schools are available, they are difficult to reach, unaffordable, or have a poor quality of education. 

● Some beliefs rationalize child labor and encourage it. The children learn the trade from an early age which ensures character building and skill development. 

● In many cultures, girls do not receive formal schooling. They have to either work or perform household chores. 

● Small businesses lack modern manufacturing technologies and hence revert to a cheaper alternative -child labor. 

● With the onset of COVID-19, several economies have taken a turn downwards for good, with businesses struggling to stay open and a worldwide upsurge in the financial challenges of poor families. These families have been pushed into the ruthless cycle of poverty and debt, with child labor reaching an all-time high as families scramble to find their way out.

 Consequences

● Child labor can result in physical and mental harm, and in extreme cases, death. 

● In most cases, the children grow up with severe health issues. For example, take a look at the glass industry. Poor working conditions, lack of proper nutrition, and healthcare mean that child laborers may develop grave health issues. These issues worsen in their adulthood. This forces their kids to work so that they can make ends meet. Their children then become entrapped in the same cycle of poverty that obliterates their childhood and their future. They suffer the same fate as their parents before them.

● Girls can face many disadvantages due to gender discrimination. Many girls take on unpaid household work for their families, usually more so than boys. Girls often also have to combine long hours of household chores with an economic activity outside the household. These practices harm their education and can also present a physical danger to girls. 

● With the outbreak of COVID-19, progress to end child labor has stalled, reversing the previous downward trend that saw child labor fall by 94 million between 2000 and 2016. 

● The long-term result of child labor is that it produces unhealthy, unskilled, and uneducated adults who do not contribute much to the economy. From a purely economic perspective, child labor decreases national capital and social development, increases income and gender inequality, and may lead to a direct reduction in the quality of life. 

Solutions

Laws: The Geneva Declaration of the Right of Children Act and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights encouraged major changes to the workforce. In India, the Child labor Act prohibits hiring children younger than the age of 14 and from working in hazardous conditions. While many laws are in effect, their implementation is half-hearted at best. Better laws with proper execution can bring considerable benefit to the children. 

Awareness: India faces the hurdles of low literacy due to low enrolment in schools. Government programs like the Mid-Day Meal scheme and others have increased awareness in rural areas significantly. Increasing awareness regarding different government schemes, education programs, and reporting any instances of child labor will reduce child labor. 

NGOs: The IPEC works with international and government agencies to end child labor and provide children with education. Some NGOs use community events, income resources, and educational resources to reduce child labor. 

Corporates: The blatant disregard for human life shown in several industrial spaces is also a cause for this issue. Large conglomerates break laws and policies recklessly with little regard for the consequences. Sensitizing trade organizations to end this social evil and educating locals about reporting instances of child labor at businesses is a huge step towards ending this problem. 

Conclusions

Around the world, conflict, failing inflexible economies, gender disparity, poverty, and an enormous ruthless corporate system have destroyed and continues to destroy the lives of many children. Child labor compounds social inequality and discrimination and robs children of their childhood. These children, born into misery and poverty, who lead lives of unbridled sadness in a monstrously uncaring world, deserve the world, or at the very least a life where they can enjoy their childhood without the burden of debt and poverty. Helping so many children may seem like an impossible task, but helping at a smaller scale is possible. Help your local shelters, donate to children’s organizations, and spread awareness among people about this issue. Fighting child labor is a prolonged fight on many different fronts, one filled with many hurdles and obstacles, but it is worth all this effort to see the bright smile on a child’s face.

Credits & References :-

Priyal Kharwadkar(Team Thursday Awareness)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.savethechildren.in/child-protection/top-5-ways-to-tackle-the-problem-of-child-labor-in-india/

https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-labour

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour

https://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.html

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