Eliminating child labour

Child labour in a coal mine, United States, c. 1912. Photograph by Lewis Hine.

Different forms of child labour in Central America, 1999.

Concerns have often been raised over the buying public's moral complicity in purchasing

products assembled or otherwise manufactured in developing countries with child labour.

However, others have raised concerns that boycotting products manufactured through child

labour may force these children to turn to more dangerous or strenuous professions, such as

prostitution or agriculture. For example, a UNICEF study found that after the Child Labour

Deterrence Act was introduced in the US, an estimated 50,000 children were dismissed from

their garment industry jobs in Bangladesh, leaving many to resort to jobs such as "stone-

crushing, street hustling, and prostitution", jobs that are "more hazardous and exploitative than

garment production". The study suggests that boycotts are "blunt instruments with long-term

consequences, that can actually harm rather than help the children involved."[54]

According to Milton Friedman, before the Industrial Revolution virtually all children worked in

agriculture.[128] During the Industrial Revolution many of these children moved from farm work

to factory work. Over time, as real wages rose, parents became able to afford to send their

children to school instead of work and as a result child labour declined, both before and after

legislation.[129] Austrian School economist Murray Rothbard said that British and American

children of the pre- and post-Industrial Revolution lived and suffered in infinitely worse

conditions where jobs were not available for them and went "voluntarily and gladly" to work in

factories.[130]

British historian and socialist E. P. Thompson in The Making of the English Working

Class draws a qualitative distinction between child domestic work and participation in the wider

(waged) labour market.[18] Further, the usefulness of the experience of the industrial revolution in

making predictions about current trends has been disputed. Social historian Hugh Cunningham,

author of Children and Childhood in Western Society Since 1500, notes that:

"Fifty years ago it might have been assumed that, just as child labour had declined in the

developed world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, so it would also, in

a trickle-down fashion, in the rest of the world. Its failure to do that, and its re-

emergence in the developed world, raise questions about its role in any economy,

whether national or global."[129]

According to Thomas DeGregori, an economics professor at the University of Houston, in an

article published by the Cato Institute, alibertarian think-tank operating in Washington D.C.,

"it is clear that technological and economic change are vital ingredients in getting children

out of the workplace and into schools. Then they can grow to become productive adults and

live longer, healthier lives. However, in poor countries like Bangladesh, working children are

essential for survival in many families, as they were in our own heritage until the late 19th

century. So, while the struggle to end child labour is necessary, getting there often requires

taking different routes—and, sadly, there are many political obstacles.[131]

The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), founded in 1992,

aims to eliminate child labour. It operates in 88 countries and is the largest program of its

kind in the world.[132] IPEC works with international and government agencies, NGOs, the

media, and children and their families to end child labour and provide children with

education and assistance.[132]

From 2008 to 2013, the ILO operated a program through International Programme on the

Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) titled " Combating Abusive Child Labour (CACL-II) ".

The project, funded by the European Union, contributed to the Government of Pakistan by

providing alternative opportunities for vocational training and education to children

withdrawn from the worst forms of child labour.[133]

Action against Child Labour in India

Main article: Child labour in India

Child maid servant in India. Childdomestic workers are common in India.

India has legislation since 1986 which allows work by children in non-hazardous industry. In

2013, the Punjab and Haryana High Court gave a landmark order that directed that there

shall be total ban on the employment of children up to the age of 14 years, be it hazardous or

non-hazardous industries. However, the Court ruled that a child can work with his or her

family in family based trades/occupations, for the purpose of learning a new

trade/craftsmanship or vocation.[134]

Action against Child Labour in Africa

Main article: Child labour in Africa

The ILO estimates that 38.7 million children ages 5–17 are in worst forms of child labour.[135] The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour launched a project

titled Tackling child labour through education (TACKLE) along with the European

Commission with the aim of eliminating child labour in 12 countries across Africa, the

Caribbean and the Pacific group of states (ACP).[136]

Statistics

Number of children involved in ILO categories of work, by age and gender in 2002

All Children ('000s)(2002)[137]

Economically Active Children ('000s)

Economically Active Children (%)

Child Labour ('000s)

Child Labour (%)

Children In Hazardous Work ('000s)

Children In Hazardous Work (%)

Ages 5–11 838,800 109,700 13.1 109,700 13.1 60,500 7.2

Ages 12–14

360,600 101,100 28.0 76,000 21.1 50,800 14.1

Ages 5–14 1,199,400 210,800 17.6 186,300 15.5 111,300 9.3

Ages 15–17

332,100 140,900 42.4 59,200 17.8 59,200 17.8

Boys 786,600 184,100 23.4 132,200 16.8 95,700 12.2

Girls 744,900 167,600 22.5 113,300 15.2 74,800 10.5

Total 1,531,500 351,700 23.0 245,500 16.0 170,500 11.1