What can be done to stop child labour in developing countries?

List of contents

List of tables

List of figures

1 Introduction

2 Theoretical frame of reference
2.1 Definition Child labour
2.2 Definition Developing nations

3 Distribution of child labour
3.1 Distribution in regions and countries
3.2 Distribution in sectors

4 Examples of child labour in Asia
4.1 India
4.2 Uzbekistan

5 Reasons for child labour
5.1 Poverty and unemployment
5.2 Limited education
5.3 Demand on cheap products

6 Responsibility
6.1 Companies
6.2 Government
6.3 Consumers

7 Possible actions against child labour
7.1 What companies, consumers and governments can do
7.2 Organizations fighting against child labour
7.2.1 FAIRTRADE
7.2.2 The United Nations and the ILO
7.2.3 UNICEF

8 Conclusion

Bibliography

List of tables

Table 1: Number of economically active children ages 5-14 in 2000

Table 2: Distribution of Child Labour regarding the service sector

List of figures

Figure 1: Distribution of child labour in sectors

Figure 2: The eight fundamental Conventions by the ILO

1 Introduction

According to a statement of the United Nations Organization, 218 million children, between 5 and 17 years, around the world are employed as full-time workers, often under hazardous and dangerous working conditions¹. This fact shows the importance of combatting child labour. In general, the biggest problem is that in a lot of countries childhood is not seen as a fundamental human right but as a privilege. Therefore, millions of children are forced to expose themselves to life threatening work environments which greatly influences their health, safety and school attendance in a negative way.²

Moreover, child labour is deeply ingrained in the socioeconomic ecosystem that as a result, the importance of this issue is often downplayed or not raised at all. Furthermore, it is to determine that especially in developing nations child labour is practiced. That is why there has to be a specific look on child labour in developing nations. Child labour is the most visible children's rights issue on CSR³ agenda and thus it is important to inform people about the issue of child labour and to motivate them to eradicate it.

In the following term paper, it is necessary to give firstly some definitions. Secondly there will be an overview of the distribution of child labour in the world and in different sectors. After that two examples for child labour in Asia will be mentioned. In the following the reasons for child labour will be explained and the question of the responsibility will be answered. In order to answer the question “What can be done?” possible actions will be pointed out. In this context it is also important to present different organizations which try to stop child labour.

2 Theoretical frame of reference

2.1 Definition Child labour

To ensure a better understanding of the following paper it is necessary to clearly define the term child labour.

Not all kinds of work can be called child labour. Originally, in former times children used to be send to work to prepare them for the adult life. Doing domestic works to help their parents or neighbors as well as “assisting in a family business and earning pocket money”⁴ are not considered as child labour.⁵ According to the ILO⁶ child labour includes some types of work done by children under the age of 18. Furthermore, the ILO defined slavery, prostitution, pornography and child soldiers as the worst forms of child labour.⁷ To take all aspects of child labour in consideration it is required to show another, more specific definition which says that child labour is a work

“which affects the ability of a child to participate in leisure, play and educational activities. Such work impairs the health and development of a child.” ⁸

After having looked at different definitions the main aspects of child labour can be identified as the following:

- It is mentally, morally and physically dangerous work
- It affects the health and safety of a child in a negative way
- It influences the school attendance and
- It deprives children from having a childhood.

2.2 Definition Developing nations

According to the UN, developing nations can also be called Least Developed Countries (LDCs). These countries

“are low-income countries confronting severe structural impediments to sustainable development. They are highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks and have low levels of human assets.” ⁹

The list of LDCs is created and renewed every three years by the Committee for Development.¹⁰

3 Distribution of child labour

Where is child labour practiced? In the following chapter the distribution of child labour in specific regions and countries is showed. Additionally, chapter 3.2 gives an overview of the distribution of child labour in different sectors.

3.1 Distribution in regions and countries

Concerning the distribution of child labour in the world it can be seen that Africa and Asia account for over 80 percent of the world's child employment. In fact, 60 percent of child labour is based in Asian countries, 23 percent in sub­Saharan African countries and only 17 percent in the remaining countries. Furthermore, it is to determine that especially in developing nations child labour is practiced because children are also contributing to the family income¹¹. The reasons for this will be explained later on in chapter 5.

The following table¹² shows that Asia and the Pacific employ 127.3 million children and therefore is the largest producer of child labour worldwide. With a number of 48.0 million children Sub-Saharan Africa is on the second place. As the chart shows developed economies employ 2.5 million children.

Table 1: Number of economically active children ages 5-14 in 2000

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Source: International Labour Organization 2004, p. 9

Examples for countries in Asia with a high incidence of child labour are India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea¹³.

3.2 Distribution in sectors

Children are forced to work in almost all kinds of sectors from agricultural to the industrial sector. In fact, 12 percent of the child labour worldwide is used in the industrial sector, 17 percent covers the service sector and 71 percent the agricultural sector¹⁴.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 1: Distribution of child labour in sectors

Source: Fairtrade 2016, n.p

In contrast to the industrial sector where mostly boys are employed, the service sector is represented usually by girls. Included in service work are cleaning, cooking and child care, in private households as well as for example in tourist facilities such as hotel and restaurants. As can be seen from the table 2 hotels and restaurants also practicing child labour and it is the occupation with the highest percentage of child workers compared to other segments from the service sector.

Table 2: Distribution of Child Labour regarding the service sector

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Source: Lipishree Das 2018, p. 4

Industrial work means, inter alia, mining, manufacturing and constructing. The third sector- the agricultural sector- covers all works on fields and different plantations such as cocoa, tea, tobacco and palm oil¹⁵.

As a result of the work, especially in the industrial and agricultural sector, children are endangered by extreme weather conditions and dangerous diseases such as HIV infections, influenza and malaria. This can have long - term consequences for the children concerning the physical and mental conditions¹⁶.

4 Examples of child labour in Asia

“In South Asia, children can still be found working in intrinsically hazardous industries and occupations such as brassware and glass factories, tanneries, slate making, the production of matches, recycling of batteries, and so on, where conditions of work resemble those of medieval times.” ¹⁷

This statement describes the unsafe and dangerous working conditions children have to face working in child labour. As it is explained in chapter 3 child labour is practiced mostly in developing nations. Thus, in the following specific examples of child labour in Asia will be presented.

4.1 India

The child labour in India has many things common to child labour in other countries. As well as in China, Bangladesh or Pakistan the reasons in India are similar to the ones elsewhere: poverty, inaccessibility of schools or lack of human rights. But especially in India traditions and old - fashioned social roles support child labour and limit educational attainment. From the worlds number of child workers, a quarter is based in India and every third household is affected.¹⁸

[...]

¹ Cf. United Nations Organizations w.y., n.p.

² Cf. UNICEF 2017, n.p.

³ CSR= Corporate Social Responsibility (which is an aspect of corporate ethics and which means that every company has a responsibility towards the society)

⁴ ILO 2004, p. 16

⁵ Cf. Lipishree Das 2018, p. 4

⁶ ILO = International Labour Organization

⁷ Cf. ILO 2004, p. 16

⁸ Ravi Prakash Yadav 2014, p.2

⁹ United Nations Organization w.y.a, n.p.

¹⁰ Cf. United Nations Organization w.y.a, n.p.

¹¹ Cf. International Labour Organization 2016, n.p.

¹² Cf. table 1

¹³ Cf. Lipishree Das 2018, p. 15

¹⁴ Cf. figure 1

¹⁵ Cf. Justin Healey 2017, p. 11

¹⁶ Cf. Lipishree Das 2018, p. 32

¹⁷ International Labour Organization 2004, p. 29

¹⁸ Cf. Lipishree Das 2018, p. 1