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Child Labor: a Perspective

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Child Labor: a Perspective
CHILD LABOUR: A PERSPECTIVE

A RESEARCH PAPER BY
MEGHNA PRADHAN and ROCHITA CHOWDHURY
(Symbiosis School of Economics)

ABSTRACT

The current world population stands at over 7 million, out of which around 26.3% is below the age of 15. According to International Labour Organization, more than 215 million children of this age group have been employed in various economic activities. Child Labour across the world ranges from petty domestic helps to workers in Hazardous industries and even prostitution. Its occurrence is widespread; however Asia and Africa have the highest incidence of Child labour (both in absolute and relative terms). The purpose of this paper is simple: to define what exactly child labour is, understand its prominence and underline what circumstances dictate its rise, both presently and in the past.

1. INTRODUCTION TO CHILD LABOUR

The problem of Child labour is a global phenomenon and its dimension is region specific. It is a challenge not just of underdeveloped and developing countries, but developed as well. We may define child Labour as Full time employment of children who are below a minimum legal age limit. To be more precise, child labour refers to the employment of children in regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries.

Today, throughout the world, over 215 million children work, and a large proportion of this number as full-time workers. They do not go to school and have little or no time to play. Many do not receive proper nutrition or care. More than half of the aforementioned number are exposed to the worst forms of child labour, some of them being slavery, work in hazardous environments, illicit activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution and involvement in armed conflict.

We do not have proper statistics for child labour, since a lot of children work as domestic helps worldwide. For such activities, we cannot


References: * Stolen Youth: Brutalized children, Globalization and Campaign to end Child Labour By Robert Weissman (1997) * One world Guide on Child Labour * Report alleges Victoria 's Secret linked to child labor (December15, 2011) CNN US news. * Child Prostitution By Louren Kotow * Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Victorian Children (October 13, 2010) * Sadler Committee reports (1832) * CNN IBN report: More than 1 million children in India (May 11, 2009) * Statistics by ChildInfo.org * Lolita by Vladimir Nabarkov (1955) [ 7 ]. Stolen Youth: Brutalized children, Globalization and Campaign to end Child Labour By Robert Weissman (1997) [ 8 ]
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