Child Labour: Tends and the Road Forward

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“Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward”, a report by ILO and the UNICEF, has stated that progress to end child labour has stalled for the first time in 20 years.

About 

• It is released ahead of World Day Against Child Labour (12th June) in the United Nations International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour (2021).
• The Report warns that progress is reversing the previous downward trend that saw child labour fall by 94 million between 2000 and 2016.

Findings of the Report

• Child labour: It compromises children’s education, restricting their rights and limiting their future opportunities, and leads to vicious inter-generational cycles of poverty and child labour.
• Global Rise: The latest global estimates indicate that the number of children in child labour has risen to 160 million worldwide – an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four years. In sub-Saharan Africa, population growth, extreme poverty, and inadequate social protection measures have led to an additional 16.6 million children in child labour over the past four years. 
• Recent Reasons: This rise is due to two years of global lockdowns, school closures, economic disruptions and shrinking national budgets, due to job and income losses etc.
• Sector-wise Data: The agriculture sector accounts for 70 percent of children in child labour (112 million) followed by 20 percent in services (31.4 million) and 10 percent in the industry (16.5 million). The prevalence of child labour in rural areas (14 per cent) is close to three times higher than in urban areas (5 per cent).
• Additional Risks: Globally, nine million additional children are at risk of being pushed into child labour by the end of 2022 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nearly 28 per cent of children aged 5 to 11 years and 35 per cent of children aged 12 to 14 years in child labour are out of school.
• Decreasing Safety: The number of children aged 5 to 17 years in hazardous work – defined as work that is likely to harm their health, safety or morals – has risen by 6.5 million to 79 million since 2016. 
• More male Child Labour: Child labour is more prevalent among boys than girls at every age. 63 million girls and 97 million boys were in child labour globally at the beginning of 2020, accounting for almost 1 in 10 of all children worldwide.

Image Courtesy: UN

Challenges

• The 2020 ILO-UNICEF global estimates indicate a critical juncture in the worldwide effort against child labour. 
• The recent trends suggest we are falling far behind on the collective commitment to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. 
• The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has clearly heightened the risk of child labour, above all through a sharp rise in poverty that may increase families’ reliance on child labour.
• The school closures are forcing vulnerable families to send their children to work. 
• The governments are grappling with restricted fiscal space due to the COVID-19 crisis. Thus, sound policy choices and resource allocation decisions would be critical. 

Child Labours in India

• Developing countries like India contribute maximum towards child labour. 
• According to the census of 2011, 259.64 million children belonged to the age group of 5-14 years of which 10.1 million were child labourers. 
• According to UNICEF, it amounts to approximately 13% of our workforce, or in other words, 1 in every 10 workers in India is a child.
• In India, children from unfortunate sections are forced to be involved in manufacturing of firecrackers, bangle making industry, roadside eateries and restaurants, construction sites or even the house help.
• Children in poor and disadvantaged households in India are now at a greater risk of negative coping mechanisms such as dropping out of school and being forced into labour, marriage and even falling victim to trafficking.

Image Courtesy: UNICEF

Child Labour Laws/ Policies in India

• Indian Constitution
  • Article 21 A (Right to Education): The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years in such manner as the State, by law, may determine.
  • Article 23: Any type of forced labour is prohibited. 
  • Article 24: It states that a child under 14 years cannot be employed to perform any hazardous work in any factory or mine.
  • Article 39: It states that “the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused”. 
• Child Labour Act (Prohibition and Regulation) 1986 – It prohibits children under the age of 14 years to be working in hazardous industries and processes.
• National Policy on Child Labour, 1987 – It contains the action plan for tackling the problem of child labour. It envisages:
  • A legislative action plan
  • Focusing and convergence of general development programmes for benefiting children wherever possible, and
  • Project-based action plan of action for launching of projects for the welfare of working children in areas of high concentration of child labour.
• National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme: 
  • Government had initiated it in 1988 to rehabilitate working children in 12 child labour endemic districts of the country and expanded with time. 
  • This is the major Central Sector Scheme for the rehabilitation of child labour.
• Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCIL)– It is an electronic platform that aims at involving Centre, State, District, Governments, civil society and the general public in achieving the target of child labour free society.

Suggestions

• Social Protection: Extending social protection for children and their families to mitigate the poverty and economic uncertainty that underpin child labour. 
• Good-quality Schooling: Ensuring free and good-quality schooling at least up to the minimum age for entering employment to provide a viable alternative to child labour and afford children a chance at a better future. 
• Promoting Decent Work: It would deliver a fair income for young people (of legal working age) and adults, with a particular emphasis on workers in the informal economy, in order for families to escape poverty-driven child labour. 
• Rural Livelihoods: Promoting adequate rural livelihoods and resilience, including through supporting economic diversification, investing in basic services infrastructure, extending social protection and devising agricultural extension policies for crop diversification. 
• Register Child’s Birth: Guaranteeing that every child’s birth is registered so that children have a legal identity and can enjoy their rights from birth. 
• Laws and Regulations: Ensuring that necessary laws and regulations are in place to protect children, backed by enforcement machinery and child protection systems. 
• Eliminate Discrimination: Addressing gender norms and discrimination that increase child labour risks, particularly for girls, related to domestic work and unpaid household chores. 
• Investment in agricultural development, rural public services and infrastructure should also come through.

Conclusion

• To reverse the upward trend in child labour, the ILO and UNICEF are calling for adequate social protection for all, including universal child benefits. 
• They have also called for increased spending on free and good-quality schooling and getting all children back into school, including those who dropped out before Covid-19.
• In this United Nations International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, all stakeholders must act with renewed urgency to put progress back on track. 

Sources: HT+ILO