Child labour: Cause and consequence Report

Arthika Patmanthan

Wednesday March 22

214129548

HH/IHST3545 M - Promoting Global Health

Abstract

This report aims to explain the impacts, cause, and consequences of child labor. The

report focuses on gender, education, and poverty. Provides examples of existing

policies and strategy to eliminate child labour and as well as put forwards a new

agreement to end child labour in all forms.

Childrens around the world are working and are being deprived of education. An

estimated 246 million children are engaged in labour, and it's a common phenomenon

around the world (UNICEF 2004). The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines

child labour as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their

dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. When children are

raised in such environment, we hinder their ability to develop and be physically and

socially healthy. As a result, theyre not cable of being reasonable and productive

members of the society. Childrens are being denied basic human rights due to extreme

economic distress. Children (under age 18) also have specific rights, recognized in the

1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. Protection, provision and participation are

the right children are entitled. (UNICEF). Eradication of child labour is essential for a

healthy society because children are forced to forego education and are being

exploited. Child Labour is not merely a problem of developing countries as often

assumed because about 2% of child labour occurs in developed nations. However,

developing countries are at higher risks due to extreme economic disadvantage. Asia

and the Pacific have the highest incidence of child labor at almost 78 million childrens.

Sub-Saharan Africa has 59 million incidences of child labor. There are about 13 million

children in child labour in Latin America and the Caribbean. The middle eastern and

north Africa has about 9.2 million childrens working. ( ILO IPEC, 2013). This report,

will aim to discus the cause and consequences of child labor and evaluate existing

intervention to eradicate child labour. Finally suggest a solution for child labour.

Child workers take part in agriculture, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and

domestic services (WHO).The majority of the kids work in the agricultural sector, 60% of

all forms of child labour. For example, childrens can be found harvesting tea in

Bangladesh, bananas in Ecuador and oranges in Brazil (University of Lowa labour

center). Childrens work the longest hours and get paid the lowest of all labours

(Srivastava, K, 2011). Children are seen as vulnerable and preferred by corporations

because they lack rebellious qualities. Children lack knowledge and arent aware of the

rights their entitled too. Children who grow up free from child labour have the

opportunity to realize their full potential and allow them to increase their future external

choices.

Child labour has extreme health consequences and affects the child mentally,

physically and psychologically. Unsafe work at a young age endangers a childs

immediate health and safety as well as later in life. These young childrens work with

sharp tools, power machinery, chemicals, glass and often irreversible. Injuries, burns,

and cuts are the common type of physical health consequence (ILO 2004). Although

physical injuries are common many childrens face the burden of communicable and
noncommunicable disease. They possess a high risk of respiratory disease,

tuberculosis, cardiac disorders and sexually transmitted disease. Working conditions

are generally the culprit as working areas are overcrowded and unsanitary. These kids

have no means of protecting themselves, and no precautions are taken for their safety.

There's a huge research gap between mental health and child labour. (Srivastava, K,

2011). Mental health is another ongoing global health crisis that many neglect. There

needs to be a clear understanding of the impact of mental health on child workers when

they grow up socially and culturally due to stigmatism. Since there's high occurrence of

child labour in developing nations there's inadequate health services and support

provided to these individuals.

Like food, land and water, childrens have become commodities. After the industrial

revolution and globalization, human value and rights have been ignored. Production and

profit are the primary goals of many corporations. When policies and trade deals are

signed off, we must ensure that health is taken into consideration. It is key to

understand A consequence of globalization has been the growth of inequalities today.

Globalization and industrialization has slowed social improvement and diminished public

welfare in developing countries. ( Navaro V, 1999). Throughout history, we have seen

big seed companies like Nestle, and Nike set up base in developing countries and

exploiting the vulnerable population. These companies provide no benefit to the society.

They damage the health of the public and have server environmental impacts.

Poverty is a vicious cycle that acts as a primary cause of child labour (Martin, M

2013). Although child labour is a complex issue, eradicating the practice can be possible

through partnership and commitment. Many families in developing countries face an

economic burden. When adults in the household are unemployed or underemployed,

the burden falls the child to earn so the family can sustain and meet basic needs such

as food. This leaves the kids with little to no choice alongside with no education. Since

families are stricken with poverty, chances are they can not afford education, so the

sending kids to work is a reasonable way of using their time wisely. When the kids

work, they have a high chance of becoming ill and when they age often find themselves

unemployed due to sickness or simply being replaced by the younger ones. Which then

later pushes their kids into child labour and the cycle continues. Child labour has no

social or health benefits to the development of the country. Developing nations will

remain developing if child labour continues. This is because the by-product of child

labour is an unhealthy and illiterate generation that can not escape poverty. The

government needs to take action and responsibilities for the health and wealth of their

citizens. When corrupt governments act in favor for corporations and exploit the

general public, there are severe consequences. This is evident in our world today as we

can see external factors like the world bank and the IMF are pressuring nations to invest

in production and exportation. Developing nations are encouraged to borrow to invest in

infrastructure (Global Health Watch 2011). This means there's massive financial

cutback in social services like health and education.

Child labour is predominating all over the world, the work differs regionally, and

gender plays a huge role. Child labour is much higher among boys than girls. The ILO

states that child labour among girls fell by 40% and for boys only 25% since 2000. The

elimination of child labour and the promotion of equality between girls and boys is

crucial for eradicating child labour (Global March Against child Labour). Culture and
tradition play a huge role in determining what occupation they uptake. (Norpoth, J.,

Gross, L., & Aktar, R. 2014)) Society dictates what jobs girls should do and what job

boys should do. For example, boys tend to work in jobs like mining and fishing and girls

in the garment industry and domestic work. The jobs are segregated by masculine and

feminine jobs. Males have a higher chance of attending schools than females due

variety of reasons. This includes seeing no value in educating girls as their primary goal

is to serve as a housewife and take care of the family

The absence of education is also a key factor in fueling child labour. Education will

empower children to escape poverty and gender inequality and provide a brighter

future. Although we have enough resources, we have failed to provide education and

health for all internationally. To eliminate child labour education needs to be free,

compulsory, equal and quality. We must understand the role of education and its

influence shaping the society. Although sending kids to school rather than work may

sound like a simple solution it requires immense cooperation from all levels of an

organization, including the individual to the corporation level. We can give a child an

education, but we must also consider the socioeconomic status of the family. In many

developing countries elementary education is free however the cost of school supplies,

exams and transportation is still bearing on the family (Brown G, 2014). We need to

create support systems and provide financial aids to families to sustain themselves

without having their kids at work.

There are many gaps in our understanding of child labour, and the blame is usually

on the parents and their poor parenting skills. We never blame corporations,

governments and trade policies for the inequalities and disparities. Its not an individual
problem but an international issue that needs immediate action for the progress of the

world. There's also a gap in the information that is provided to the general public. Facts

and information provided put great influence on working conditions and physical illness

however ignore the larger social and political contexts.

On September 25th,2015 WHO adopted a set of goals to improve the quality of life.

Goal number 8: promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and

decent work for all. The explicit aim is to take immediate and effective measures to

eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the

prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and

use of child soldiers and by 2025 end child labour in all its manifestations. To tackle

child labour, it's crucial to address and achieve goal number 1, Poverty, goal number 4:

quality education and goal number 5 gender inequality. Many issues surrounding

human rights and child rights needs to be addressed. Childrens are facing extreme

discrimination around the world all the world including not having access to health,

hunger, child labour and poor education systems. (WHO)

The Global March Against Child Labour is a worldwide network of trade unions,

teachers and civil society organization that work together towards the shared

development. The main goal of this network is to eliminate and prevent all forms of

education and promote childs rights. They run various of events and programs to

eradicate child labour. An ongoing project in India is reducing child labour through youth

engagement and empowerment and inculcating democratic values. This campaign is in

partnership with Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA). BBA is a well known NGO that has

saved 83 500 victims of trafficking, slavery and child labour and has helped them re-
establish trust in society and find promising futures for themselves. The campaign

empowers youth and allows for greater community involved with by doing workshop in

20 villages in India. The strength of this program is it has a lot of resources and support

from both the community and the government. Its empowering youths and giving the

hope for a brighter future. Although, empowering youth is crucial the mission and

ideologies are the same of the World health organization and international Labour

organization. With the support and resources there's more the organization can do other

than just empowering.

The National Policy on Child Labour, August 1987 contains the action plan for

tackling the problem of child labour. The policy contains the following; a legislative

action plan, Focusing and convergence of general development programs 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.

(Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, 2016) This policy was highly

effective and reduced child labour in India immensely. The advantages of this policy was

that it is government lead thus it has more power and influences. The policy allows

more childrens to be educated and corporations are held responsible for their actions.

Raid is an effective method for catch illegal business that abuse children. The main

concern about the policy is that its not affective and active as it used to be when it was

launch back in the 80s. More laws and action plants needs to be added to adjust to the

changes over time.

International child labour and health act 3545 act is crucial for eliminating child labour

and empower childrens. The goal is to eliminate and prevent all forms of child labour,
tracking and modern slavery (adapted from the sustainable goal) and ensuring

accessible and affordable education. The Act promotes and protects the rights of all

childrens and release the economic burden from childrens. Under this act, children can

be healthy physically, spiritually, mentally and socially. Providing resources also able

them to develop into reasonable and responsible members of the society. The principal

of this act is to set an international minimum wage and age. The Labour Organization

suggest the standard age should be 15 Although many complain that these views are

westernized, and it does not suit the ideologies of individual societies. However, its

crucial to have a minimum wage and age. (University of Lowa labour center). This will

allow more families to escape poverty and have more adults employed. The second

target is to make education affordable and accessible for everyone. We can see the

effects of structural violence everywhere. We can not allow the future generation to be

uneducated based on their socioeconomic status. Providing financial aids for families

and allocating resources to address social determinates of health is another important

part of the act. Empowering girls and having a greater involvement through community

health care workers. This can be done by setting up supporting groups and workshop to

educate individuals about human and labour rights. As well all inform them about

resources to help them finically or socially. to improve the lives of their children.

In conclusion child labour needs to be addressed and eradicated in order to achieve

better health for all. The right to a healthy life is a basic human right that needs to

expressed by everyone. Its crucial to educate our childrens and empower them and

provide with guides to a better and brighter future. The first thing we must do is abolish

social determinants of health and value human health and right over production and
profit. The world health organization along with it's partner will eradicate all forms of

child labour by 2025.

Reference

Ahmed, S., & Ray, R. (2014). Health consequences of child labour in bangladesh.
Demographic Research, 30, 111-150. http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1567047627?accountid=15182

About the Convention on the Rights of the Child. (n.d.).

http://www.unicef.ca/en/policy-advocacy-for-children/about-the-convention-on-the-rights-
of-the-child

Brown, Gordon, 2012, Child Labour and educational disadvantages- Breaking the
Link,Building opportunity
http://educationenvoy.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/10/child_labour_and_education_UK.
pdf

Baland, J., & Robinson, J. A. (2000). Is child labor inefficient? Journal of Political
Economy, 108(4), 663-679. http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/56902147?accountid=15182

Close, P. (2014). Children's educational labour as slave labour. Sociological Studies of

Children and Youth, 17, 107. http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1660021261?accountid=15182

Close, P. (2014). Child labour and slavery in modern society. Sociological Studies of
Children and Youth, 17, 13. http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1660022664?accountid=15182

Global March Against Child Labour | From Exploitation to Education. (n.d

http://www.globalmarch.org/

Global Health Watch (2011), World Bank and IMF

Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 2(6), 109-117. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/818802949?accountid=15182
Khanam, R., & Ross, R. (2011). Is child work a deterrent to school attendance and
school attainment? International Journal of Social Economics, 38(8), 692-713.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03068291111143901

Rahman, K. M. M., Islam, T. M., & Tareque, I. (2010). Socio-economic correlates of child
labour in agricultural sector of rural rajshahi district, bangladesh. International

Lieten, G. K. (2006). Research on child labour Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/61776115?
accountid=15182

Liebel, M., & Saadi, I. (2011). Child labor and its eradication remain a mystery.
comments on the child labour report 2010 of the international labour organization.
Diskurs Kindheits- Und Jugendforschung, 6(3), 333-337. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/925712690?accountid=15182

Martin, M. (2013). Child labour: Parameters, developmental implications, causes and

consequences. Contemporary Social Science: Journal of the Academy of Social
Sciences, 8(2), 156-165. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2012.751501

Navarro, V. (1999). "Health and Equity in the World in the Era of Globalization."
International Journal of Health Services 29(2): 215-226.

Navarro, V. (2007). "Neoliberalism as a Class Ideology; or, the Political Causes of the
Growth of Inequalities." International Journal of Health Services 37(1): 47-62

Nepal, A., & Nepal, M. (2012). Notes and debates: Is child labour a substitute for adult
labour? the relationship between child labour and adult illness in nepal. International
Labour Review, 151(1-2), 109-122.
http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1030868812?accountid=15182

Norpoth, J., Gross, L., & Aktar, R. (2014). Child labour in bangladesh - an analysis of
gaps and weaknesses of the existing legal framework. St. Louis: Federal Reserve Bank
of St Louis. http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1697787283?accountid=15182

What is child labour (IPEC)International Labour o=Organization

http://ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm

. (n.d.).
http://www.labour.nic.in/childlabour/child-labour-policies