Topic: Child Labour

Submitted by: Aysha Farooq Sulehria

Roll No: 06
Submitted to: Dr Aliya Khalid
Session: 2023-2025
M.Phil. 2nd

Department of social
work
The University of Punjab
Lahore
 Child Labour
Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour
that is to be targeted for elimination. The participation of children
or adolescents above the minimum age for admission to
employment in work that does not affect their health and
personal development or interfere with their schooling, is
generally regarded as being something positive. This includes
activities such as assisting in a family business or earning pocket
money outside school hours and during school holidays. These
kinds of activities contribute to children’s development and to the
welfare of their families; they provide them with skills and
experience, and help to prepare them to be productive members
of society during their adult life.
The term “child labour” is often defined as work
that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their
dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.
It refers to work that:
Is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful
to children; and/or interferes with their schooling by: depriving
them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave
school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine
school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child
labour” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work
performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the
objectives pursued by individual countries. The answer varies
from country to country, as well as among sectors within
countries.
In a very simple words, we can say:
child labor is work that is performed by children that is harmful to
their health, safety, or moral development. It can also include
work that is performed by children who are too young to do it.

Different definition of child

labour:
The United Nations (UN) defines child labor as work that:
 Is too young for children to do
 Is harmful to a child's health, safety, or morals
 Deprives children of their education
 Forces children to work and go to school at the same time
 Involves the enslavement of children
 Separates children from their families
 Exposes children to serious illnesses and hazards
 Leaves children to fend for themselves on the streets
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines a
child as anyone under the age of 18. The CRC states that children
have the right to be protected from work that is harmful to their
health or development, or that interferes with their education.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include a global
commitment to end child labor by 2025.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC) defines child labor as work that is harmful to children. The
CRC states that children have the right to be protected from work
that:
 Is likely to be hazardous
 Interferes with their education
 Is harmful to their health or physical, mental, spiritual,
moral, or social development
The CRC is the most widely ratified international human rights
agreement in history, with 196 signatory parties.

UNICEF defines child labor as work that is too young for children
to do or that is harmful to their health, safety, or morals. UNICEF
also considers child labor to be work that deprives children of
their childhood, potential, and dignity.
UNICEF's definition of child labor is based on three main
international conventions:
The International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138
The ILO Convention No. 182
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
UNICEF works with national governments, the private sector,
international donors, and civil society to address child labor.

Forms of child labour

Child labor can take many forms, including:
 Forced labor: Children are forced to work, including as child
soldiers or domestic servants
 Prostitution: Children are used for prostitution or
transactional sex
 Pornography: Children are used to produce or for
pornographic purposes
 Illicit activities: Children are used for illicit activities
 Agriculture: Children work in agriculture, which can expose
them to harmful insects and pesticides, and require them to
work long hours in extreme weather
 Mining: Children work in mines, sifting through polluted
water to look for gold
 Sweatshops: Children work in sweatshops to make cheap
clothing
Child labor can deprive children of their education, and can cause
them to be separated from their families.

Glimpse from history

History of child labor is complex, with child labor being used
throughout most of human history, but reaching its height during
the Industrial Revolution:

Pre-industrial
Children were important to the survival of their families and
groups, and worked in farming and handicrafts.

Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries led to the
exploitation of children in factories and farms. Children were often
paid less than adults, worked long hours, and were unable to
attend school.

Victorian era
The Victorian era was known for the poor conditions' children
worked in.

Decline
Child labor began to decline in industrialized societies in the
second half of the 19th century due to economic factors and
regulation.

Modern laws
In recent decades, many countries have passed laws to limit the
age of child laborers, increase schools, and increase punishments
for those who sexually exploit children.
Many factors played a role in Britain's long-term economic
growth, such as the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and
the prominent presence of child labour during the industrial age.
Children who worked at an early age were often not forced; but
did so because they needed to help their family survive
financially. Due to poor employment opportunities for many
parents, sending their children to work on farms and in factories
was a way to help feed and support the family. Child labour first
started to occur in England when household businesses were
turned into local labour markets that mass-produced the once
homemade goods. Because children often helped produce the
goods out of their homes, working in a factory to make those
same goods was a simple change for many of these youths.
Although there are many counts of children under the age of ten
working for factories. Majorities of child workers between the ages
of ten and fourteen.

Social status
Employment of children of less
than a legally specified age. In Europe, North America, Australia,
and New Zealand, children under age 15 rarely work except in
commercial agriculture, because of the effective enforcement of
laws passed in the first half of the 20th century. In the United
States, for example, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set the
minimum age at 14 for employment outside of school hours in
nonmanufacturing jobs, at 16 for employment during school hours
in interstate commerce, and at 18 for occupations deemed
hazardous.
Child labour is far more prevalent in developing countries, where
millions of children—some as young as seven—still toil in
quarries, mines, factories, fields, and service enterprises. They
make up more than 10 percent of the labour force in some
countries in the Middle East and from 2 to 10 percent in much of
Latin America and some parts of Asia. Few, if any, laws govern
their employment or the conditions under which work is
performed. Restrictive legislation is rendered impractical by
family poverty and lack of schools. The movement to regulate
child labour began in Great Britain at the close of the 18th
century, when the rapid development of large-scale
manufacturing made possible the exploitation of young children in
mining and industrial work. The first law, in 1802, which was
aimed at controlling the apprenticeship of pauper children to
cotton-mill owners, was ineffective because it did not provide for
enforcement. In 1833 the Factory Act did provide a system of
factory inspection.
Organized international efforts to regulate child labour began with
the first International Labour Conference in Berlin in 1890.
Although agreement on standards was not reached at that time,
similar conferences and other international moves followed. In
1900 the International Association for Labour Legislation was
established at Basel, Switzerland, to promote child labour
provisions as part of other international labour legislation. A
report published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) of
the United Nations in 1960 on law and practice among more than
70 member nations showed serious failures to protect young
workers in nonindustrial jobs, including agriculture and
handicrafts. One of the ILO’s current goals is to identify and
resolve the “worst forms” of child labour; these are defined as
any form of labour that negatively impacts a child’s normal
development. In 1992 the International Programmed on the
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was created as a new
department of the ILO. Through programs it operates around the
world, IPEC seeks the removal of children from hazardous working
conditions and the ultimate elimination of child labour.
Organized international efforts to regulate child labour began with
the first International Labour Conference in Berlin in 1890.
Although agreement on standards was not reached at that time,
similar conferences and other international moves followed. In
1900 the International Association for Labour Legislation was
established at Basel, Switzerland, to promote child labour
provisions as part of other international labour legislation. A
report published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) of
the United Nations in 1960 on law and practice among more than
70 member nations showed serious failures to protect young
workers in nonindustrial jobs, including agriculture and
handicrafts. One of the ILO’s current goals is to identify and
resolve the “worst forms” of child labour; these are defined as
any form of labour that negatively impacts a child’s normal
development. In 1992 the International Programmer on the
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was created as a new
department of the ILO. Through programs it operates around the
world, IPEC seeks the removal of children from hazardous working
conditions and the ultimate elimination of child labour.
Organized international efforts to regulate child labour began with
the first International Labour Conference in Berlin in 1890.
Although agreement on standards was not reached at that time,
similar conferences and other international moves followed. In
1900 the International Association for Labour Legislation was
established at Basel, Switzerland, to promote child labour
provisions as part of other international labour legislation. A
report published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) of
the United Nations in 1960 on law and practice among more than
70 member nations showed serious failures to protect young
workers in nonindustrial jobs, including agriculture and
handicrafts. One of the ILO’s current goals is to identify and
resolve the “worst forms” of child labour; these are defined as
any form of labour that negatively impacts a child’s normal
development. In 1992 the International Programmed on the
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was created as a new
department of the ILO. Through programs it operates around the
world, IPEC seeks the removal of children from hazardous working
conditions and the ultimate elimination of child labour.
Organized international efforts to regulate child labour began with
the first International Labour Conference in Berlin in 1890.
Although agreement on standards was not reached at that time,
similar conferences and other international moves followed. In
1900 the International Association for Labour Legislation was
established at Basel, Switzerland, to promote child labour
provisions as part of other international labour legislation. A
report published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) of
the United Nations in 1960 on law and practice among more than
70 member nations showed serious failures to protect young
workers in nonindustrial jobs, including agriculture and
handicrafts. One of the ILO’s current goals is to identify and
resolve the “worst forms” of child labour; these are defined as
any form of labour that negatively impacts a child’s normal
development. In 1992 the International Programmer on the
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was created as a new
department of the ILO. Through programs it operates around the
world, IPEC seeks the removal of children from hazardous working
conditions and the ultimate elimination of child labour. are many
counts of children under the age of ten working for factories, the
majority of children workers were between the ages of ten and
fourteen.

Current status of
child labour in world
METRICS of last 5 years
▪ 152 million were in child labour
▪ Of which, 73 million were in hazardous work
REGIONAL PREVALENCE OF CHILD LABOUR
▪ Africa 19.6%
▪ Americas 5.3%
▪ Arab States 2.9%
▪ Asia and the Pacific 7.4%
▪ Europe and Central Asia 4.1%

Here are
some global references about child labor:
1.Prevalence
In 2020, 160 million children were involved in child labor, which is
about 1 in 10 children worldwide. The majority of child labor is in
Sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly one in four children are involved
in child labor.
Age
89 million of the children in child labor are between the ages of 5
and 11, while 35 million are between 12 and 14, and 35 million
are between 15 and 17.

2.Sex
97 million of the children in child labor are boys, while 63 million
are girls.

3.Sector
70% of child labor is in agriculture.

4.Employment status
72% of child labor occurs within families, primarily on family
farms or in other family microenterprises.

Child labour in Pakistan:

Child labour in Pakistan is the employment of children to work in
Pakistan, which causes them mental, physical, moral and social
harm. Child labour takes away the education from children. The
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated that in the
1990s, 11 million children were working in the country, half of
whom were under age ten. In 1996, the median age for a child
entering the work force was seven, down from eight in 1994. It
was estimated that one quarter of the country's work force was
made up of children. Child labor stands out as a significant issue
in Pakistan, primarily driven by poverty. The prevalence of
poverty in the country has compelled children to engage in labor,
as it has become necessary for their families to meet their desired
household income level, enabling them to afford basic necessities
like butter and bread.

"Child Labour in Pakistan". Fair Trade Sports. Archived from the

original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (16 January 2016). "Child labour
increases in Pakistan while numbers drop internationally.
it is estimated that 37 percent of working boys were employed in
the wholesale and retail industry in urban areas, followed by 22
percent in the service industry and 22 percent in manufacturing.
48 percent of girls were employed in the service industry while 39
percent were employed in manufacturing. In rural areas, 68
percent of working boys were joined by 82 percent of working
girls. In the wholesale and retail industry the percentage of girls
was 11 percent followed by 11 percent in manufacturing.
Child labour in Pakistan is perhaps most rampant in the city of
Multan, which is an important production center for export goods.
For children working at brick kilns in Punjab, a survey was
conducted by the Punjab Labour Department. According to the
latest figures of the survey, the department identified 10,347
brick kilns in Punjab and a total of 126,779 children were seen at
these sites. Out of the total, the survey identified that 32,727
children were not attending schools. For the school-going
children, a total of 71,373 children were enrolled in public
schools, of whom 41,017 were males and 30,356 were females. A
total of 13,125 children were attending private schools; 7,438
were males and 5,687 were females. As many as 9,554 children
were enrolled in non-formal education institutes.

causes of child labour in Pakistan:

The International Labour Organization (ILO) suggests

that poverty is the greatest single cause behind child labour.
Pakistan has a per-capita income of approximately $1900. A
middle-class person in Pakistan earns around $6 a day on
average. The average Pakistani has to feed nine or ten people
with their daily wage. There is also a high inflation rate. As of
2008, 17.2% of the total population lives below the poverty line,
which is the lowest figure in the history of Pakistan. Poverty levels
appear to necessitate that children work in order to allow families
to reach their target take-home pay.
The low cost of child labor gives manufacturers a significant
advantage in the Western marketplace, where they undersell
their competitors from countries which are prohibiting child labor.
According to research conducted by Akhtar, Fatima, & Sadaqat,
the main causes of child labour in the fishing sector on the
Baluchistan coast were the low quality of education, lack of job
prospects, and lack of progress in the region. It was found that in
this particular province there are high dropout rates and low
literacy rates. The researchers believe that policies focusing on
bettering education will help reduce child labour. Pakistan ranks
among the countries with the lowest literacy rates, and in recent
years, child labor has seen a disturbing rise. The primary cause
for the surge in child labor is the escalating poverty levels, with
low literacy rates also playing a significant role in exacerbating
this issue.

Government steps on child labour

A number of laws contain provisions prohibiting child labour, or
regulating the working conditions of child and adolescent workers.
The most important laws are:
 The Factories Act 1934
 The West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance
1969
 The Employment of Children Act 1991
 The Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 1992
 The Punjab Compulsory Education Act 1994
Child labour remains one of the major problems afflicting Pakistan
and its children. Pakistan has passed laws in an attempt to limit
child labour and indentured servitude, but those laws are
universally ignored. Some 11 million children, aged four to
fourteen, keep the country's factories operating, often working in
brutal and squalid conditions.

In December 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's List of Goods

Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor reported nine goods, six
of which are produced by child laborers in Pakistan. These include
the making of bricks, carpets, glass bangles, leather and surgical
instruments, as well as coal mining.

Efforts to reduce child labour

NGO groups against child labour have been raising awareness of
the exploitation of children in Pakistan.[15] Several organizations
are working in Pakistan to reduce child labour. Factories are now
registered with provincial social security programs which offer
free school facilities for children of workers and free hospital
treatment.

What as a social Workes we can do in reducing of

Child labour
Social workers can help reduce child labor by:
1.Improving education and livelihood opportunities
Social workers can help children enroll and stay in school, and
provide access to vocational training. They can also help families
increase their income and assets, and diversify their livelihoods.
2.Raising awareness
Social workers can raise community awareness about the
consequences of child labor.
3.Establishing safety nets
Social workers can monitor living conditions and find resources for
children who can no longer live with their families.
4.Supporting families
Social workers can help families cope with economic or health
shocks. Social protection programs can also help reduce child
labor, but they need to be designed to be effective in different
contexts.
Some recommendations for social protection
programs include:
 Making programs inclusive and universal
 Considering the potential implications for child labor in
different sectors
 Ensuring benefits are adequate and predictable
 Combining social protection with education and health
interventions

What effective strategies can you use

to combat global child labor?
Child labor is a global problem that affects millions of children and
their families, especially in developing countries. It deprives
children of their rights to education, health, safety, and dignity,
and exposes them to exploitation, abuse, and violence. As a social
worker, we may encounter situations where child labor is
prevalent or where you can advocate for its eradication. In this
article, we will explore some effective strategies that you can use
to combat global child labor and promote the well-being of
children and their communities.
1. Understand the root causes
Child labor is not a simple or isolated phenomenon. It is
influenced by various factors, such as poverty, inequality, lack of
access to quality education, social norms, cultural values, conflict,
migration, and environmental degradation. To address child labor
effectively, we need to understand the root causes and the
context of each situation. We also need to recognize the diversity
and complexity of children's experiences and needs, and avoid
imposing a one-size-fits-all solution.
2. Engage with multiple stakeholders
Child labor is a multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral issue that
requires the collaboration and coordination of different actors and
institutions. As a social worker, we can engage with multiple
stakeholders, such as children, families, communities, employers,
governments, NGOs, trade unions, international organizations,
and media, to raise awareness, mobilize resources, build
partnerships, and advocate for change. we can also facilitate
dialogue and participation among these stakeholders, and ensure
that the voices and perspectives of children and their families are
heard and respected.
3. Promote child rights and protection
Child labor violates the rights and protection of children, as
enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other
international and national laws and standards. As a social worker,
we can promote child rights and protection by informing children
and their families about their rights and entitlements, supporting
them to access legal and social services, monitoring and reporting
cases of child labor and abuse, and providing psychosocial
support and counseling. we can also support the development
and implementation of policies and programs that protect
children from child labor and its worst forms, such as trafficking,
slavery, hazardous work, and armed conflict.
4.Enhance education and livelihood opportunities
Child labor often results from the lack of education and livelihood
opportunities for children and their families. As a social worker,
we can enhance education and livelihood opportunities by
supporting children to enroll and stay in school, providing them
with quality and relevant education, facilitating their access to
vocational training and skills development, and creating linkages
with employers and markets. we can also support families to
increase their income and assets, diversify their livelihoods,
access social protection and safety nets, and reduce their
vulnerability to shocks and crises.
5.Empower children and their families
Child labor often disempowers children and their families, by
limiting their choices, opportunities, and agency. As a social
worker, we can empower children and their families by building
their capacities, confidence, and resilience, supporting their
participation and decision-making, respecting their dignity and
diversity, and fostering their sense of belonging and identity. We
can also empower them by promoting their social inclusion and
cohesion, strengthening their networks and solidarity, and
enabling them to access and influence the institutions and
structures that affect their lives.

furthermost to combat child labor, there should be efforts that

involve ensuring access to proper education, raising community
awareness about the consequences of child labor, providing
relevant livelihood support to the families, enforcing and
developing strong laws, promoting ethical business practices, and
finally ensuring and fostering international cooperation through
the NGOs and other relevant institutions.