Dear Debi

This is a tough problem and in spite what all the government agencies may say, until the economic conditions for all are uplifted it is not possible. In India children are considered as extra hands to provide support for farming or earning.

Many of the child labor in India are orphans and do not have access to education. Without that there is no way they will become productive.

As per ILO – “In any effective strategy to abolish child labour, provision of relevant and accessible basic education is central. But education must be embedded in a whole range of other measures, aiming at combating the many factors, such as poverty, lack of awareness of children's rights and inadequate systems of social protection, that give rise to child labour and allow it to persist.”

http://ilo.org/declaration/principles/abolitionofchildlabour/lang--en/index.htm

Some suggestions that could be implemented are:

1. Provide educational facilities that will make them productive

2. Have some way of supporting them through fostering and arranging stipends or grants.

3. Provide hostels to provide a healthy developing environment to make them responsible citizens.

Here is the ILO report on various government efforts to abolish child labor.

http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=child

Child labor laws in all countries include numerous statutes and rules regulating the employment of minors. Child labor harms children and keeps them from attending school.

Dear Alexandre and Nages: Indeed, the problem is highly complex. I am in favour of genuine pressure of nations and international organizations; but their prescriptions are covertly attached with their own interests. So far as development is concerned, there is no doubt that it is the best solution, like development is the best contraception for checking population growth. But that does not seem to be taking place in the near future. Look at China, how effective education program has checked it there, despite other concerns of international community. But they have a determined state to fight such barbaric practices.

Debi, this is a really important question, which needs continuous efforts and time to be tackled effectively.

Pressure on the organizations exploiting children, e.g. by boycotting products being produced by child labour force, won't work. The money is needed in child's family, and the poor will be left to seek jobs in such dangerous industries as road construction or prostitution.

I agree with the view that raising the income of adults is a promising way to abolish child labour. This would enable families to get their children a better education. Either we have to educate the parents, so that they can work in better paid jobs, or we have to implement some alternative form of vocational education for the children on work. They would build the next generation of parents who can afford a better life for their families and children.

Dear Debi. The problem has two faces. The first side (short term measures) was touched in previous posts. Along with the measures to combat the problem there is a long term measure which has its roots in people education. After basic needs (home, job, education, ...) are available or secured, one should plan to expand the family! I think, there is a correlation between high birth rate and poverty in poor countries. China penalize parent having more than 1 child and surprisingly they succeeded even she has more population than India.

Dear Debi, as Alexandre & Nageswara stated, yes it is not easy to abolish practically. Forming a law against child labor alone may not help in this issue. Not only the child need/ force to work, the employers are in serious need of workers for their households. In India the children with below poverty line (BPL), lower socio economic status, illiterate etc are frequently victims of this issue. In India, primary education is free in government schools but the no of schools are sufficient enough to accommodate all the children? I don't think so? There are lots of private schools which are costly and every parents can't afford it. If the government is implementing a law against child labor, there should be some property functioning schemes to fulfill food (Roti), clothing (Kappra) and shelter (Makan) for the children...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour_in_India

Child labor can be abolished in developing countries only by abolishing poverty. So, child labor should be banned whatever the reasons are, see the following page:

http://www.studymode.com/essays/Child-Labour-Should-Be-Banned-Final-755753.htmld

A very good question, which should be given top priority by governments of every nation. Children involved in providing different services are not at their own free will but due to lack of access to resource with their parents i.e. poor households have no other option but to go for earning livelihood from a very tender age, because it is a matter of survival for them. Poverty and education are the main issues which should be addressed first if we want to see no child working as a labor.

Now eradicating poverty is much debated issue here and also at various fora, my take is that the implementation of various welfare programs must be done with full transparency and honesty, so that all those eligible get these benefits. There are sufficient public resources invested in welfare programs, but the lackadaisical implementation make all these efforts null and void.

It is a shame that we have not been able to monitor the implementation of these effectively. Skill enhancement, access to welfare resources, education and inclusive policy environment in the country is badly needed.

Dear all I think, you all agree that child labour takes away a person's childhood from her/his life, which is the most beautiful part of one's life. We reminisce our childhood incidents with nostalgia. Besides, many of these children work in very hazardous processes like brick kilns, and construction work (see the picture from Cambodia) . So they are exposed to health hazards.

Law alone will not work as it is a poor instrument of change. For example, in India, we have Child Labour (Prohibition and Abolition) Act, 1986. But it is very poorly enforced, or does not apply to a large number of employment areas and age groups. Most of you have said that poverty and education are the real issues. Yes, they are. But you would be surprised that even in Vietnam, which is a developing country, they have largely tackled it despite high incidence of poverty. Their literacy level is quite high. So what kind of state's political will and imbibing societal values can one think of?

What is the difference between forced physical labour and forced mental labour (unsupportable education pressures to get high scores) for children?

Often the problem is dictated by poverty and need. So, in addition to educational programs that are certainly important, I believe that even if only a partial resolution of social inequalities can cure this serious social problem.

Who had to work as a child? Not me!

Here are some statistics on child labor from United Nations

1. On average, one child in every seven can be classified as a child labourer.

2. In 2008, there were approximately 215 million child labourers, aged 5-17, in the world. Among them, 115 million children were in hazardous work (a term which is often used as a proxy for the worst forms of child labour).

3. Nearly 114 million child labourers are in Asia and the Pacific.

4. Just over 14 million are in Latin America and the Caribbean.

5. Just over 65 million are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

6. Over 22 million are in other regions, which includes the Middle East and North Africa, the developed countries and the former transition economies of Eastern Europe and Asia.

7. The proportion of children engaged in child labour in Sub-Saharan Africa is currently the highest of any region at around 25.3%. This means that in this region, approximately one child in every 4 can be classified as a child labourer.

8. This is compared with 13.3% in Asia and the Pacific (one in 8 children), 10% in Latin America and the Caribbean (one in 10 children), and 6.7% in other regions (one in 15 children).

9. Most child labourers are working in agriculture (60.0%). 25.6% work in services, 7.0% in industry and 7.5% work in undefined areas.

10. Only one in five child labourers are in paid employment. The overwhelming majority are unpaid family workers.

http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/vitalstats.shtml

@Nageswara Rao Posinasetti, thanks for presenting quite informative statistics from United Nations. I think United Nations should focus crafting longitudinal policies and implementation plans for reducing child labor.

I agree with most of the respondents that poverty elimination is one of the solution.

What is the definition of child labour? If you include unpaid family workers, I am sure you could add any continent in the world. Any child might occasionally be asked to help cleaning up a room in the house or the garden, etc.. Some call this a form of education...

As per the Indian law on abolition and regulation of child labour when a child (meaning a person below 14 years of age) works along with his/her family members for some trade or vocation in which the family is involved then that person is not considered as a child worker.

in such a case, as dear Marcel has asked, helping the family members in cleaning a room, etc. will also not be a case of child labour. That much work is often done by persons of all age groups in most parts of the world. The whole idea against child labour is two fold: to enable the child to get education; and to enable the child to enjoy the childhood.

Well said Debi. Working in conditions that are detrimental to the child's growth through education is what we consider as child labor. Fortunately in most of the developed countries this is not a problem though many of them start working in their family farms from very childhood. But as Marcel said it is considered as education and sharing the responsibilities.

Dear Nageswar: Thanks for very interesting and useful data; it is certainly helpful to all those interested in this area. I am enclosing a book chapter of mine that examines the connections between poverty, illiteracy, and child labour through the lens of international human rights discourse, particularly assessing the debate between the developed countries and the lesser developed countries (LDCs) over incorporating a “social clause” articulating waged worker rights into international trade agreements. It has the following citation:

Saini, Debi (2006) “Child Labour in India and the International Human Rights Discourse” published in Lucy Williams (ed.), "International Poverty Law: An Emerging Discourse––The CROP International Studies Series in Poverty Research, London: Zed Books, pp. 142-174.

Dear Marcel

I was a child labour, though not strictly as per the legal definition in India as it was work for the family. I used to help my family to do odd jobs in our fields even when i was as young as 7 or 8 years. I used to graze cattle in open jungle in 43 degree plus Celsius during school holidays in May to July, when I was about 10, along with other children from my village. But, honestly I enjoyed that as I was with other village friends, and also feel nostalgic to reminisce those days.

Child labor may originate from 2 causes- 1. poverty, 2. abuse. First one you can stop by helping the poor family and educating them simultaneously. Second one, must be stopped by law and education

The forced labour or labour due to extreme poverty forces the child to work in the places other than home. Within home also some might be forced to work due to family situation. Poverty related labour needs to eradicated by hitting on the food insecurity. The parents are forced by poverty and later by the greed to allow the children to work. It would take legal, social and policy outcome of the country and society as a whole to eradicate the child labour. If the cost of education (including the man days lost by child) is more than the benefits received from the labour the parents would keep on allowing the child to work. Alternate networks, should also be explored to restrict the child in not only formal employment places but also informal sector by imposing the existing laws. We have weak monitoring mechanism as well as economic rehabilitation of concerned families. The needs to subsidy and grants from the governments should be concentrated on the poorest of the poor. We have not thought about the migrant labourers, pavement dwellers and informal education system for the kids who are left out due to parental economic and living conditions. In developing countries, the children needs to be provided access to the education systems as well as social security against the forceful labour. Its tough to eradicate but not impossible task provided the stakeholders are serious and consistent about the issues.

Yes indeed dear @Shashikant, child labour is strongly related to poverty and to prevent it we have to prevent the food insecurity.

Respected Kamal Eddin Bani-Hani, while supporting your argument as well as Dr. Abedallah point , may I ask how to fight poverty, please.

I wonder If this is linguistic symbols, you used - "powerty is the mother" ? Why not "the father" dear @Kamal ? I agree - this is very important to fight world poverty, difficult because culturally rooted.

I agree with the rest, poverty is key. More important also; Compulsory and free primary education, vocational education and formalisation of informal sectors to enable children to get higher income after school will increase the opportunity cost of child labour thus make it less profitable to send a child to work.

Dear @Asmat, in addition to what @Kamal mentioned, we can fight poverty by strengthening the economy and equally distribute the benefits of improvements in the economy.

The best way to solve the problem of child labor is to give education to these children. By doing this, we can better the chances that these children will succeed in life and they will be occupied with going to school and not bing forced to work.

First you have to convince the parents, to send their children to school. As Kamal stated, they won´t because it´s easier to let them work. So the best method would be - in some africanian states it´s already working - found working and "educating groups with the adults and show the possible success, then you can win them to educate their children.

Another idea I had when reading all the matching answers, child labour is profitable so long as the well situated countries buy the cheap products from nations where children work in productions.

A short comment to Marcels statement:

"What is the definition of child labour? If you include unpaid family workers, I am sure you could add any continent in the world. Any child might occasionally be asked to help cleaning up a room in the house or the garden, etc.. Some call this a form of education.... "

Dear Marcel, help at home in an adopted way and extent helps to educate the children. It´s better than to let them do and demand whatever they want. I know this bad behaviour in many single child families, it´s no good preparation for a respectful behaviour and for a functioning future.

Dear @Hanno, I think that it is a good strategy to "educating groups with the adults and show the possible success, then you can win them to educate their children." This should work to motivate the parents to send their kids to school.

Though linking poverty to child labour is one of the aspect, there is numerous age related concept about what is being right age to work and mandatory age of schooling. It turn out to be 14 years in both the cases. But still there is gap of four years in most of the cases to reach up to adult hood. In India the formal sector cannot employ in labour below the age of 18 but in informal sector 14 years is acceptable age for non-hazardous works. The International Labour Organisation and others needs to come together to specify the instructions to member country for the smooth implementation of the international conventions and policy. The industries which violates the most are diamond, textile, electronics, mining, construction and retail (commerce) we must work hard to convince the government to public the real data for the situation. The parents unless its facilitated by the alternate means to livelihood would not be convinced to send the child to school. In most of the cases the gender differentials also needs to be addressed. The girl child is more often prone to near home or out of home works if it suits the parents. We must be sensitive to encompassing issues, and bring suitable success stories in case there is rehabilitation of children from labour to main stream societies.

Abolishing child labor may be tough job like the existence of Contract labor in Industries....may be control through vigil and strict implementation of laws with more of penalty to the employers by the way of better Wages / Better Benefits / More representation to hear their grievances etc.,,,would negate their use and then the employers would wait till the become adolescent and adult to get employed...

There is high correlation between child labour and parental poverty . The developed world should be less forgiving when it defines what is child labour . There are few parents i know who will make laborers out of their own children .The female frog carries the male on her back because she knows male frogs are scarce during breeding season. Provide more males and the female frog will not need to carry her suitor

India could not stop child labour despite being related laws. It is a stigma on the Nation as well as on the society. Poverty is the main reason. It can be handled by enforcing labour laws effectively. Here society can play very important role by supporting the Govt. Moreover awareness programs should be launched and society be apprised about the negatives and ills of child labour.

First of all we have to identify the causes of child labor in any country and then on the basis of the analysis we can recommend some possible solution to solve that issue. Parental education, father's occupation, family background, family income are some important factors which are responsible for child labor in any country but all of these factors are beyond the control of any children.In order to solve that issue an integrated effort is required by government, civil society and community so that we can provide them the level playing field. Social safety nets (conditional and unconditional grants), compulsory education and pressure from society on parents can be helpul in this regard.

There are many cures to child labor, but not all of them are suited for all cases. Bans work well in cases of abusive parents, which most of us agree, is a rare scenario. They also work well in cases in which child labor is the result of a coordination failure. In cases where parents are altruistic and poor, conditional transfers help. So do food-for-education programs. We should not disregard, however, the cases in which there are no parents involved. In such cases, child labor may be an important way for children to finance their education.  

Samsung suspends China molder accused in child labor investigation.

The 10 worst countries for child labor: - CNN Report

"In September, the International Labor Organization estimated that the rate of five to 17 year olds engaged in child labor had decreased to 10.6% in 2012 from 13.6% in 2008. The number of children involved in the worst forms of child labor has decreased to 85 million from 115 million during this time."

http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20140716/NEWS/140719935/samsung-suspends-china-molder-accused-in-child-labor-investigation

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/15/world/child-labor-index-2014/

https://sites.google.com/a/tapa.tp.edu.tw/modern-day-slavery/home

Thnaks Nages, for very useful references on child labour problems. Very thoughful of you to do so at this stage of discussion of the issue.

Compulsory education, skills development and job links after schools will increase the opportunity cost of child labour

By legislation, by education and by penalization.

1. Prosecute with no mercy, culprits of child labour.

2. Intensify child education (government policies could make it free for poor parents)