SOME BITTER ONES

CHILD LABOUR• Child labour is not only a social problem but also an

economic one• Watching a young child work for fourteen hours a-day is what

is termed as child labor. • Child labour has a predominant feature in Indian society • carpet industry requires the fine little fingers to weave the finest and

tiniest of knots to create the most expensive of carpets• firecracker industry probably prefers kids to men because

they are cost effective and more efficient • Even household labor – children last longer and are more honest

than adults; is a claim made by most homemakers

CHILD LABOUR FACT SHEET

• 73 million working children are less than 10 years old.

• While buffaloes may cost up to 15,000 rupees , children are sold at prices between 500 and 2,000 rupees.

• Approximately 16.64% of villages in the country do not have facilities for primary schooling. (UNICEF)

• 42 million children in the age-group 6-14 years do not attend school in India.

CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR

• OVER POPULATION : limited resources and more mouths to feed, Children are employed in various forms of work.

• ILLITERACY :Illiterate parents do not realize the need for a proper physical,emotional and cognitive development of a child.

• POVERTY : Many a time poverty forces parents to send their children to hazardous jobs.

• URBANIZATION : MNC's and export industries in the developing world employ child workers, particularly in the garment industry.

• ORPHANS : Children born out of wedlock, children with no parents and relatives, often do not find anyone to support them. Thus they are forced to work for their own living.

• WILLINGNESS TO EXPLOIT CHILDREN : This is at the root of the problem Even if a family is very poor, the incidence of child labour will be very low unless there are people willing to exploit these children. • UNEMPLOYMENT OF ELDERS : Elders often find it

difficult to get jobs. The industrialists and factory owners find it profitable to employ children. This is so because they can pay less and extract more work. They will also not create union problem.

Causes of Child Labour

CONSEQUENCES FOR CHILDREN..

• Physical injuries and mutilations are caused by badly maintained machinery on farms and in factories, machete accidents in plantations, and any number of hazards encountered in industries such as mining, ceramics and fireworks manufacture

• Pesticide poisoning is one of the biggest killers of child laborers.. The global death toll each year from pesticides is supposed to be approximately 40'000

• Growth deficiency is prevalent among working children, who tend to be shorter and lighter than other children; these deficiencies also impact on their adult life

CONSEQUENCES FOR CHILDREN..

• Long-term health problems, such as respiratory disease, variety of cancers, are common in countries where children are forced to work with dangerous chemicals • Exhaustion and malnutrit ion are a result of

underdeveloped children performing heavy manual labour, working long hours in unbearable conditions and not earning enough to feed themselves adequately

CHILD LABOUR

The Silent Killer…

Children are remarkably imaginative and resilient - but also heartbreakingly fragile and vulnerable.

“ So let us share their dreamsAnd shape their future ” .