According to Census 2011 data, the number of children working in India is 10.1 million and 5.6 million of them are boys and 4.5 million are girls. A total of 152 million children – 64 million girls and 88 million boys – are estimated to be used by children worldwide, accounting for about 1 in 10 children worldwide.Despite declining child labor rates over the past few years, children are still being exploited in some form of child labor, such as detained workers, child soldiers, and human trafficking. Across India all child laborers can be found in a variety of industries: bricklaying, carpet weaving, textile construction, home-based services, food and recreation services (such as tea shops), agriculture, fishing, and mining. Children are also at risk of being exploited in a variety of forms, including sexual exploitation and the production of child pornography, including the Internet.
Child labor and exploitation are the result of many factors, including poverty, favorable social norms, a lack of decent work opportunities for adults and youth, migration and emergencies. These factors are not only the cause but also the result of social inequality reinforced by racism.Children are in schools and not in the workplace. Child labor deprives children of their right to school and strengthens the cycle of poverty from different generations. Child labor acts as a major barrier to education, hindering both school attendance and employment.
Continued persistence in child labor and exploitation poses a threat to the national economy and has serious short-term and long-term consequences for children such as denial of education and undermining physical and mental health.Child labor and other forms of exploitation are prevented through integrated mechanisms that strengthen child protection programs as well as address poverty and inequality, improve access and quality of education and integrate social support to respect children’s rights.
Teachers and others in the education system can be effective advocates for child protection and can also warn others involved as social workers in situations where children show signs of depression or show up for long hours. Getting children out of work and going to school requires broad changes in social policy to give families the power to choose education instead of exploitative work.
UNICEF is working with governments and non-profit organizations to establish the policy framework needed to end child labor. The government of India has adopted a number of laws in the last few decades to combat child labor. These laws include the Bonded Labor (Abolishment) System Act of 1976 and the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill of 2016. The Indian government has also established committees and institutions such as the Gurupadswarmy Committee to investigate child abuse.The Department of Labor and Employment has also embarked on a number of child rehabilitation projects since the late 1980’s. Non-governmental organizations such as Care India, Child Rights and You and Hand in Hand India have been set up to assist the government in its efforts to end child abduction.
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