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Children do a variety of work in widely divergent conditions. Perceptions
of what child labour is, can differ very much between countries
and societies. Two main approaches to define child labour are:
- Any work by children - economic or not - below a stipulated
minimum age.
- Any work by children - economic or not - that is injurious
to the health, safety and development of children.
There are also various combinations and modifications of these
two basic approaches to a definition.
According to the first approach, any type of work done by children
under that stipulated minimum age should be banned. According to
the second approach, not all the work children do is naturally bad
or harmful, but can contribute in some cases to the development
of children. Child labour is then defined according to negative
effects of work on children.
When defining labour or child labour, often the term "labour
force activity" shows up. (The general definition of labour
force activity is: "The supply of labour for the production
of economic goods and services".) This approach which seeks
to measure economic activities, ignores unpaid work, and (paid)
work carried out in the unmonitored parts of economy. According
to many analysts, this definition is, at the one hand, too broad,
as it includes all forms of work, for example: harmless as well
as hazardous work, part-time as well as full-time work. At the other
hand, the definition is too narrow as it excludes full-time unpaid
work within the own family such as child care and housework which
occupies the time of many children (especially young girls) (1).
Measure child labourers according this approach will give a wrong
impression of the child labour problem.
Child labour is a complex problem that is very much debated. This
debate is dominated by the distinction between 'child labour' and
'child work'. Child labour implies that children are engaged in
employment that is harmful to a healthy development of children.
The harm may come from dangerous chemicals or machinery, long hours
of work, psychologically damaging conditions and so on. Child work
is thought of as 'good' or 'beneficial', refering to occupations
where children can learn to take responsibility or prepare themselves
for their own maturity. It is not so easy to draw sharp lines between
destructive and beneficial child labour. Much child labour falls
into a grey area in between these two extremes. This distinction
is however often used by many organisations concerned with child
labour such as in the Dutch campaign Sign Against Child Labour.
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WHERE DOES THE HARM COME FROM?
Work that is harmful to adults can be extremely harmful
to children. The major harmful factors behind the hazards
may come from a lot of things such as : (2)
- Domination by adults
Children are more vulnerable to physical, psychological
or sexual abuse by adults. Child domestic servants are
particularly vulnerable to abuse, but so are those working
on the street.
- Damage to growing bodies
Physical harm is the easiest to see, carrying heavy loads
or sitting for long periods in unnatural positions can
permanently disable growing bodies. Driving a rickshaw
is physically heavy and exhausting work that is not appropriate
for young children who do not yet have the necessary physical
development.
- Exposure to hazards
Exposure to extreme heat or cold, dust and smoke, along
with insufficient light can cause permanent damage to
children's physical development. Children are often unaware
of the risks they are running that makes it very dangerous
such as working with electricity, exposure to harmful
chemical substances, high-speed machinery and sharp equipment.
Working under high-voltage power lines or carrying around
molten glass expose children to burns and cuts.
Also keeping children form school can be considered as
hazardous since education is an essential part of children's
development. Work can interfere with education in the ways
that it absorbs so much time that school attendance is impossible
and that it often leaves children so exhausted that they
lack energy to attend school or can't study effectively.
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For White and others (3) the central problem with
the child labour - child work dichotomy is that it is too simplistic;
The categories of labour and work are too general. White proposes
a continuum which stretches from the least tolerable to the most
tolerable forms of employment, or from worst to best. White argues
that in adopting such a model people are encouraged to think about:
what makes certain kinds of work more or less problematic for
children. He acknowledges at the same time that it is unlikely
to develop clear, objective and unambigious criteria to distinguish
between different points on the continuum.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is an organisation,
affiliated to the United Nations, with a tripartite structure that
includes representatives of government and of employers' and workers'
organisations. The ILO establishes and supervises the application
of international labour standards including child labour standards.
Such conventions could next be ratified through governments. The
government is herewith obliged to translate the convention into
legislation and to take care of the fulfilment of these.
| White's continuum model has at one end the intolerable forms
of child labour. These would be unacceptable under any circumstances,
such as bonded labour and child prostitution. Moving further
along the continuum, hazardous and detrimental forms of employment
are found but that can be changed into safer or less harmful
forms of employment through improving health and safety standards
or reducing the number of hours of work. The next step along
the continuum is refered to as neutral work; forms of employment
which are neither particularly harmful nor potentially beneficial
to the child. Towards the end of the continuum positive or
beneficial forms of employment are found. |
The ILO provides guidelines on the minimum age for
employment, allowing for exceptions based on the conditions of
work. The basic minimum age for admission to employment is set
at 15 years. The two main exceptions are: a lower minimum age
for 'light work', and a higher minimum age for hazardous work.
The ILO recognises that not all work is detrimental or exploitative.
Child labour does not usually refer to performing 'light work'
after school or legitimate apprenticeship opportunities. Nor does
it refer to young people helping out in the family business or
on the family farm. According the ILO, the child labour of concern
is generally employment that prevents effective school attendance,
and which is often performed under conditions hazardous to the
physical and mental health of the child. ILO's International Programme
on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) refers to certain categories
of child labour as "intolerable": slavery, debt bondage,
child prostitution, work in hazardous occupations and industries,
and the very young (under 12 years of age). These activities are
given priority in the fight against child labour of the ILO.
To treat all work by children as equally unacceptable is not doing
justice to the complexities of the problem. In this brochure, in
accordance with Anker and Melkas (1996), child labour is understood
as paid and unpaid activities that are harmful to children, including:
Work by very young children, long hours of work for low wages, hazardous
working conditions (physically or mentally), deprivation of education,
abusive treatment by the employer, bonded labour. It is not the
involvement of children in work that in itself is per definition
bad or problematic. The problems of child workers lie not so much
in their age, but often more in the fact that children are vulnerable
to exploitation. Therefore, efforts to improve terms and conditions
under which children are occupied should be supported.
1.Anker and Melkas, 1996.
2. Stalker, 1996 & Unicef 1997.
3. IWGCL, 1998
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