Peer-reviewed article
CHILD LABOUR –ISSUES AND CAUSES: AN OVERVIEW
Mahesh L. Dharmapurikar ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper examines child labour in India, which has the highest number of working children under 14 years globally. Child labour causes serious physical and mental developmental harm and denies children education, perpetuating poverty. Official estimates suggest 17 million child workers aged 5-14, though informal estimates reach 60 million including hidden workers in homes and the underground economy. India's legal framework prohibits child employment in hazardous occupations, but enforcement remains weak across informal sectors.
Key points
- Child labourers show lower growth and health status compared to non-working peers and face occupational hazards
- Official 2001 census estimated 17 million child labourers aged 5-14 in India; informal estimates suggest up to 60 million including hidden workers
- Child labour prevents school attendance, trapping children in poverty cycles without skills for better-paying jobs
- India has constitutional provisions for free compulsory education (ages 6-14) and bans employment in 18 hazardous occupations and 65 hazardous processes, but enforcement is inadequate
- Child labour is prevalent across informal sectors of the Indian economy despite legal prohibitions
Limitations
This is an overview paper that provides statistical estimates and policy context but does not present original empirical research or evaluate specific interventions. It cannot determine what approaches are most effective in reducing child labour or explain causal mechanisms beyond documenting prevalence and immediate consequences.
Abstract
A sizeable number of growing children of poor socio-economic class especially in rural areas are known to be inducted as child labour. Studies have shown that labour at very young ages can have dire consequences on the child’s development, both physical and mental. Child labourers always had lower growth and health status compared to their non0working counterparts, besides exposure to occupational hazards at a very young stage in their lives. The Declaration of the Rights of the Child and our own Constitution has laid down that childhood and youth should be protected against exploitation. In 1973, the ILO passed a convention establishing 15 as the minimum work age for most sectors while permitting light work from age 13, provided that such work was unlikely to harm child’s health, moral s and safety or prejudice his school attendance. Official estimates for child labour working as domestic labour and in restaurants is more that 2,500,000 while NGOs estimate the figure to be around 20 million. The Government of India expanded the coverage of the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act and banned the employment of children as domestic workers and as works in restaurants, dhabas, hotels, spas and resorts effective from 10 October, 2006. The problem of child labour exploitation is major challenge to the progress of developing countries. Children work at the cost of their right to education which leaves them permanently trapped in the poverty cycle, sadly without the education and literacy required for better-paying jobs. This is particularly serious in India as it tops the list with the highest number of child labourers in the world. The 2001 national census of India estimated the total number of child labour, aged 5-14 to be at 17 million. Out of the 12.6 million, 0.12 million engages in hazardous job. However, according to informal labour force statistics, the problem seems to be more severe than reflected. Child labour is estimated to be as large as 60 million in India, as many children are “hidden workers” working in homes or in the underground economy. In the long run, this phenomenon will evolve to be both a social and an economic problem as economic disparities widen the poor and educationally backward states and that of the faster-growing. India has the highest number of labourers in the world less than 14 years of age. Although the Constitution of India guarantees free and compulsory education to children between the age of 6 to 14 and prohibits employment of children younger than 14 in 18 hazardous occupations and 65 hazardous processes, child labour is prevalent in almost all informal sectors of the Indian economy. Companies including Gap, Primark, Monsanto and others have been criticised for using child labour in either their operations in India or by their suppliers in India.