Africa Knowledge Hub for Children

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex20 Dec 2018

The impact of MGNREGS on child labour and child education: an empirical analysis

This article addresses the persistent claim that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has a negative impact on the availability of labour for agricultural operations, which has significant implications for the induced demand for child labour as a cheaper substitute for unskilled adult labour on agricultural farms in peak seasons. The study contributes to this debate by examining three issues: (i) effects of seasonality on child intensity of labour; (ii) impact of MGNREGS on child intensity of labour; and (iii) impact of seasonality and MGNREGS on human capital formation.

Saswati Das, Diganta Mukherjee

ProtectionDevelopmentPractitioner

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex1 Jan 2019

The ILO’s Shifts in Child Labour Policy: Regulation and Abolition

After WWII the International Labour Organization (ILO) slowly but surely developed a ‘two plank’ approach to child labour, aimed at harmonising the need to protect children who do work, with the long-term goal of abolishing all forms of child labour. During the 1990s the ‘two plank’ approach, which included the regulation and humanisation of children’s work, gradually evolved into a more singular approach aimed only at the full eradication of all child labour, starting with the ‘worst forms’. Based on an analysis of the relevant legal and policy documents produced by the ILO and other international organisations, completed with in-depth interviews with key informants, we examine the internal and external developments that made the ‘abolitionist’ approach now the only perspective that shapes the ILO’s child labour policies. We conclude that, after a century of ILO child labour policy, the intermediate objective of improving children’s working conditions is now just as relevant as it was before the turn away from the ‘two plank’ approach. For the ILO to shift its position at this time, it needs to reach out to the research community, international development actors as well as local governments and social movements to develop locally relevant, evidence-based policies for dealing with the diversity of children’s work in the world’s fast changing formal and informal economies.

Edward van Daalen, Karl Hanson

ProtectionCHRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex15 Apr 2020

Mental Health Impacts of Child Labour: Evidence from Vietnam and India

A number of recent studies have investigated the relationship between child labour and physical health. However, there has been little empirical evidence that child labour affects children’s emotional and behavioural development. This study departs from existing literature by examining the mental health impacts of child labour in Vietnam and India, as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The potential endogeneity of child labour is addressed by using rainfall as the instrument. The findings show that children engaged in child labour suffer from mental health issues as measured by peer problems and reduced prosocial behaviour in both countries. There is a significant gender difference in the impact of child labour in India. Finally, doing household chores, an accepted social and cultural work in developing countries is found to be associated with the better mental health of children in Vietnam.

Trong‐Anh Trinh

ProtectionDevelopmentPractitionerINVNRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex1 Jan 2021

Child Labour and Education in India: Promises and Challenges

Child labour is a global reality. It is both cause and consequence of socio-economic backwardness. In India, child labour is considered a ‘curse’ for the nation’s development. There is a diverse range of factors that perpetuate child labour in India. The highlighted factors of the proliferation of child labour are destitution, illiteracy, unemployment, underemployment, large-family size, low family income, ignorance of the parents towards the importance of education and many others. Notably, child labour is most prevalent in the unorganised sector primarily as domestic workers, restaurant and eateries’ workers, automobile repairing workers, construction workers, shop, and canteen workers and as helpers in various occupational fields. Over the years, child labourer has been facing social, economic, physical and psychological problems in India. Some of the serious issues faced by child labour are social abuse, violence, discrimination, stress and vulnerability. The government has been a failure to abolish child labour due to a lack of effective labour laws, government mechanisms and state’s agencies. Education is, therefore, one of the primary conditions for children to overcome this problem. Against this background, this article understands the current patterns in child labour in India. Based on the secondary sources, it underlines the educational challenges faced by child labour in India. It also discusses gendered issues before the education of child labour.

Monika Bisht

SurvivalDevelopmentProtectionINRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex30 Jun 2023

A Case Study on Child Labour in East Delhi

Child labour deprives children (any person under 18) of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and/or mental development as per ILO. The present paper caricature the issue of child labour prevelant in the east Delhi region. The different reasons of child labor prevelance were identified to be the lack of awareness, education, insensitivity from the societal member and negligence of instances of child labour which societal members have experienced in their life.

M Harikrishnan, Mr.Sourabh jain, M Chauhan et al.

ProtectionDevelopmentINRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex10 Oct 2020

Patterns AND Forms OF Child Labour in Kano Metropolis

One of the major social problems bedevilling our children today, is child labour, which jeopardizes society's future, destroying societal moral values, undermining sustainable human development and subsequently exposing them into other criminal and deviant activities. Thus, child becoming an issue of concern to all well-meaning individuals. The major aim of this paper, is to explore the patterns and forms of child labour in Kano Metropolis, and it is specifically conducted under the following objectives: to assess the forms and patterns of child labour in Kano metropolis; to examine the strategies and possible solution of alleviating the menace of child labour in the study area. The study reviews related literatures on child labour including; the patterns and forms of child labour as well as the solution of the menace. Culture of poverty theory was adopted as a theoretical guide for the research. In the Research Methodology, the study employed a sample size of 300 respondents. Multi-Stage sampling techniques were used in selecting the respondents. Questionnaires were used in the data collection. Quantitative data gathered have been analyzed using relevant methods. The findings reveal that children use different forms of child labour in Kano Metropolis. It also reveals strategies of controlling the menace in the Kano metropolis. Therefore, it is recommended that Government create job opportunity for the parent and empowerment should also be in place. Parents and guardians should monitor their children's movement and behaviour as well and provide all the necessary need. Lastly, NGOs, CBOs and government agencies together with religious and community leaders should engage in campaigns and preaching to discourage child labour

Bello, Jamilu A., Bala, Nasiru A., Yunusa , Nura M. et al.

ProtectionNGRead at source

OtherOpenAlex2 May 2020

Petals under hammer- the child labour

Petals under hammer- the child labour - IJFMTS- Print ISSN No: - 2581-9844 Online ISSN No:- 2456-9615 Article DOI No:- 10.18231/j.ijfmts.2020.005, IP International Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicological Sciences-IP Int J Forensic Med Toxicol Sci

Ranjan Parashar, Swapnil Paliwal

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Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex12 May 2021

A sociological study of patterns and determinants of child labour in India

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the patterns and incidence of child labour in India and to examine the magnitude of child labour across different social groups. It analyses the impact of the socio-economic background of the children on their participation in the labour market. Design/methodology/approach The paper primarily relies on the data collected from secondary sources. The census of India data and the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) 66th round data (2009–2010) on employment and unemployment in India for the study. The dependent variable on child labour has been computed by the author for the analysis in the paper. Findings The findings of the paper suggest that poverty is not the only determinant of child labour, but gender and caste of a person is also a significant factor for child labour. The study found that children from lower-caste backgrounds in India seem to participate more in the labour market. In terms of gender, the study found that boys are more likely to engage in economic activities or paid jobs while girls are more likely to engage in household activities. Originality/value Data used in this paper has been extracted by the author from unit level data provided by NSSO. The variables used for the analysis in the presented paper has been constructed by the author and the figures provided are the result of the author’s estimation on data.

Barsa Priyadarsinee Sahoo

ProtectionINRead at source

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex1 May 2025

Addressing child labour through a child rights lens

On a cold February day in 1997, an unprecedented event took place in Amsterdam. Representatives of the International Movement of Working Children had elbowed their way into the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Consultation where ‘Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention’ was under consideration. Children had made a case for their participation on the grounds that they constituted one of the tri-partite of ILO, that is, ‘workers’. Their presence at that high-level meeting had, as its foundation, years of their determined advocacy in Asia, Africa and South America. They were facilitated by supportive organisations such as ourselves (The Concerned for Working Children (CWC)—www.concernedforworkingchildren.org), and globally by the International Working Group on Child Labour.

Kavita Ratna

ProtectionParticipationNLATZARead at source

Peer-reviewed articleOpenAlex21 Apr 2025

Examining Child Labour Activities in South Africa

Abstract Background South Africa is a developing country characterised by high unemployment, poverty and inequality. Thus, it is possible child members of households are exploited to help the households survive financially. Objective This study investigated child labour activities in South Africa, and examined the impact of various personal- and household-level factors (including labour market status of adult members) on child labour incidence. Methods Data from the Survey of Activities of Young People (SAYP) released by Statistics South Africa was analysed to derive descriptive statistics relating to child labour activities. Probit regressions were also conducted to investigate the impact of various factors on child labour probability. Results Children involved in child labour were predominantly African rural residents who did not attend schools at the time of the survey, and came from households with only one employed adult member on average. These children spent four to five hours per week on economic activities in unskilled elementary occupations, and the key reasons for involving in these activities were to earn pocket money for themselves and assist their families. Regarding the results of probit regressions, children coming from households with a greater number of employed adult members were less likely to be in child labour, but the result was only statistically significant in 2015. Conclusions Child labour does exist in South Africa, particularly amongst households with a low number of employed adult members. Numerous socio-economic problems (such as poverty and adult unemployment) would need to be addressed to fully eradicate child labour incidence.

Derek Yu, Simbarashe Murozvi, Clinton Herwel

ProtectionSurvivalZARead at source

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