Over the past two decades, India has put in place a range of laws and programmes to address the problem of child labor. UNICEF and its India partners are working together to ensure that children are protected from work and exploitation which is harmful to their development They are working to ensure that children remain in economically stable family homes and get the opportunity to go to school and be educated. Child labor cannot be dealt with in isolation. It is intrinsically linked to socio-of their supply chain and business practices on children.

The causes and nature of child labor

The factors that contribute to child labour – including “hazardous” child labour  –include the poverty and illiteracy of a child’s parents, the family’s social and economic circumstances, a lack of awareness about the harmful effects of child labour, lack of access to basic and meaningful quality education and skills training, high rates of adult unemployment and under-employment, and the cultural values of the family and surrounding society.

Often children are also bonded to labor due to a family indebtedness. Out of school children (OOSC) or those children at risk of dropping out can easily be drawn into work and a more vulnerable to exploitation. Girls, especially those from socially disadvantaged groups, tend to be at a higher risk of being forced into work.

Other reasons for children being forced into work:

• Poverty and a lack of livelihood options lead to a child’s “need” to contribute to the family income
• Due to conflicts, droughts and other natural disasters, and family indebtedness
• Rural poverty and urban migration also often expose children to being trafficked for work.

Children are employed because they are cheap and pliable to the demands of the employer and not aware of their rights. The risks that these children face can have an irreversible physical, psychological and moral impact on their development, health, and wellbeing.

Types of child labor: A recent change

The types of child labor have changed in recent years due to enforcement of legislation, awareness amongst buyers about child exploitation, and international pressure. Child labor is now more invisible because the location of the work has changed from the more formal setting of factories to business owners’ homes. There has also been an increasing involvement of children in the home-based and informal sectors.

Children are engaged in manual work, in domestic work in family homes, in rural labour in the agricultural sector including cotton growing, at a glass, matchbox and brass and lock-making factories, in embroidery, rag-picking, beedi-rolling, in the carpet-making industry, in mining and stone quarrying, brick kilns and tea gardens amongst others.

Work is often gender-specific, with girls performing more domestic and home-based work, while boys are more often employed in wage labor. In general, the workload and duration of the working hour’s increases as children grow older. Getting accurate, detailed information about children working in different sectors is a major challenge because, in many cases, children work in informal sectors such as agriculture, and in urban settings in restaurants, motor repair workshops and in home-based industries.

Challenges to ending child labor

Child labor is not uniform. It takes many forms depending upon the type of work that children are made to do, the age and sex of the child and whether they work independently or with families. Due to this complex nature of child labor, there is no one strategy that can be used to eliminate it.

Combatting child labor requires long-term co-ordinated action which involves many stakeholders and the government. This includes educational institutions, mass media, NGOs and community-based organizations as well as trade unions and employers. It is important that the attitudes and mindsets of people are changed to instead employ adults and allow all children to go to school and have the chance to learn, play and socialize as they should.

Education is a key to preventing child labor and has been one of the most successful methods to reduce child workers in India. This includes expanding education access to schooling, improving the quality and relevance of education, addressing violence in schools, providing relevant vocational training and using existing systems to ensure child workers return to school.