Child Slavery And Child Labor In India

Child labour is much worse than it is portrayed by the media. Child labour includes the employment of children in the business, food, clothing industries that is considered to be illicit or exploitative (Bonnet, 2017). It denies children their basic rights such as protection and freedom from exploitation. Children, instead of going to school, work in dangerous and physically damaging work due to limited access to resources. Reliable statistics are scare as child labour continues to grow each day in third world countries such as Africa. An abundance of evidence supports the idea that child slavery still exists in modern societies, where an estimation of 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are affected by slavery around the world (ILO,

Child labor is a widespread epidemic across the world, more so in developing countries. Child labor is defined as work done by a child under the age of 15, which hinders or damages their physical, emotional, or intellectual growth. Recent Researchers have found, “Child labor is as old as the latest settlements in the Indus Valley thousands of years ago” (Bahree). Instead of being in school growing intellectually, it is estimated that 250 million children worldwide are working to makes ends meet. Whether it be for their family’s sake or because they are being forced to work in fear of abuse, there is no excuse to place children in the workforce. Many sources show similar patterns in research when it comes to child labor, but few have solutions to the widespread problem children all over the world are facing.

Little children can be efficient at many unskilled and semi-skilled tasks, and these children of the lower castes are actually meant to work rather than attend school. Another argument is that it is naive for Western societies to apply their standards to other countries and cultures. It is argued that Western societies need to respect the local cultures and customs of different nation. Finally, ending child labor is not a guarantee that the well being of the child will be improved. Many of these children need to work to sustain life, and if they can not work in the formal or legal sectors of the economy, they will find jobs in the informal sector. It may force children from productive jobs into prostitution and dangerous life on the street.

Child labor is a serious problem that affects children from third-world countries all over the world. These children are exploited by multinational corporations ,for their cheap labor all over the world. People, then buy products that come at a cheaper price, from these multinational corporations.These children are often overworked and treated unfairly. People need to stop buying items from countries that endorse child labor.

“Each year, as many as 2.7 million healthy years of life are lost due to child labor.” Imagine that you are being held as a slave and forced to do dangerous labor as a child. Countless people are being held captive and are being forced to do perilous things, sweating their lives away, not taking breaks, and being put in adult like situations. In fact right now there are “15-20 million children working as slaves.” Although it provides children and families with money, and possibly something to learn from, adolescents should not be enslaved or forced to do labor because it is very dangerous and can damage a minor for the rest of their life.

Child Labor is one of history’s most wicked phases, having brought along years of psychological, emotional and mental abuse upon children. A prime example of such torture would be the child labour present in 19th century England and it’s capitalist exploitation on children, or whom they referred to as “little adults”. It was an outrageous time to be a child in that era, with intense family and societal pressure; poverty conditions, and uncertainty of ones own safety constantly hounding their developing

Children in India are being forced to work many hours a day for very little pay. More than 20 % of India’s economy are child workers under the age of 14. This is a problem they operate on deadly machines and they can be harmed. They also are exposed to bad working environments and can be injured or killed. If the refuse to work they are threatened or beaten. This a problem and this needs to stop because children have the right to a child hood. (Dougall,

In a handful of third world countries living with poverty, the only way for a child to afford his dinner, a loaf of bread, is to stitch balls for hours a day. Child labor, children under the age of 1 working for pay, is a common thing for these kids I n third world countries. Working in factories and making money is everything to these kids because it benefits their families and their countries. Consumers should purchase products made by the hands of children.

The report from International Labor Organization estimates that 218 million children ages 5-17 are engaged in child labor the world over. In India, an estimated 14% of children between the ages of 5-14 are engaged in child labor activities, including carpet production. It has been projected that it would cost $760 billion over a 20-year period to end child labor. This estimated benefit in terms of good education, health and basic facilities is about 6 times that — over $4 trillion in economies where child laborers are found.

But even with the increase in workers the extremely low wages put families to the test in order to survive. They are willing to do things that would not seem justified here in America. In order to produce enough money for food, children are sent to work in these factories in hope that there will be enough money every day to feed the family. In America we have labor laws which prohibit young children from working but in India and locations such as Calcutta where a writer named Chitra Divakaruni is from, it is perfectly acceptable to see young children put to work in order to make money for their families. Chitra spent nineteen years in her hometown of Calcutta before immigrating to the United States. There she had seen the hardships of living in an underdeveloped and poverty-stricken society. When money is low Divakaruni states even most children would prefer bread then freedom(397). If it means more money to be put towards food on the table, they will see to it that their children work at these factories, even with poor working conditions. “Meanwhile these children, mostly employed by rug-makers,spend their days in dark, ill-ventilated rooms doing work that damages their eyes and lungs. They aren't even allowed to stand up and stretch. Each time they go to the bathroom, they

including underground markets that help conceal the true abuses to these children, [and it doesn’t do much to end the discrimination]. We need to tackle the issue of world property and the social conditions in developing countries that lead to child labor. [We can make a change] by decreasing our demand for these products, but it’s [evidently] not enough to end this [riot] of human affairs.” Seghers, Benjamin and Tom Harkin (12 Feb 2010)

This shows that 13% of children are not receiving an education and that a lot of countries still using child labor. Also, children faces health and safety risk because they are working in dirty environments. Also, children lift heavy equipments that they have to use in order to work and children aren’t strong enough to be carrying heavy equipments.

Yapi (2005) highlights the problem of child slavery and its negative impacts on the society. This study raised questions on the extent of child slavery in our society. A child is considered slave if he is under the age of 18, receives extremely little or no pay, is controlled by violence or other threats, has no option to leave the situation, has no access to education or health care. There are more than 9 million child slaves in the world. The average price of a slave today is $80. One in every six children aged 5-17years worldwide is exploited by child labor. This phenomenon is more than 400 hundred years old. There are 27 million adult and child slaves in the world today; Latin America has the maximum percentage of these slaves (60.6%).

However small amount the children are paid, helps support their family. The children in this labor force typically come from impoverished households, and in undeveloped countries. Often times parents have no choice but to push their children into child labor, as they cannot meet basic needs without this extra income. “1 out of every 6 children work mainly in South Asia and South-Saharan Africa,” which are also the poorest regions in the world. Putting children to work can be a necessity in order for their family’s survival.

Poverty is the main reason for child labour. Poor households need the money, which their children can earn. Children contribute to 20 – 25 % of family income. It is obvious that the survival of certain families depends on the children’s earnings.