Child work and labor. India case study

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Child work and labor. India case study

• Children in Developing Countries
• Renata Serra March 1st

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Child labor vs. child work

• Child labor detrimental to child health and
  development
• See ILO definition
• Child labor economic/productive activities
• Child work household, own-farm work, subsistence
• NOTE If I have not followed consistently this
  terminology, it is because I do not believe in it
  myself. But you should know it!!

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Is this terminological distinction important?

• Yes
• Need to identify the situations most at risk
• Consensus is wide when fighting against labor
• Child work regarded as integral part of life in
  many contexts (child socialization)
• No
• Too narrow definition of the problem child work
  may be exploitative too
• Rigid definitions better to look at specific
  instances than at broader and faulty categories
• Childrens contribution to the informal economy
  is made invisible and unrecognized (Burras
  reading)

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Categories of children

• Studies use different number of categories
• 2 Children working or in school
• 3 Children working, in school or idle
• 4 children at work only, at school only, both
  working and at school, idle
• Defining working children as all those who are
  not at school thus fails to see the complexities
  of the situation

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Idle children

• Children neither at school nor working
• Is idle children a useful category?
• Burra clearly is against
• Idle children are working children in disguise
• Children not at school are deprived/exploited
• However, data show that truly idle children
  exist!
• Economic studies show the idle children are a
  product of low HH wealth, poor nutrition and
  health, poor quality schooling, low child ability

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The invisibility of child work

• Large and increasing informal economy
• Childrens unpaid work should be recognized as
  much as womens work
• Children work enables adults to take up other
  work (it is more productive than it appears)
• Global economy is founded on sub-contracting
• Most producers work in households and use child
  labor
• Hence, attention should be paid to what happens
  within the household production sphere
• Children may be exploited and controls are
  inexistent

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Policy implications

• Different policy implications emerge according to
  how data are collected and interpreted
• Restrict all forms of child work
• Eliminate child labor first
• Improve and expand schooling
• Improve child health and nutrition (to make
  schooling more feasible and attractive)

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Is a ban on child work effective?

• A total ban on child work may be
  counterproductive as it may
• Increase the pool of idle children
• Decrease schooling for children both at work
  school
• Increase poverty in the short term and thus
  diminish future child potential
• More effective interventions are
• Increasing household productivity and income
• Improving schooling quality
• Improving labor markets (esp. for the young)
• Introducing technology that substitutes for child
  work