Employmentweb_low

EmpLoymEnT, work, And HEALTH inEquALiTiES - a global perspective
Hundreds of families with young children
work and live in these brickyards near
islamabad - often under conditions of
bonded labour (pakistan).
source: © ilo/m. crozet (2005)
Child labour
Child labour is not a new phenomenon. Children have worked throughout
history and the use of children as labourers continues today, mainly in lowand
middle-income countries (see Case study 25). In fact, it is estimated that
317 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 are economically active;
218 million of these are child labourers and approximately 126 million are
engaged in hazardous work (see Table 6). In 1999, 174 countries unanimously
adopted IlO Convention 182 calling for urgent action to address the worst
forms of child labour. a decade later, a report prepared by the United States
Department of labor (Bureau of International affairs, 2009a) that included
detailed profiles of child labour in 122 countries and 19 territories/regions
concluded the issue demanded increased engagement. an associated report
detailed the wide array of goods (from bananas and fashion accessories to
pornography) produced by child labour and forced labour (Bureau of
International affairs, 2009b). Secretary of the US Department of labor Hilda
Solis noted that the global economic crisis was exacerbating the situation by
forcing even more children prematurely out of school and into the workforce
“often in exploitive or hazardous conditions” (Bureau of International affairs,
2009a: xiii). It is important to define what we mean by child labour before we
proceed any further. International organisations such as UnICEF and the IlO
share a common understanding that a child is any person under 18 years of
age, but there are differences in their definitions of child labour. UnICEF
considers a child labourer to be any child below 12 years of age working in
any type of economic activity, or those from 12 to 14 years of age engaged in
occupational duties not considered "light work" (UnICEF, 2006).
This relatively broad definition is complimented by a very specific one
from the IlO. The IlO Worst Forms of Child labour Convention no. 182
from 1999 defines the types of work that are unacceptable for children.
These forms involve slavery or compulsory labour, prostitution,
pornography, human trafficking, war, drug dealing or trafficking, or any
illicit activity, and any work which, by its nature or the circumstances in
which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of
children. This convention has been ratified by nearly 87 per cent of IlO
members, who represent 77 per cent of the children around the world (IlO,
2006). The IlO's insistence on putting a spotlight on the effects of child
labour has been crucial in the fight against its most harmful forms, which
include work activities that are mentally, physically, socially or morally
harmful, and those that affect schooling and the safety of children.
as with many working conditions, a review of the literature on the topic
of child labour identifies basic problems with the data. although in certain
areas indigenous and tribal children form the majority of child labourers,
child labour among indigenous people continues to remain poorly
documented. Many countries do not record this sort of data, and most
168