Child-and-adult-labour-in-the-export-oriented-garment-and-gem-polishing-industry-of-India

4 Introduction
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involved in the urban informal sector than in the agricultural sector, because of fast growing
migration into the cities and the decentralization of production units 2 .
Child labour in the world
The problem of child labour is not a new phenomenon, but was never highlighted as it is today. It
is important to make a distinction between 'child labour' and 'child work'. Child work means that
the child has time for play and education besides work. Child labour, however, refers to children
who are being forced to carry out the full-time work of adults. The child labourers, no matter if
they work full-time in the household, in workshops, factories or in the agricultural sector, are deprived
of education, play and a normal childhood. Child labourers can also be 'bonded', which
means that the children are forced to work for an employer or 'master' to pay back the loan (plus
often high interest) which his or her (grand)parents once received from the landlord/employer.
These bonded child labourers have to obey the master and are entirely at his mercy.
Child labour is a universal problem, it exists all over the world but it is concentrated in the
developing countries (98%). At present the number of working children in the world ranges
between 100 and 200 million according to the International Labour Organization, and the number
is growing. The populations in the developing countries show sustained growth rates which only
increase the magnitude of the problem of child labour. Since a few years, the aspect that children
are used as economic assets in certain manufacturing, processing and mining industries is
frequently and widely covered by the international media. Especially the reports on the toil and
sweat and inhuman exploitation of children working in manufacturing (export) industries like the
carpet and garment 3 industry in India and garment industry in Bangladesh have shocked the
international community deeply. The international community became aware of its own link with
the bad working conditions and the child labour problem in export-oriented industries catering to
western consumers. This resulted in international pressure of various kinds like, for example, a
proposal made by the US to ban all imported products which are made by children, called the
Harkin's Bill.
In the countries where child labour exists, it is often stated that poverty is the main reason why
children are sent to work and that poverty should first be solved to eradicate child labour. But, as
experts state, 'child labour also perpetuates poverty as children become part of the destructive
inter-generational cycle of repetitive impoverishment' 4 , 'child labour adds to unemployment of
adults as they take the jobs of as many unemployed adults, reduces the need for technological
2 Source: 'Still so far to go: Child labour in the world today' (Geneva: International Labour Organisation, 1989), p.13-14. Cited in: By
the sweat and toil of children: The Use of Child Labour in American Imports. A report to the Committees on Appropriations United States
Congress. Bureau of International Labour Affairs, U.S. Department of Labour, 1994.
3 Tirupur, the most important centre of manufacturing knitted garments or 'hosiery', and which is located in Tamil Nadu, India, produces
75% of the total exported cotton 'hosiery' or knitted garment output of whole India. The hosiery industry employs an estimated
8,000-10,000 to 25,000-35,000 child labourers out of a total work force of 350,000 workers which works in this industry. The expansion
of the hosiery industry in Tirupur, which was caused by an increased international demand for knitted garments since 1980, has led to the
employment of these child labourers. Two British journalists discovered that C&A, a big garment chainstore in Europe, is making use of
child labourers in the production of knitted garments in one of their supplying manufacturing units in Tirupur. Their discoveries, revealed
by the journalists in 'The Mail on Sunday', January 8, 1995, an English newspaper, tell their own story on the practice of child labour in
Tirupur and their poor working conditions and low payments. For the sources of the above stated figures, see chapter 4, introduction.
4 Unicef, India. The Progress of Indian States, 1995, p.63.