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

Child and adult labour in the garment export industry of Tirupur
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ning equipments and so on. The survey revealed further that in the high child labour incidence
areas (Tirupur Municipality), the drop-out rate at the primary level is as high as 50%.
Thus, the influx of child labour in the hosiery industry is partly caused by the structure and expansion
of the hosiery industry, which is the pull factor behind the increased demand for cheap labour.
Children are the easiest workers to exploit because they are easily made to obey, they work
hard and they do not demand high wages and other benefits. Two push factors which cause
children to work in the hosiery industry, are the relatively high wages and the existence of a poor
and inadequate primary education system.
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4.3 Review of literature on child labour in the hosiery industry of Tirupur
Two studies on child labour in the hosiery industry of Tirupur are reviewed.
(i) Child labour in Hosiery Industry of Tirupur - Centre for Social Education and
Development (CSED), Avinashi, Coimbatore district (Unpublished)
The study was made in 1995 by Mr. Nambi of the Centre for Social Education and Development
(CSED), an NGO operating since 1987 in Avinashi, a town next to Tirupur, and by Mr. Vidyasagar,
a research consultant to Unicef, Madras. This study was financed by Unicef (Madras) and
Oxfam.
The study investigated the problem of child labour from the supply and demand side which cause
children to go to work. Other aspects which were investigated are the status of primary education
in Tirupur and the health of the hosiery workers. On the date of publication of this survey results
had not yet been published and the part of the report concerning the demand side had not yet been
finalized. No information is available on the latter aspect of the study.
Summary of the major findings
The study covered a population of 73,278 people (18,424 households), who lived in three areas
in and around Tirupur, namely, Avinashi Block, Tirupur Block (villages close to Tirupur town)
and Tirupur Municipality (slums in the town).
The total working population studied comprised 37,427 (51% of the total population covered)
people. Of the working population 63% was male adult, 23% was female adult, and 14% was a
child (7% was a boy and 7% was a girl). Thus the percentage of children working in Tirupur is
14% of the total workforce and is much higher than the average of the state of Tamil Nadu, which
is 5%.
The majority of the households surveyed was from the Backward Caste. Out of the total
Backward Caste households 27% had working children. Out of the total Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes communities 25% of the surveyed households had working children.
Of the working population of 37,427 workers, 11,243 (31%) workers were involved in the
knitwear industry. Of the total hosiery working population, male adults accounted for 55%,