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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The family incomes of the interviewed children ranged between Rs 1300 and Rs 3600 per month.
The majority of families had incomes around Rs 2300 per month. The average family size was
around 5 members. The majority of the parents did not work in the hosiery industry but were
employed in other professions which were lower paid, or they were unemployed. The family income
of the children who had parents who worked in the hosiery industry, were higher than the
family income of the children who had parents who did not work in the hosiery industry. The majority
of families had two or three children who worked in the hosiery industry.
The majority of the children stated that they were sent to work because the family income without
their earnings was not sufficient to buy food, to pay the rent of the house, to pay water from water
tanks, and to save some money for festivals. The children who had the lowest family incomes
either had an ill family member, a death in the family or had parents who earned very low wages
in employments other than the hosiery industry or who were unemployed. For the families of
these children the extra money of the working child was essential for survival of the family.
It should be mentioned that family incomes reduced substantially by high costs of living in Tirupur,
by financial debts of parents, and by expensive drinking water which had to be bought from
truckers. House rents, even for small huts with palm leaves, ranged between Rs 100 and Rs 300
per month, which was often difficult for parents to pay. The work of the parents was often
seasonal which caused difficulties in earning money the whole year through. Because the parents
were not covered by health schemes, illness in the family caused financial problems. These parents
had an extra incentive to send their children to work. The money was needed in periods
when there was less or no work for the parents or when a family member was ill or had died
recently.
Thus, child labour was structural for families in Tirupur, to remain on or above the poverty line
and to make both ends meet. Without the child's earnings, the family incomes were reduced substantially,
especially for families where the parents had low paid jobs often not in the hosiery
industry or were unemployed, or had many young children who were not yet old enough to start
working.
It should be studied more thoroughly, however, what the total expenses of an average family are,
and if it really is a problem for the family to survive if the child stops with working. In this study,
the parents of the child labourers had not been interviewed.
Opinion of working children on child labour
The interviewed children had a negative opinion towards child labour and they expressed that a
child should not work at a very young age. Though some of the child labourers said that they
started to like the earnings, the majority said to envy the children who go to the regular government
schools and wear uniforms. The children expressed their helplessness and powerlessness to
do anything about their working life because they had to abide with the decision of their parents.
Education
The interviewed children had reached education levels which ranged between second and fifth
standard. The majority of the children, however, dropped out when they were in the forth stand-
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