According to ILO and UNICEF, all work done by children can’t be classified as child labour. So, there is a need to differentiate between child labour and child work. If work is not affecting the health and personal development as well as the schooling of children, then this type of work can not be taken negatively and does not fall in the category of child labour, e.g. assisting in family business or working during school holidays or after school hours. These activities are not “child labour”, rather these can be termed as ‘child work’. Child work is not only important for the personal development of children but it also provides them with necessary skills to be useful and productive members of a society.
According to ILO, Child Labour is defined as work that has the potential to deprive children of their childhood, their dignity and is also harmful for their physical, moral and mental development and it interferes with their education (either by not allowing them to attend school, leaving school prematurely i.e., without compulsory education or forcing them to combine school attendance with heavy work.). So, the question arises as to how should we differentiate between child labour and child work? This, according to ILO, depends upon age of the child, type and hours of work performed, working conditions as well as the development stage of individual countries.
What Do Child Labourers Do?
According to the ILO, 58.6 per cent of child labourers work in agriculture. Other industries that frequently rely on child labour. What Causes Child Labour Today?
Poverty is widely considered the top reason that children work at jobs that are exploitative and inappropriate for their ages. But there are other reasons as well -- not necessarily in this order:
*family expectations and traditions
*abuse of the child
*lack of good schools and day care
*lack of other services, such as health care
*public opinion that downplays the risk of early work for children
*uncaring attitudes of employers
*limited choices for women
What Are Some Solutions to The Problem of Child Labour?
Many children in hazardous and dangerous jobs are in danger of injury or even death. Between 2000 and the year 2020, the vast majority of new workers, citizens and new consumers — whose skills and needs will build the world’s economy and society — will come from developing countries. Over that 20-year period, some 730 million people will join the world’s workforce — more than all the people employed in the most developed nations in 2000. More than 90 percent of these new workers will be from developing nations, according to research by Population Action International.
In order to fairly and adequately meet the needs of this growing workforce and not rely on child labour, a few things must be prioritised, namely:
*Increased family incomes
*Education — that helps children learn skills that will help them earn a living
*Social services — that help children and families survive crises, such as disease, or loss of home and shelter
*Family control of fertility — so that families are not burdened by children.
Child labour and its effects on children in Pakistan:
Child labour has become a major issue throughout the world but in the third world countries, like Pakistan, it has grown to the maximum level. This international problem is becoming intense with every passing day because a large number of children are forced
to do labour jobs, which is completely against the law.
There are more than 11 million children in Pakistan who are working labour jobs in every nook and corner of the country. The ages of these children are between five to sixteen years and they are forced to do the odd jobs because they belong to the poor and
downtrodden class of the society and they have no other choice but to work and earn a little amount to support their families.
Another important reason is unemployment which forces the parents to send their children to school as these poor people know that their children will remain unable to get a respectable position in society as they will not get a good job.
One more reason behind this bad tradition is that the parents of these unfortunate children are usually illiterate. They do not have the ability to realise what they are doing with the future of their children. They push them out to face the hatred and indifference
of people.
WE SHOULD HAVE TO STAND AGAINSTS CHILD LABOUT TO SAVE OUR CHILDREN OF OUR COUNTRY AND HELP THEM TO BECOME A GOOD CITIZEN OF PAKISTAN.