One in every 17 workers in Maharashtra is a child

On World Day Against Child Labour (June 12), Child Rights and You (CRY) compiled the country's latest official census – Census 2011 – data which reveals that every 11th child between 5 and 18 is working in India. The same census data also reveals that children aged between 5-18 comprise 5% of the entire working population in Maharashtra, which means one in every 20 workers in Maharashtra is a child.

"Even if we look at workers under 59 years (as is normally done), this means 6% of the working population consists of children between 5-18 years. That way one in every 17 workers in Maharashtra is a child," said Kreanne Rabadi, regional director, CRY, adding "Child labour is one of India's harsh realities, a fact we are yet to fully accept or satisfactorily react to."

Maharashtra, along with four other states – Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh – house more than half of the country's working children.

Terming the staggering numbers as 'worrisome', Rabadi pointed out that analysis of census data shows that child labour has been decreasing at 2.2% per year over the last decade. "But this is no way substantial given the absolute numbers," she underlined. "At this pace, it'll take more than 100 years to eradicate child labour. Can we afford to wait that long?"

As India dilly-dallies, the number of children being forced into labour keeps increasing. Interestingly the Constitution guarantees rights for children against child labour. While Article 21A ensures the right to education, Article 24 prohibits the employment of children in factories, mines or in other hazardous forms of employment; Article 39 ensures tender age of children is not abused and citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter vocations unsuited to their age or strength; Article 45 ensures free and compulsory education for all children until they turn 14.

"While the world embraces equal rights for children and works towards providing children with a safe present and future, India is still concerned with the age at which children should be allowed to work.
eradicating child labour in India, ensuring education and a safe, secure and healthy childhood for every child in India."

Latest global estimates suggest that 120 million children between 5 and 14 are forced into child labour, with boys and girls in this age group almost equally affected. This persistence of child labour is rooted in poverty and lack of decent work for adults, lack of social protection, and a failure to ensure that all children are attending school through to the legal minimum age for admission to employment. Many child labourers do not attend school at all. Others combine school and work but often to the detriment of their education.

"Lacking adequate education and skills, as adults former child labourers are more likely to end up in poorly paid, insecure work or to be unemployed. In turn there is a high probability that their own
children will end up in child labour. Breaking this cycle of disadvantage is a global challenge and education has a key role to play," said Rabadi.

CRY survey among city youth

A 2014 UN report on young population across the globe pegged India as the leader with 356 million 10-24 year-olds. India officially now has the world's largest youth population despite having a smaller population than China. Given how they will carve out the future of India, CRY reached out to youth across Mumbai to understand their perspective on 10.13 million in age group 5-14 being forced into labour.

The survey, which saw 380 youth from 63 colleges, came out with the following findings:

69.5% said children should only work after the age of 18
44% knew there were laws to protect children against child labour
82% thought a child selling magazines at signals can be classified as child labour
49% thought a college-going child working as a sex-worker can be classified as child labour
44% thought family businesses could be a large reason for children to work
44.5% scored the adeptness of Indian laws for tackling child labour at 2 on a scale of 1 to 5
68.5% believed children working as domestic helps were child labourers and that it was wrong