Child work and labor. India case study

1. Child work and labor. India case study Children in Developing Countries Renata Serra – March 1st

2. Child labor vs. child work • Child labor: ‘detrimental’ to child health and development • See ILO definition • Child labor: economic/productive activities • Child work: household, own-farm work, subsistence • NOTE: If I have not followed consistently this terminology, it is because I do not believe in it myself. But you should know it!!

3. Is this terminological distinction important? • Yes • Need to identify the situations most at risk • Consensus is wide when fighting against labor • Child work regarded as integral part of life in many contexts (‘child socialization’) • No • Too narrow definition of the problem: child work may be exploitative too • Rigid definitions: better to look at specific instances than at broader and faulty categories • Children’s contribution to the informal economy is made invisible and unrecognized (Burra’s reading)

5. Categories of children • Studies use different number of categories: • 2: Children working or in school • 3: Children working, in school or idle • 4: children at work only, at school only, both working and at school, idle • Defining working children as all those who are not at school thus fails to see the complexities of the situation

6. Idle children • Children neither at school nor working • Is “idle children” a useful category? • Burra clearly is against: • Idle children are working children in disguise • Children not at school are deprived/exploited • However, data show that truly idle children exist! • Economic studies show the idle children are a product of low HH wealth, poor nutrition and health, poor quality schooling, low child ability

7. The invisibility of child work • Large and increasing informal economy • Children’s unpaid work should be recognized as much as women’s work • Children work enables adults to take up other work (it is more productive than it appears) • Global economy is founded on sub-contracting • Most producers work in households and use child labor • Hence, attention should be paid to what happens within the household production sphere • Children may be exploited and controls are inexistent

8. Policy implications • Different policy implications emerge according to how data are collected and interpreted: • Restrict all forms of child work • Eliminate child labor first • Improve and expand schooling • Improve child health and nutrition (to make schooling more feasible and attractive)

9. Is a ban on child work effective? • A total ban on child work may be counterproductive as it may: • Increase the pool of “idle” children • Decrease schooling for children both at work & school • Increase poverty in the short term and thus diminish future child potential • More effective interventions are: • Increasing household productivity and income • Improving schooling quality • Improving labor markets (esp. for the young) • Introducing technology that substitutes for child work