What Is Child Labour Article Abstract

"Child labor" is, generally speaking, work for children that harms
them or exploits them in some way (physically, mentally, morally, or by
blocking access to education).

BUT: There is no
universally accepted definition of "child labor". Varying definitions
of the term are used by international organizations, non-governmental
organizations, trade unions and other interest groups. Writers and
speakers don’t always specify what definition they are using, and that
often leads to confusion.

Not all work is bad for
children. Some social scientists point out that some kinds of work may
be completely unobjectionable — except for one thing about the work
that makes it exploitative. For instance, a child who delivers
newspapers before school might actually benefit from learning how to
work, gaining responsibility, and earn a bit of money. But what if the
child is not paid? Then he or she is being exploited. As Unicef’s 1997
State of the World’s Children Report puts it, "Children’s work needs to
be seen as happening along a continuum, with destructive or
exploitative work at one end and beneficial work - promoting or
enhancing children’s development without interfering with their
schooling, recreation and rest - at the other. And between these two
poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a child’s
development." Other social scientists have slightly different ways of
drawing the line between acceptable and unacceptable work.

Not
all work is bad for children. Some social scientists point out that
some kinds of work may be completely unobjectionable — except for one
thing about the work that makes it exploitative. For instance, a child
who delivers newspapers before school might actually benefit from
learning how to work, gaining responsibility, and a bit of money. But
what if the child is not paid? Then he or she is being exploited. As
Unicef’s 1997 State of the World’s Children Report puts it, "Children’s
work needs to be seen as happening along a continuum, with destructive
or exploitative work at one end and beneficial work - promoting or
enhancing children’s development without interfering with their
schooling, recreation and rest - at the other. And between these two
poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a child’s
development." Other social scientists have slightly different ways of
drawing the line between acceptable and unacceptable work.

International
conventions also define "child labor" as activities such as soldiering
and prostitution. Not everyone agrees with this definition. Some child
workers themselves think that illegal work (such as prostitution)
should not be considered in the definition of "child labor." The
reason: These child workers would like to be respected for their legal
work, because they feel they have no other choice but to work. For
further discussion of this dispute, see New Internationalist Magazine, No. 292, July 1997 issue on Child Labor.

To
avoid confusion, when writing or speaking about "child labor," it’s
best to explain exactly what you mean by child labor — or, if someone
else is speaking, ask for a definition. This website uses the first
definition cited in this section: "Child labor" is work for children
under age 18 that in some way harms or exploits them (physically,
mentally, morally, or by blocking children from education).