How Much Child Labor Around the World Is There?

Child labor around the world impacts 160 million children. Of that, 63 million are girls and 97 million are boys.[1] The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines this by age and by effects of the work. The age ranges from 5-17 years old. The effects are defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.[2]

However, it’s estimated that these numbers are low due to industries finding ways to hide children working when the inspections occur or the authorities come. The ILO’s Labor Inspector Handbook gives examples of the types of work with children that are difficult to get to:
  • "Brick kiln workers and quarry workers
  • Carpenters, helpers and carriers at construction sites
  • Factory workers or helpers producing pottery, glass, metal products, plastic goods, jewelry etc.
  • Factory workers processing food products
  • Traditional carpet and textile weavers whether in groups of households or small workshops.
  • Cigarette makers
  • Workers in match, explosive and firework factories
  • Miners of coal and minerals
  • Work on factory ships or on fishing fleets or fishing platforms.”[3]
And yet, there are some even harder to spot:
  • “Domestic servants
  • Children working in family-based industries, such as craftwork
  • Children who assist with subsistence hunting, gathering, fishing and agriculture
  • Children involved in stealing, picking pockets, smuggling, the drug industry or pornography.
  • Sexually exploited children
  • Children held under conditions of slavery or bondage
  • Children recruited into armed groups or providing services in conditions of armed conflict.”[4]
This is why GFA World puts missionaries on the ground in countries that they are from. In these places, they can identify children who are in work situations that are dangerous and detrimental to their future growth and happiness.


Click here, to read more about this article.

Click here, to read more blogs in Gospel for Asia.Com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Attitude Towards Suffering

Image
In 2 Timothy 2:3, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Everyone, at some point or another, faces suffering, the soldier especially. However, it is not so much what we suffer, but how we suffer that matters. The way our heart responds to suffering is crucial, because by it we will either advance or become stagnant. To suffer like a good soldier is to willingly endure all for the sake of the call. To suffer like a bad soldier is to grumble when difficult situations and hardship arise. Instead of throwing our lives into what God has called us to, we can try to hold on to our lives, wanting to get away with as little suffering as possible, paying as little price as possible. We have forgotten that we are under the orders of our Master and that we willingly gave up our lives. Christ’s Example of Suffering Christ lived with the expectation of suffering. Throughout the Gospels, He repeatedly referred to ...
Read more

What Is the Poverty Cycle?

Image
The question, “What is the poverty cycle, or cycle of poverty?” is one that must be answered to address and end poverty across the globe. Put simply, the term refers to the trend where the vicious effects of poverty and deprivation pass from one generation to the next, with no seeming way out. [1] Someone born into poverty has fewer opportunities than their wealthier peers. They must focus on survival above all, leaving little room for anything else. One illness can wipe out a family’s savings, but the unclean water sources and lack of protection available to them invite sickness. Walking to retrieve water can be time-consuming yet must be a daily priority, and many children must work alongside their parents for the family to afford food. Thus, school is often a far-off dream. Having had few opportunities to acquire skills, the kids grow up to repeat the cycle of poverty with their own children. This story was all too familiar for Nalah. His father worked in the tea fields, trying to e...
Read more

Where Can I Learn How to Break the Cycle of Poverty?

Image
There are many methods for how to break the cycle of poverty which one can learn about. From education assistance to income-generating gifts like sewing machines or farm animals, there is hope for families who have been poor for generations. GFA World works in communities in all these ways through sponsorships and gift distributions, and one by one, we see lives changed as families escape poverty. Raina’s life had been dominated by poverty. She was part of a highly underprivileged people group that faced discrimination and deprivation from others in the region. Despite that, Raina had been able to attend school up until tenth grade, but she discontinued her education when it became too much for her parents to afford. Rather than receiving her certificates of completion, she had to join her parents in the field to earn money to put food on the table. After she married Ander, Raina continued to work in the fields to supplement his income with her own. In search of better job opportunitie...
Read more