What is Child Labor?

Definition

Around the world, approximately 250 million children are child

l a b or e r s . W h a t e x a c t l y d o e s t h a t m e a n ? *

T h e t er m “ c h i l d l a b o r ” h a s m a n y d e f i n i t i o n s d e p e n d i n g o n w h o i s
talking about it. Unfortunately, this means that there is no way
to give a concrete, rock-solid definition of child labor.

T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l La b o r O r g a n i z a t i o n , o r t h e I L O , d e f i n e s c h i l d
l a b or a s “ s o m e t y p e s o f w o r k ” d o n e b y c h i l d r e n u n d e r t h e a g e o f
1 8 . T h e I L O a l s o s a ys t h a t c h i l d l a b o r i n c l u d e s f u l l - t i m e w o r k
d o n e b y c h i l d r e n u n d e r 1 5 y e a r s o f a g e t h a t pr e v e n t s t h e m f r o m
going to school (getting an education), or that is dangerous to
their health. More complete definitions of what child labor I in
r e g a r d , a g e r es t r i ct i o n s , j o b t y p e s , a n d e x c e p t i o n s c a n b e f o u n d
in convention 138, convention 182, and the convention on the
rights of the child.

O t h e r s o u r c e s a n d or g a n i z a t i o n s d i s a gr e e o n w h a t c h i l d l a b o r is .
Some say that it is only hazardous work or work that interferes
with a child’s education, while others are broader and include
any work done by children working for pay.

Some organizations, such as UNICEF, decide to draw a line

between child work, which, depending on what definition you
u s e , c a n c o n s is t o f l i g h t w o r k d o n e b y c h i l d r e n a b o v e t h e a g e o f
12, and child labor.
W h i l e t h e r e a r e m a n y d i f f e r e n t w a y s t o d e f i n e w h a t c h i l d l a b o r is ,
it is much easier to find things that are NOT instances of child
l a b or . T h e s e i n c l u d e w a s h i n g d i s h e s , a n d o t h e r c h o r e s , a n d
supervised apprenticeships.

I n m a n y c a s e s , c h i l d l a b or c o n s i s t s o f c h i l d r e n w o r k i n g i n
h o r r i b l e c o n d i t i o n s , m is s i n g s c h o o l , a n d w a s t i n g a w a y t h e i r
childhood. While child labor can consist of children working at
d a n g e r o u s j o b s , i t i s b y n o m e a n s r es t r i c t e d t o t h i s t y p e o f l a b o r
There are many other cases where children (people under the age
o f 1 8) w o r k i n j o b s t h a t a r e N O T h a z a r d o u s a n d d o n o t i n t e r f e r e
with their education. These jobs allow them to get a sense of
responsibility and an opportunity to earn money. Examples of
this can be seen many times in the U.S. with children working at
restaurants.

In this website, we use a broad definition of child labor. The

t e r m “ c h i l d l a b or ” i s u s e d t o r e f e r t o a n y o n e w h o i s a c h i l d
( u n d e r t h e a g e o f 1 8 ) w h o is w o r k i n g f o r p a y . T h i s c a n i n c l u d e
someone who is working in a Pakistani sweatshop as well as
someone flipping burgers over the summer at a fast food joint.
B e c a u s e o f t h i s , t h e w e b s i t e d o e s n o t a t t e m p t t o a ns w e r t h e
q u e s t i o n , “ Is c h i l d l a b o r g o o d o r b a d ? ” b e c a u s e t h e a n s w e r r e a l l y
depends on the context of the question. Instead, it refers to
t y p e s o f c h i l d l a b or b e i n g g o o d , b a d , a n d i n s o m e c a s e s , n e u t r a l .

N o t e : I n s om e e x t r e m e c a s e s , y o u n g c h i l d r e n a r e f o r c e d t o w o r k
off a debt where the amount owed goes up, not down (because of
p u r p o s e l y f a l s e a c co u n t i n g ) . W h i l e t h i s c o u l d b e c o n s i d e r e d a n
instance in which the child is not being paid, it is still considered
c h i l d l a b o r o n t h i s w eb s i t e .

Bonded Child Labor

When dealing with exploitative child labor, there are two main
types of labor: bonded and non-bonded (In non-exploitative child
l a b or , i t i s a l w a y s n o n - b o n d e d , o r t h e w o r k w o u l d n o l o n g e r b e
non-exploitative).

Non-bonded:

Non-bonded child labor is child labor in which the child working

is not working to pay off a debt that they or their family owe to
the employer of the child. This does not mean that non-bonded
child labor is good, however. Children may not be paying off a
d e b t , b ut m a y s t i l l b e “ f or c e d ” t o w o r k f o r f o o d a n d s h e l t e r i n
v e r y p o or co n d i t i o n s . B o n d e d c h i l d l a b o r , t h o u g h , m a y b e
c o n s i d e r e d t h e “ w or s t ” k i n d o f c h i l d l a b o r b e c a u s e t h e c h i l d c a n
be physically forced to do the work to pay off their debt.

Bonded:

Bonded child labor is child labor in which, “a child (below 18

years of age as defined in the UNCRC) working against debt
t a k e n b y h i m s e l f / h e r s e l f o r h i s / h e r f a m i l y m e m b e r s … w it h o u t o r
w i t h t h e c h i l d ' s c o n s e n t , u n d e r c o n d i t i o n s t ha t r e s t r a i n h i s / h e r
freedom and development, making him/her vulnerable to physical
and other forms of abuse and deprives him/her of his/her basic
rights.” (This is also called debt bondage)

Bonded child labor is caused when a poor family needs money

(for food, a sickness, etc.) to pay for something. If the family has
enough to pay, there is no problem. When, however, the family
does not have enough, they may need a loan. Employers of
b o n d e d l a b or e r s k n o w h o w t o t a k e a d v a n t a g e s o f t h e s e
situations. They will provide the family varying amounts of
m o n e y ( i n I n d i a , f or e x a m p l e , a p l a c e w h e r e b o n d e d c h i l d l a b o r
abounds, these amounts are generally in the $15-$220 range) in
e x c h a n g e f or t h e s e r v i t u d e o f a c h i l d .

This child is then forced to work – whether they agree or not –

for the employer until they work off the debt with their wages.
Unfortunately, employers generally charge absurdly high interest
rates and have low wages, so in many cases, the debt actually
g o e s u p i n s t e a d o f d o w n . T h i s c a n ca u s e t h e c h i l d t o w o r k f o r
many, many years – even until adulthood in some cases – before
he/she is allowed to stop working. Often, these children transfer
this debt to their children later on in life, continuing the cycle.

Conventions and International Laws Regarding Child

Labor

Con ven t ion 182:

Convention 182 was adopted by the International Labor

Organization (ILO) on June 1, 1999 in Geneva on their 87th
meeting. Its purpose was to help rid the world of the “worst”
t y p e s o f c h i l d l a b or , e s p e c i a l l y i n p o o r e r c o u n t r i e s :

 C h i l d p r os t i t u t i o n
 C h i l d s l a v e r y (b o n d e d c h i l d l a b o r )
 Children involved in illegal activities
 Children in hazardous work

T h e c o n v e n t i o n a ls o d e f i n e d w h a t w o r k / s i t u a t i o n s w e r e e x p l i c i t l y
considered, “hazardous,” to children (people under the age of
18):

 Mines
  Work in oceans
 Moving machinery
 C a r r y i n g h e a v y m a t e r i a ls
 Extremely hot/cold temperatures
 Agricultural work
 Tannin work
 Glass work
 Working with pesticides or herbicides
 Working with chemicals
 Working with silica dust

This convention has been ratified by 132 of the 175 ILO

members; 25% of these members ratified the convention just
a f t e r i t w a s p a s s e d i n 1 9 9 9 . I t w a s t h e f ir s t I L O c o n v e n t i o n t h a t
w a s a d o p t e d w it h t h e u n a n i m o u s s u p p o r t o f a l l 4 2 5 d e l e g a t e s .

Con ven t ion 138:

This convention, which was adopted in, 1973, discusses the

m i n i m u m a g e f o r e m p l o y m e n t f o r c h i l d r e n . T h e m i n i m u m a g e is
defined as 15 in the convention, but several exceptions involving
developing or third-world countries, and light work also exist in
the convention.

Con ven t ion on t h e Rig h ts of th e Ch ild:

This is a United Nations resolution, the Convention on the Rights

of the Child, which was passed in 1989. This Convention has been
r a t i f i e d b y 1 9 2 c o u n t r i e s t o d a t e ; o n l y t w o h a v e n o t r a t i f i e d it y e t
( t h e t w o co u n t r i e s a r e t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d S o m a l i a ) . T h e
Convention discusses all the rights of any child anywhere in the
w o r l d , a n d co v e r s m u c h m o r e t h a n j u s t c h i l d l a b o r . T h e r e a r e a ls o
t w o o p t i o n a l co n v e n t i o n s , a c co m p a n y i n g t h e m a i n co n v e n t i o n ,
that discuss the participation of children soldiers and child
prostitution, topics that are also covered, in part, in ILO
Convention 182.

* B e c a u s e o f t h e f a ct t ha t t h e r e a r e m a n y w o r k i n g d e f i n i t i o n s o f
child labor, statistics dealing with the number of child laborers in
t h e w or l d c a n v a r y , h o w e v e r 2 5 0 m i l l i o n is g e n e r a l l y a c c e p t e d a s
the correct approximate number (currently).