Children and Youth Services Review 79 (2017) 50–56

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Children and Youth Services Review

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Why child labour? Evidences from homebased carpet weaving industry of MARK
Kashmir
Aasif Hussain Nengrooa,⁎, Gulam Mohammad Bhatb
a
Department of Economics, Central University of Kashmir, India
b
Department of Economics, Dean School of Social Sciences, Central University of Kashmir, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Child labour is a multi-faceted problem. When we hear about child labour, generally we think of market work,
Child labour i.e. children employed in mines and factories. Yet only small portion of child labour are engaged in market work
Carpet weaving particularly in developing countries like ours. Those children who are working in household industries are often
Family size excluded by researchers and policy planners. Thus leaving us with a limited knowledge about the possible causes
Parents
of child labour in the home based industries like carpet weaving in Jammu and Kashmir state. To fill this gap, an
Household income
attempt is made in the present study to analyse various determinants of child labour in the carpet weaving
Education
industry of Kashmir, so that necessary measures can be suggested for its reduction. Data has been collected from
a sample of 960 sampled households with the help of interview schedules from four selected districts of Kashmir
Valley. Our results shows that low socio-economic status i.e. low income of the family, illiteracy of household
head and large size of the family force the children to enter into the labour market at their tender age. Further,
we found because of growing educated unemployment problem in the state, parents prefer to employ their
children in the labour market instead of schooling. The study suggests that child labour can be reduced if parents
are compensated equal to the earnings of their children and their educational cost.

1. Introduction
Empirical evidence suggests that child labour is associated with
poverty. Historically, in industrialised countries it was said to be the
main cause for child labour at that time (Basu, 1999). Kehily (2008)
argues “as long as poverty exists in all its nakedness, child labour is
bound to exist in either open or disguised form”. Swaminathan (1998),
Rossi and Rosati (2003) and Shafiq (2007) found associations between
poverty and child labour in India, Pakistan and rural Bangladesh;
however, Bhatty (1998) does not found any association between pov-
erty and child labour in rural India, and Bhalotra and Heady (2003)
reach the same conclusion with girls in rural Pakistan. Arguably, the
most consistent finding in theoretical and empirical research is that
underinvestment in schooling and the practice of child labour is a
consequence of low parental educational attainment (Dar, Blunch,
Kim, & Sasaki, 2002; Nengroo & Bhat, 2011; Shafiq, 2007). Bhalotra and
Heady (2003) found that farm-owning households are more likely to
practice child labour in rural Ghana and rural Pakistan; Edmonds and
Turk (2004) find evidence from rural Vietnam that business-owning
households are more likely to practice child labour. The resulting need
to engage in full-time work at the expense of leaving school is what
some authors refer to as a dynastic (Basu & Tzannatos, 2003) or poverty
(Basu, 1999) trap. It is basically a vicious cycle (Thijs, 1997), where the
children of child labourers will suffer the same fate as, due to the lack of
education, they will not be able to attain sufficient human capital to
enable them to obtain higher wages (Kar & Guha-Khasnobis, 2003), and
subsequently have sufficient savings or assets to see them through
difficult times. According to some authors, child labour reflects the
structure of the local economy (Bachman, 2000). Following this, if the
structure of the local economy is enhanced to create more employment
and subsequently higher adult wages, this should cause a reduction in
child labour. However, others observe that this may increase child la-
bour, as children will assume some of the responsibilities of their par-
ents who have changed their nature of work in order to take advantage
of the enhanced earning capacity (Edmonds, 2004). Mendes, Alves,
Lenzi, and Ribeiro (2015) found the number of child labours increases
less than proportionally with the population of cities, meaning that
large cities may (somehow) create less favorable conditions for child
labour. Weakness in state intervention has also been said to cause child
labour and is closely connected with poverty. Many authors refer to this
as laws not properly implemented (Bachman, 2000), without in-
vestigating why this is so. Very often, poor governments find it difficult

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: asifnengroo.ku@gmail.com (A.H. Nengroo).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.05.032
Received 16 November 2016; Received in revised form 30 May 2017; Accepted 30 May 2017
Available online 31 May 2017
0190-7409/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A.H. Nengroo, G.M. Bhat
to put in place the requisite interventions to address child labour. An
important issue connected to government inability is the lack of funds
to provide quality, accessible schools (Mervyn, 2013). Studies have also
shown that where these families are headed by females, there is a
higher incidence of child labour (Thijs, 1997). Accordingly, parental
residency (Edmonds, 2003) and migration (Thijs, 1997) have been said
to have an effect on child labour.
As most of the studies on child labour are based on market work.
Yet, only small portion of child labour are engaged in market work
particularly in developing countries like ours. Those children who are
working in household industries are often excluded by researchers and
policy planners. Thus leaving us with a limited knowledge about the
possible causes of child labour in the home based industries like carpet
weaving in our state. To fill this gap, an attempt is made in the present
study to understand various determinants of child labour in the home
based carpet weaving industry of Kashmir and suggest some alternative
policy prescriptions such that the parents themselves will withdraw
their children from the labour market and enroll them in schools which
in turn will help to reduce child labour.
The paper is structured as follows. The next section presents the
methodology of the present study. Section 3 analysis various demo-
graphic features of child labour. Section 4 presents the regression re-
sults and Section 5 concludes the paper.
2. Methodology
2.1. Sampling
In the present study partly purposive and partly stratified sampling
technique followed by snowball sampling have been used. In the first
stage four districts viz. Anantnag, Budgam, Kulgam and Srinagar were
selected purposively because of:
a) Concentration of more carpet weaving units.
b) Employment of a large number of children in the carpet industry.
c) Easy accessibility.
In the second stage it was decided to take the sample of 3 blocks
from each district having highest number of villages involved in carpet
weaving and which employ large number of children. Thus a total of 12
blocks were selected purposively. In the third stage it was decided to
choose a sample of 4 villages from each block which are noticeable for
employing children at the village level, with the help of key persons
(village elders or those having knowledge about carpet weaving).
Finally samples of 20 households were interviewed from each vil-
lage with the help of snowball sampling. Only those households were
selected where there was at least one child in the age group of
6–14 years old. Thus samples of 960 (4 × 3 × 4 × 20) households
were selected in the present study comprising of 1727 children. Among
them 124 (7.18%) were Child Labours working in carpet weaving
centres across the sampled districts.
2.2. Data collection
Plan for the data collection was formulated to have more reliable
information and replies to various questions. To start with, as planed
earlier, the researcher went around the village and met various im-
portant persons including carpet weaving owners. The purpose of the
study was explained to them while fixing up the place and time of the
interview, the appointments were fixed in advance. Convenience of the
respondent was the main consideration. As and when required, the
objectives were clarified to allay their fear and suspicion. A research
diary was also used to note various questions and doubts which come to
the notice. Observations were also noted and the interviews terminated
with acknowledgement of gratitude for their cooperation.
51
Children and Youth Services Review 79 (2017) 50–56
2.3. Tools of analysis
2.3.1. Probit model
To analyse various determinants of child labour, we have used the
binary probit model. Dependent variable represents the child labour
and non-child labour status of respondent (where child labour is equal
to one if child is working and zero otherwise). Explanatory variables
include age, gender, and region, education of household head, family
size, and household income. The specification of the model is as fol-
lows:
Child labour = α 0 + α1 age + α2 gender + α3 Region + α4 HHedu
+ α5 Fsize + α6 Hincome + u1
where
Child labour = dummy variable equal to 1 for the child who work
during last six months and zero otherwise.
Age = age of the child who works during last six months.
Gender = Dummy variable equal to 1 if child is male and zero
otherwise.
Region = Dummy variable equal to one if child belongs to central
Kashmir (Srinagar and Budgam) and zero otherwise (Anantnag and
Kulgam).
HHedu = Household head complete year of education.
Fsize = Number of family members in the household.
Hincome = Monthly income of household in rupees.
u1 = random variable
2.3.2. Incidence Rate
To work out the rate of incidence of child labour the following
formula has been used:
CL
ICL = × 100
TC
where ICL = Incidence of child labour;
CL = Total number of child labours;
TC = Total children aged 6–14 years.
3. Analysis and discussion
3.1. Demographic profile
Child labour is essentially a socio-economic problem. It also reflects
the socio-economic status of the nation. If the nation is poorer, there is
greater possibility of children found in work places rather than in
schools. Children are required to work to supplement their family in-
comes or acquire skill to become self-employed or independent persons
(Reddy & Ramesh, 2002). It is also because of the prevailing adult
educated unemployment problem parents prefer to send their children
in the labour market instead of schooling. In order to understand the
gravity of the problem, the present section deals with the general
profile of child labour by examining their gender, age, educational
background etc. The socio-economic status of the family including the
housing conditions, type of family, size of family, family education and
parental occupation is also presented in this section. It is interesting to
note that none of the child labour was employed by any employer and
all of them were working in their own or neighbour's houses along with
their family members or relatives. Thus it clearly shows that it is be-
cause of supply side factors that are responsible for child labour in the
carpet weaving industry of Kashmir.
3.1.1. Sex of child labour
Distribution of the child labour according to their sex is presented in
the Fig. 1. It is evident from the figures that female child labourers out
number male child labourers in all the four sampled districts of the
study area. As 80 (64.52%) child labourers are female and the rest 44
A.H. Nengroo, G.M. Bhat Children and Youth Services Review 79 (2017) 50–56

Fig. 1. Gender wise distribution of child labours in selected districts.

Gender wise Distribution of Child Labours in Selected Districts
140

120
No. of Child Labours

100

80

60

40

20

0
Anantnag Budgam Srinagar Kulgam Total
Male 7 19 9 9 44
Female 11 35 19 15 80
Total 18 54 28 24 124

Source Field survey

(35.48%) are male. In district Budgam where incidence of child labour
is highest among the sampled districts, 35 child labours out of total 52
respondents are female. Similar is the case in other districts as 19, 15
and 11 child labours out of 28, 24 and 18 child labours in district Sri-
nagar, Kulgam and Anantnag respectively are female child labours (see
Fig. 1). The societal preference for male children result in girls being
valued less, educated less but worked harder and are more disciplined
and deprived of every opportunity to broaden their personal, social and
intellectual horizons (Nengroo, Khan, & Bhat, 2012).
In most economically disadvantaged families, greater the poverty,
the more aggravated is the situation of the female child. Higher pro-
portion of female children in the sampled villages can be attributed to
socio-economic factors as majority of the households put a ceiling into
female children's aspirations. The notion of temporary membership in
the parental home results in the perception of the female child as a
burden to be passed on to another family where she remains an out-
sider, a household drudge, a reproductive machine and unpaid worker
throughout in life. Further girls’ economic participation goes unnoticed
as they are employed in either family labour or domestic worker in
unorganized sector like carpet units (Nengroo & Bhat, 2011).
3.1.2. Age composition of child labours
Children at tender age are biologically suitable for only play and
education. Their physique and strength do not permit them to take
responsibility of full time work. However, a large number of children
continue to be employed as full time labours at early stage of life. The
age compositions of child labours in the sampled districts are presented
in Table 1.
The Table 1 shows that as the age of child labours increases more
and more children are engaged in carpet weaving in all the selected
districts. As it is evident from the above table that only two children
were found present in the carpet weaving centres at the age of eight
years, and thereafter, the incidence of child labour is showing an in-
creasing trend in all the districts. The table shows that in all the districts
combined, total number of child labours were eight (6.45%) at the age
of 11 years and more than double (14.52%) at the age of 12 years. Si-
milarly, 27.42% and 42.74% at the age of 13 and 14 years were child
labours respectively. Thus, the data confirm the impression that people
usually send their children to work in the age group of 12–14 years old.
3.1.3. Education
Education is of utmost importance for the proper growth and de-
velopment of the individual. It plays an important role in one's life in
the sense that it helps in shaping the right kind of life style in the human
beings. The educational standard of children in the sampled districts is
presented in Table 2.
The Table 2 shows that more than half (53.23%) of the child la-
bourers have never gone to school and little less than 1/4th (24.19%)
have studied up to 5th standard. Only 5.64% have studied up to 10th
standard. Thus more than 3/4th (77.42%) child labourers are either
totally illiterate or have not completed even primary education. Thus
like other studies (for example see Castle, Chaudhri, and Nyland
(1997), Misra (2004) etc.) we also found low level of education as an
important determinant of child labour.

Table 1
Age wise distribution of the child labours in selected districts.
Source: Field survey.

Age Anantnag Budgam Srinagar Kulgam Total (%) Total child labours

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female

6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 (0.00)

7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 (0.00)
8 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0.80 0.80 2 (1.61)
9 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.80 0.80 2 (1.61)
10 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 1 0.80 4.84 7 (5.65)
11 1 0 1 3 0 1 1 1 2.42 4.03 8 (6.45)
12 1 2 3 5 1 2 1 3 4.84 9.68 18 (14.52)
13 2 3 5 9 2 7 2 4 8.87 18.55 34 (27.42)
14 3 5 8 12 6 9 4 6 16.93 25.81 53 (42.74)
Total 7 11 19 35 9 19 9 15 35.48 64.52 124 (100)

Note: figures in brackets indicate percentage.

52
A.H. Nengroo, G.M. Bhat Children and Youth Services Review 79 (2017) 50–56

Table 2
Educational attainment of child labours in selected districts.
Source: Field survey.

Education Anantnag Budgam Srinagar Kulgam Total

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Illiterate 3 6 9 (50.00) 8 22 30 (55.56) 4 9 13 (46.43) 5 9 14 (58.33) 66 (53.23)

Up to 5th 2 3 5 (27.78) 5 7 12 (22.22) 2 5 7 (25.00) 2 4 6 (25.00) 30 (24.19)
Up to 8th 1 2 3 (16.67) 4 5 9 (16.67) 2 4 6 (21.43) 1 2 3 (12.50) 21 (16.94)
Up to 10th 1 0 1 (5.56) 2 1 3 (5.56) 1 1 2 (7.14) 1 0 1 (4.17) 7 (5.64)
Total 7 11 18 (100) 19 35 54 (100) 9 19 28 (100) 9 15 24 (100) 124 (100)

Note: figures in brackets indicate percentage.

3.1.4. Family type
A general belief and experience is that the children in a joint family
system would be given all protection and they will be facilitated to seek
better education, recreation and the broader requirements of sociali-
zation itself. A critical look at the studies on child labour in the Indian
context would reveal that disintegration of joint family system espe-
cially in rural society paved the way for emergence of child labour
practice. It is equally true in the present study also. For instance data
depicted in Fig. 2 shows that nuclear families constitute 71.77% to the
total families interviewed followed by joint family which is only
28.23%. Hence it is inferred from the analysis that nuclear family
system, which is also an influencing force in child labour practice, is
predominant in the study area. It is revealed from the study that parents
in the nuclear family have got greater influence to decide upon whether
a child is to be educated or employed in contrast to the joint family
system where old people have a considerable amount of influence in
decision making.
family size increases from 5–8 family members to 9–12 family mem-
bers. Thus, we find there is a positive relationship between size of fa-
mily members and the work participation rate of child labours in the
sampled districts. Therefore, one can say that in a poor family which
had more than 7 members, it is difficult for one person to run the house.
Hence there is no other alternative but to send the child to work rather
than to school in order to supplement family income. Those children
who belong to the small family category that is 1–4 members worked
because there was no earning member in the family. Also majority of
the parents in this category reported; “those who are well educated are
mostly unemployed and are moving here and there in search of job, so in-
stead of sending children to schools it is better to engage them in any trade so
that they can learn the skill at their early age and will start their business
when they will become master of the art”. Thus, we see that in all the four
districts whether the child belonged to small or large family, they are
forced to work for some reason or the other.

3.1.6. Education of parents

3.1.5. Size of family
To study the relationship between the size of family members in the
household and work participation rate of child labours, our next query
was related to the number of family members of the respondents in the
study area. Table 3 gives the share of child labours and work partici-
pation rate of children as per the size of family.
The Table 3 reveals that a little less than half (49.19%) child labours
belonged to such families where there were 5–8 family members. Si-
milarly 29.84% and 20.97% child labours belong to families which had
1–4 and 9–12 family members respectively. Further it is evident from
the Table 3 that the work participation rate shows a continuous in-
creasing trend as the size of family members increases. The work par-
ticipation rate is 4.67 in case the size of family members is 1–4 and
work participation rate increase continuously from 7.11 to 34.21as the
Undoubtedly, education plays an important role in the development
of an individual, society or nation. The educated parents plan their
families; provide best possible education and recreational facilities to
their children. They are cautious about the nutritional and health re-
quirements of their children and give them love and affection essential
for their physical and mental growth and development. Hence, an at-
tempt was made to understand and analyse the educational background
of the respondent's parents. The Table 4 reflects the educational level of
parents of child labours.
The Table 4 shows that in all the four districts majority of parents
were illiterate. However district Budgam was found to be most illiterate
district. This is in consensus of the recent census 2011 data which
shows among the four districts Budgam has the lowest (57.98%) lit-
eracy rate. As expected, the table portrays that mothers are more (75%)

Fig. 2. Distribution of respondents according to type of family.

Distribution of Respondents According to Type of Family
90
80
70
Respendents %

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Anantnag Budgam Srinagar Kulgam Total
Nuclear 66.67 70.37 78.57 70.83 71.77
Joint 33.33 29.63 21.43 29.17 28.23

Source Field study

53
A.H. Nengroo, G.M. Bhat Children and Youth Services Review 79 (2017) 50–56

Table 3
Share of child labours and work participation rate of children as per the number of family members.
Source: Field survey.

No of family members Anantnag Budgam Srinagar Kulgam Total children Child labours Work participation rate (ICL =
CL
× 100 )
TC

TC CL TC CL TC CL TC CL

1–4 219 5 (27.78) 244 16 (29.63) 136 9 (32.14) 194 7 (29.17) 793 (45.92) 37 (29.84) 4.67
5–8 247 10 (55.56) 182 28 (51.85) 237 12 (42.86) 192 11 (45.83) 858 (49.68) 61 (49.19) 7.11
9–12 19 3 (16.67) 16 10 (18.52) 17 7 (25.00) 24 6 (25.00) 76 (4.40) 26 (20.97) 34.21
Total 485 18 (100) 442 54 (100) 390 28 (100) 410 24 (100) 1727 124 (100) 7.18

Note: figures in brackets indicate percentage out of total child labours.

Table 4
Educational attainment of parents of child labours.
Source: Field survey.

Education Anantnag Budgam Srinagar Kulgam Total

Father Mother Father Mother Father Mother Father Mother Father Mother

Illiterate 9 15 28 37 16 23 14 18 67 (54.03) 93 (75.00)

Up to 5th 5 3 13 10 8 4 6 4 32 (25.80) 21 (16.93)
5th to 8th 3 0 5 6 3 1 3 2 14 (11.30) 9 (7.26)
8th to 10th 1 0 4 1 1 0 1 0 7 (5.64) 1 (0.81)
Above 10th 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 (3.23) 0 (00)
Total 18 18 54 54 28 28 24 24 124 124

Note: figures in brackets indicate percentage.

Table 5 involved in carpet weaving, it indicates that parents are also working in
Occupation of parents of sampled child labours in selected districts. the same occupation. About 1/4th of the parents were from the labour
Source: Field survey.
class followed by farming class. Thus the analysis of the above table
Occupation Anantnag Budgam Srinagar Kulgam Total Percentage clearly shows that majority of child labours come from labouring class
(both skilled and unskilled). It is also that people in the service do not
Father less 3 7 2 2 14 11.30 like their children to go for jobs at an early age, most probably because
Carpet work 9 24 6 5 44 35.48
they have learnt from their experience and colleagues about the im-
Farming 2 8 1 6 17 13.71
Business 0 3 5 3 11 8.87
portance of education and the ill effects of child labour.
Service 1 4 2 1 8 6.45
Labour 3 8 12 7 30 24.19 3.1.8. Monthly income of the family
Total 18 54 28 24 124 100.00
Poverty and low income of the family is an important universally
accepted cause of child labour both in theoretical literature on child
illiterate than fathers (54%). Majority 114 (91.93%) of the mothers labour and policy oriented works (for theory see, e.g., Basu and Van
were either illiterate or have not completed primary education. Simi- (1998), Baland and Robinson (2000), Dessy and Vencatachellum
larly only 3.23% fathers have received education above metric level. (2002), Ranjan (2001)). For more policy-oriented work see, e.g., U.S.
Thus it can be concluded from the above analysis that parental illiteracy Department of Labor (2000), Fallon and Tzannatos (1998). In this
is an important cause for the supply of child labours in the carpet background an attempt is made to study the family income of the re-
weaving industry of Kashmir. spondents. The responses are shown in Table 6.
The Table 6 shows that a little less than 3/4th (72.58) household
had monthly income of less than Rs 3000 while 15.32% had monthly
3.1.7. Parental occupation income between Rs 3000 to Rs 4000 and only 12.10% had more than Rs
In general perception parents having a better occupation have less 4000 per month. Thus the analysis of the above table clearly reveals
possibility of sending their children in the labour market and more of that low income of the family forces the parents to send their children
their children are found enrolled in schools. To know whether this in the carpet weaving centres. One of the fathers Farooq Ahmad re-
common belief hold true for the present study, information was col- ported, “Our family consists of four children – two boys and two girls. In
lected about the occupational standard of the parents of child labours in agriculture season I work in neighbours' field they pay me Rs 200 – Rs 250
the sampled households which is presented in Table 5. on daily basis. But during the off season and rainy days I am weaving carpet.
The Table 5 shows that since 35.48% child labours parents are Three of my children are studying in the Government school. Because of low

Table 6
Monthly income of the families of child labours in selected districts.
Source: Field survey.

Monthly income Anantnag Budgam Srinagar Kulgam Total Percentage

Up to 2000 9 22 14 10 55 44.35
2000–3000 5 16 8 6 35 28.23
3000–4000 2 9 3 5 19 15.32
4000–5000 & above 2 7 3 3 15 12.10
Total 18 54 28 24 124 100

54
A.H. Nengroo, G.M. Bhat
Table 7
Probit results.
Probit regression
Log likelihood = − 111.87937
Child labour Coefficient. Std. err
Age 0.3390181 0.0589931
1.Gender − 0.1561248 0.1908692
1.Region 0.5738952 0.190623
Education of household head − 0.1231894 0.0238252
Family size 0.3733642 0.0502882
Household income − 0.0011079 0.000106
Constants − 2.328799 0.7642326
and irregular income I was forced to send my daughter in carpet weaving
centre. My elder son is also assisting her during holidays. I do not like my
daughter to work at this earlier age as it will deteriorate her health. We are
interested in educating her, but the circumstances have forced us to drag her
into this work. We are so poor and have no other alternative.”
Another father Gulam Ahmad Stated “We had to borrow money from
relatives or neighbours. Our family income was not sufficient to meet the
basic necessities of life. Also I was not having money to pay the fee of my
children that is why I have engaged my child in the carpet weaving still when
any of our family members fall ill we have to borrow from employers.”
4. Probit results
In this section we have run probit model to analyse various de-
terminants of child labour. Our results are shown in Table 7.
The Table 7 shows that except gender all the variables are highly
statistically significant at less than 1% level. Coefficient of age is po-
sitively significant related to child labour, which shows that Ceteris
paribus, as children age, they are more likely to work. Similarly the
positive sign of region means that as the number of children increases
there is more likely that the children from central Kashmir will join the
labour force, other things remaining constant. This has been proved by
earlier studies also (Save the Children, 2001). Likewise the positive sign
of the family size shows that as the number of family member's in-
creases, the probability of work from child increases. As per expecta-
tions the negative sign of the household education depicts that Ceteris
paribus, if the household head is educated the probability of child la-
bour decreases. The reason is simply that the educated household head
understands the importance of education in the overall personality
development and they can in rare cases compromise on education of
their wards and that too in unavoidable circumstances. Contrary to
common belief the negative sign of the coefficient of gender of child
labour shows that the probability of doing work decreases if the gender
of the child is male other things remaining constant. The household
income is highly significant with negative sign which means as the
household income increases the probability of child labour decreases.
This supports the luxury Axiom of Basu and Van which states that a
family will send children to the labour market only if the family's in-
come from non-child labour sources is very low (Basu & Van, 1998).
Also in the Kashmir Valley many people live on hill tops, cold and hard
to reach areas, leading a life of acute poverty. The climatic conditions of
the valley keeps them confined to their households with increased ex-
penditure adds fuel to the fire of winter hardships. An imbalance of
their income and expenditure compels them to send their children for
work to supplement family income and strike the balance. These fa-
milies are serving on the income of these children and any ban on child
labour can definitely add to their sufferings. Even if a complete ban is
55
Children and Youth Services Review 79 (2017) 50–56
Number of observations = 1727
LR chi2 (6) = 668.31
Prob > chi2 = 0.0000
Pseudo R2 = 0.7492
Z P > |Z| [95% confidence interval]
5.75 0.000 0.2233937–0.4546425
− 0.82 0.413 − 0.5302216–0.217972
3.01 0.003 0.2002811–0.9475093
− 5.17 0.000 − 0.1698859–0.0764928
7.42 0.000 0.2748012–0.4719273
− 10.45 0.000 − 0.0013157–0.0009001
− 3.05 0.002 − 3.826667-0.8309302
imposed on the child labour, there are apprehensions that such children
may be forced to beggary or other undesirable ways of earning (Nika,
2010).
To test the null hypothesis that all the coefficients are simulta-
neously zero, we use the likelihood ratio (LR) statistics, which is
equivalent to the F test in the linear regression model (Gujarati, 2011).
Under the null hypothesis that none of the regressors are significant, the
LR statistic follows the chi-square distribution with degree of freedom
equal to the number of explanatory variables which are six in our
model. As the Table 7 shows, the value of LR statistics is 668.31 and the
p value (i.e. the exact significance level) is particularly zero, thus re-
futing the null hypothesis. Thus we can say that all the six variables
included in the probit model are important determinants of child la-
bour.
5. Conclusion
To conclude we can say that the low socio-economic status i.e. low
income of the family, illiteracy of household head and large size of the
family force the children to enter into the labour market at their tender
age. This suggests combined measures of improving the socio-economic
conditions of households. First every effort should be made to com-
pensate the parents of the children equal to the earnings of their chil-
dren and also bare their educational cost either by local community or
government so that these families are not forced by circumstances to
engage their children in carpet weaving thus snatching their educa-
tional right. Second, there must be continuous efforts of adult literacy
campaigns like Sarva Siksha Abhian, that increase social awareness
among adult population especially in those far-flung areas which are
employing their children and are still living in darkness without the
light of education. Third, employment generation schemes like
MGNREGA should be positively extended in these areas which leads to
the empowering the poor. Moreover social conscious should be devel-
oped among masses so that they can come forward and help these poor
sections of population so that their children can also taste the sweet
fruits of education. Government should also take special attention to
the forgotten areas of child labour who are working within their home.
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