CHILD LABOR

Definition:

The term child labor refers to the situation when children work like an employee and take part in
an economic activity. According to International Labor Organization ,15 is the minimum age for
full time employment and 18 is the lower age limit for hazardous works. Child labor is not good
for the society. In fact, it is a curse. It deprives children of their childhood, their ability to attend
school and that is harmful to physical and mental development. There are differences between
casual child work and child labor. Casual child work includes guarding other children or helping
elders. Casual child work is not harmful for children. But child labor is harmful for children
because it includes many dangerous works. That is the reason, many countries have banned child
labor.

Source:
https://www.123rf.com/photo_17319871_abstract-word-cloud-for-child-labour-with-related-tags-and-
terms.html

Child labor in Bangladesh:

Though many countries banned child labor, it is still active in Bangladesh. It is a socioeconomic
problem of Bangladesh from the beginning and presenting negative effects till now. Today child
labor becomes the most talkative issue for Bangladesh. We can see a lot of examples around us.
According to a labor survey, there are almost sixteen million working child in Bangladesh. And
sixty percent children are doing the most hazardous work. The percentage is increasing day by
day.

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Types of Child labor:
People can not find any specified types of child labor. That is the reason, there are different types
of child labor. For example, children work as servants at home, laborers at agriculture field,
workers in garments and factories, hawkers at streets. There are a lot of hazardous work like
carrying heavy loads, spraying pesticides, slavery, buying and selling humans, prostitution and
pornography, illegal even for adults.
Causes of child labor:
Poverty and poverty related problems are the main causes of child labor. Poor parents send their
children to word in factories, homes and shops to increase the income. Though these decisions
are taken only for the purpose of living, such decisions shatter children’s physical and mental
state.
Lack of educational facilities is another reason of child labor. In many countries, there are
insufficient educational facilities for poor children. That is the reason, children are pushed into
the trap of child labor.
Social and economic backwardness is also responsible for child labor. Socially backward
families consider child labor as a family tradition. They believe that a good life is not their
destiny. They also believe that working from childhood will make their children more diligent
and worldlier wise. So, they do not want to send their children to school. As a result, children are
trapped into the curse of child labor.
Failure of laws is also responsible for child labor. There are a lot of laws against child labor. But
most of them are not enforced. As a result, people are not afraid of being punished. That is the
reason of increasing child labor.

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