When children below the age of 14 years are employed in any kind of work, then it is called child labor. A child from a poor family is often pushed to earn for the family but such people do not even understand the importance of education. Due to a lack of education, children are forced to work to earn money. Despite several laws by the government, it could not be improved much. Childhood is the foundation of life on which golden dreams are built, but the childhood of children born in poor families is usually dark as they cannot afford education. Due to the lack of education opportunities for the child involved in child labor, he is able to live his life with great difficulty. There is neither physical development nor mental development in their manner. It is the collective responsibility of the government and society, that by playing with the childhood of the children, they should not engage them in child labor.
Causes of Child Labour-
Poverty – Is a significant factor in child labor. When the working member of the family does not earn enough to satisfy the basic needs of his family, the children are ultimately pushed to work in order to fill their stomachs.
Lack of education – They send their kids to work because, as a result of the family’s lack of education, they are unable to appreciate the value of education. Such people do not understand how important it is to lay the foundation of education for children. They fail to understand how education can make their child a better individual and also help him earn much more in the future.
Human trafficking – There are also some people who kidnap orphan children or children from schools, sell them into the wrong hands and spoil the life of an innocent for little profit, such children are pushed into labor.
Out of greed – Some parents send their children to work from an early age, such parents use their children as the only source of income. They use their children to their advantage forgetting that education is their right.
Overpopulation – Poverty and unemployment are the main problems in a country with a large population like ours, due to which people are not able to get the work they need, and are unable to fulfil their normal needs. Hence, despite being educated, the whole family has to go to work. The government has already made many laws to deal with this type of problem.
Measures to prevent or eliminate child labor-
There are various measures to be taken to eliminate child labor, some of them are-
- Spreading awareness can help in removing child labor to a great extent. If someone sees a child under the age of 14 working, he must talk to his parents, and make them understand how wrong it is to make the child work at such an age.
- Education must be provided to the children of poor families free of cost. The reason why children of poor families do not go to school is that they cannot afford to go to school. Government should encourage free education programs for poor people.
- The advanced sections of society should understand not to waste the life of a child for little profit.
- Governments should make the laws related to child labor more strict.
Arina
BSc Biotechnology
IFTM University
