PART ONE Child Labour: Definitions, Data and Misconceptions
A Global Definition of Child Labour
The upcoming blog series will explore the definitions of child labour, according to the International Labor Organisation (ILO), the data landscape of child labour and common misconceptions surrounding the topic. This first blog post will describe the definition of child labour and while somewhat complex, the delineations are integral to the rest of the series.
The concept of what child labour is and the perception of it can vary based on geography, culture, national legislation or personal opinion, but the ILO has developed a standard definition that can be applied in a global context. This is the definition that HACE adheres to and states that:
“The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that:
is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and/or
interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.”
ILO Conventions and Recommendations
The ILO has also introduced two main Conventions related to child labour. The goal of ILO Convention 138 on the minimum age is the effective abolition of child labour by requiring countries who ratify to:
1) establish a minimum age for entry into work or employment; and
2) establish national policies for the elimination of child labour.
ILO Convention 138 also sets the general minimum age for employment or work at 15 years old (13 years for light work; see Article 7 of C138) and the minimum age for hazardous work at 18 (16 under certain strict conditions). It offers the possibility of governments setting the general minimum age at 14 years old (12 for light work) where the “economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed” (see Article 2 of C138).
In addition, some forms of child labour have been classified, again by the ILO, as the “Worst Forms of Child Labour” (WFCL). This was defined by ILO Convention 182, which lists the following as WFCL:
“For the purposes of this Convention, the term the worst forms of child labour comprises:
(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;
(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.”
ILO Convention 182 was the first ILO Convention to be ratified across the world. According to the ILO, it was also the quickest Convention to spread globally, with the majority of ratifications happening within 3 years of its adoption in 1999.
Due to HACE’s vision of the sustainable eradication of child labour from corporate supply chains, the scope of our work mainly falls in to “(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.” Despite this, there are often cases of child labour in corporate supply chains that fall in to multiple categories of WFCL, as becoming involved in one form can lead to vulnerability of the child to another form.
Point (d) is further defined by the ILO in Recommendation R190, which states:
“In determining the types of work referred to under Article 3(d) of the Convention, and in identifying where they exist, consideration should be given, inter alia, to:
(a) work which exposes children to physical, psychological or sexual abuse;
(b) work underground, under water, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces;
(c) work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads;
(d) work in an unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose children to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging to their health;
(e) work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for long hours or during the night or work where the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer.”
In general, whether a child’s work is defined as child labour or is permissible work according to the ILO, depends on many factors, such as the child’s age, location, type of work, length of work, place of work and time of work.
PART TWO: The Data Landscape expected 5th December.