Child labor seems so categorically wrong that it’s
difficult and almost inappropriate to criticize a law banning
it.
But a ban against child labor that was announced in India
earlier this week merits criticism.
On Tuesday, the Indian government passed legislation banning the
employment of children younger than 14 from working in restaurants,
tea shops, hotels and spas or as maids in domestic service.
Children within this age range make up about 3.6 percent of the
labor force in India, according to the Indian Embassy’s Web
site. About 13 million children work in India, and some estimates
put the number much higher. About 256,000 of those work in cafes
and hotels or as domestic servants.
The ban on labor for these 256,000 children, which is aimed at
taking them out of the labor force and putting them in school,
leaves one very big question ““ will they be able to survive
without work?
The Associated Press spoke to children in New Delhi earlier this
week, and it seems the answer to that question is no.
“As it is, I barely make enough to survive,”
12-year-old Dinesh Kumar told The Associated Press. “This
will be a bad blow. I don’t really know what I’ll
do.”
Kumar, who has been working at odd jobs since he moved to New
Delhi three years ago, is one of the hundreds of thousands of
children in India whose lives depend on their ability to work.
Rama Chandran, a 13-year-old, said he sends his family the money
he earns from working at an eatery in New Delhi.
“If I didn’t send money home, they would
starve,” he told The Associated Press.
Though it is heartbreaking that the situation in India dictates
that children must work to survive and that they are responsible
for supporting parents, grandparents and siblings, taking away the
option of working will only make life for these children more
difficult.
If enforced, the ban will push children into other sectors or
into underground labor, where they will continue to work anyway. If
the ban is sufficiently enforced, these children will simply go on
working but will be doing so illegally.
Though Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said firm action
would be taken against anyone violating the new law, India’s
history of child labor bans suggests child labor is not likely to
cease as a result of the new legislation.
India already has a ban against children working in hazardous
industries, including factories that produce incense sticks,
firecrackers and carpets, but the law has been ignored and tens of
thousands of children continue to work in those jobs.
Only now they are working illegally. Based on the situation for
those working illegally in the U.S., who usually work for less than
minimum wage, children in India are likely to see a decline in
wages.
This editorial could not conclude without again emphasizing that
child labor is terrible and that it is sad to think about children
having to work each day rather than attend school. But a ban on
child labor is not the way to approach the problem. It is a
superficial way to address a very deep and complicated problem, and
it likely won’t fix anything.
The problem of child labor in India is rooted in myriad complex
causes, primarily desperate poverty, and the problem can only
really be addressed by dealing with the economic problems that have
allowed child labor to flourish.
Before the Indian government tells these children they
can’t work, they must first set in place some sort of safety
net for them, so when they find themselves out of the workforce,
they will not also find themselves out on the streets.