Editing Child labour (section)

== By country ==
{{See also|List of countries by child labour rate}}[[File:Working children out of school vs Hours worked by children, OWID.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Working children out of school vs hours worked by children<ref>{{cite web |title=Working children out of school vs Hours worked by children |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/working-children-out-of-school-ages-7-14-vs-hours-worked-by-children-ages-7-14 |website=Our World in Data |access-date=5 March 2020}}</ref>]]

===Colonial empires===
Systematic use of child labour was commonplace in the colonies of European powers between 1650 and 1950. In Africa, colonial administrators encouraged traditional kin-ordered modes of production, that is hiring a household for work not just the adults. Millions of children worked in colonial agricultural plantations, mines and domestic service industries.<ref name="bass04">{{cite book|title=Child Labour in Sub-Saharan Africa|last=Bass |first=Loretta|year=2004|isbn=978-1588262868|pages=[https://archive.org/details/childlaborinsubs00lore/page/30 30–43]|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publications|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/childlaborinsubs00lore/page/30}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The World of Child Labour|first=Beverly |last=Grier |editor-first=Hugh |editor-last=Hindman|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|year=2009|pages=173–177|isbn=978-0-7656-1707-1}}</ref> Sophisticated schemes were promulgated where children in these colonies between the ages of 5 and 14 were hired as an apprentice without pay in exchange for learning a craft. A system of Pauper Apprenticeship came into practice in the 19th century where the colonial master neither needed the native parents' nor child's approval to assign a child to labour, away from parents, at a distant farm owned by a different colonial master.<ref>{{cite book|title=Masters, Servants, and Magistrates in Britain and the Empire, 1562-1955 (Studies in Legal History)|last=Hay|first=Douglas|year=2007|isbn=978-0807828779|pages=38–46|publisher= University of North Carolina Press}}</ref> Other schemes included 'earn-and-learn' programs where children would work and thereby learn. Britain for example passed a law, the so-called Masters and Servants Act of 1899, followed by Tax and Pass Law, to encourage child labour in colonies particularly in Africa. These laws offered the native people the legal ownership to some of the native land in exchange for making labour of wife and children available to colonial government's needs such as in farms and as ''picannins''.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}
[[File:Jakarta slumlife62.JPG|thumb|Child picking up trash in [[Jakarta]], [[Indonesia]].]]
Beyond laws, new taxes were imposed on colonies. One of these taxes was the [[tax per head|Head Tax]] in the [[British Empire|British]] and [[French colonial empire|French]] colonial empires. The tax was imposed on everyone older than 8 years, in some colonies. To pay these taxes and cover living expenses, children in colonial households had to work.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Child labour in the Gold Coast: the economics of work, education and the family in late-colonial Africa, c.1940-57|last=Lord|first=Jack |journal=The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth|volume=4|issue=1|year=2011|pages=88–115 |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/11595/1/Jack_Lord%2C_Child_Labor_in_the_Gold_Coast.pdf|doi=10.1353/hcy.2011.0005|s2cid=143683964}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Invisible Hands: Child Labour and the State in Colonial Zimbabwe by Beverly Grier (a review)|last=Wells|first=Karen|journal=The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth|volume=1|number=3|date=Fall 2008|pages=481–483 |doi= 10.1353/hcy.0.0025 |s2cid=144242016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Head Tax, Social Structure and Rural Incomes in Cameroun, 1922-1937|last=Guyer|first=Jane|s2cid=143600106|journal=Cahiers d'Études Africaines|volume=20 |issue=79|year=1980|pages=305–329|doi=10.3406/cea.1980.2338 |hdl=2144/40432|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

In southeast Asian colonies, such as Hong Kong, child labour such as the ''[[Mui tsai]]'' (妹仔), was rationalised as a cultural tradition and ignored by British authorities.<ref>{{cite book|title=Child slavery in Hong Kong: the mui tsai system|year=1930|author=Hugh Lyttleton Haslewood|publisher=Sheldon Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Theorizing the Chinese: The MUI TSAI controversy and construction of transnational chineseness in Hong Kong and British Malaya|last=Yuen|first=Karen|journal=New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies|volume=6|number=2|date=December 2004|pages=95–110 |url=http://www.nzasia.org.nz/downloads/NZJAS-Dec04/6_2_6.pdf|access-date=17 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805150302/http://www.nzasia.org.nz/downloads/NZJAS-Dec04/6_2_6.pdf |archive-date=5 August 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Dutch East India Company]] officials rationalised their child labour abuses with, "it is a way to save these children from a worse fate." Christian mission schools in regions stretching from Zambia to Nigeria too required work from children, and in exchange provided religious education, not [[secular education]].<ref name="bass04" /> Elsewhere, the Canadian Dominion Statutes in form of so-called Breaches of Contract Act, stipulated jail terms for uncooperative child workers.<ref>{{cite book|title=Masters, Servants, and Magistrates in Britain and the Empire, 1562-1955 (Studies in Legal History)|last=Hay|first=Douglas|year=2007|isbn=978-0807828779|pages=203–207|publisher= University of North Carolina Press}}</ref>

Proposals to regulate child labour began as early as 1786.<ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Steve Charnovitz |first=Steve |last=Charnovitz |title=Child Labour: What to do? |journal=Journal of Commerce |date=15 August 1996}}</ref>
[[File:SenegalHerder.jpg|thumb|Young [[shepherd]] in [[Senegal|Senegal.]]]]

=== Africa ===
{{main|Child labour in Africa}}
[[File:Kamerun children weaving.jpg|thumb|Child labour in the former German colony of [[Kamerun]], 1919]]
Children working at a young age has been a consistent theme throughout Africa. Many children began first working in the home to help their parents run the family farm.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=11}} Children in Africa today are often forced into exploitative labour due to family debt and other financial factors, leading to ongoing poverty.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=11}} Other types of domestic child labour include working in commercial [[plantation]]s, begging, and other sales such as boot shining.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=15}} In total, there is an estimated five million children who are currently working in the field of agriculture which steadily increases during the time of harvest. Along with 30% of children who are picking coffee, there are an estimated 25,000 school age children who work year round.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=16}}

[[File:Child labour in Shamwana Katanga, Congo.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Little girl carrying heavy items. Katanga region, DRC; Congo, Africa.]]
What industries children work in depends on whether they grew up in a [[rural area]] or an [[urban area]]. Children who were born in urban areas often found themselves working for street vendors, washing cars, helping in construction sites, weaving clothing, and sometimes even working as exotic dancers.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=15}} While children who grew up in rural areas would work on farms doing physical labour, working with animals, and selling crops.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=15}} Many children can also be found working in hazardous environments, with some using bare hands, stones and hammers to take apart [[Cathode-ray tube|CRT]]-based televisions and computer monitors.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.muntaka.com/children-of-agbogbloshie/|title=Urban Outcasts: Children of Agbogbloshie|last=Chasant|first=Muntaka|date=2020-02-17|website=MUNTAKA.COM|access-date=2020-02-17}}</ref> Of all the child workers, the most serious cases involved street children and trafficked children due to the physical and emotional abuse they endured by their employers.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=15}} To address the issue of child labour, the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child Act was implemented in 1959.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=12}} Yet due to poverty, lack of education and ignorance, the legal actions were not/are not wholly enforced or accepted in Africa.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=17}}

[[File:Against child labor.jpg|thumb|Young street vendors in [[Benin]]]]
Other legal factors that have been implemented to end and reduce child labour includes the global response that came into force in 1979 by the declaration of the International Year of the Child.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=17}} Along with the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations, these two declarations worked on many levels to eliminate child labour.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=17}} Although many actions have been taken to end this epidemic, child labour in Africa is still an issue today due to the unclear definition of adolescence and how much time is needed for children to engage in activities that are crucial for their development. Another issue that often comes into play is the link between what constitutes as child labour within the household due to the cultural acceptance of children helping run the family business.{{sfn|Agbu|2009|p=18}} In the end, there is a consistent challenge for the national government to strengthen its grip politically on child labour, and to increase education and awareness on the issue of children working below the legal age limit. With children playing an important role in the African economy, child labour still plays an important role for many in the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The incidence of child labour in Africa with empirical evidence from rural Ethiopia |url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/84748/1/zef_dp32.pdf}}</ref>

=== Australia ===
From European settlement in 1788, child convicts were occasionally sent to Australia where they were made to work. Child labour was not as excessive in Australia as in Britain. With a low population, agricultural productivity was higher and families did not face starvation as in established industrialised countries. Australia also did not have significant industry until the later part of the 20th century, when child labour laws and compulsory schooling had developed under the influence of Britain. From the 1870s, child labour was restricted by compulsory schooling.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

Child labour laws in Australia differ from state to state. Generally, children are allowed to work at any age, but restrictions exist for children under 15 years of age. These restrictions apply to work hours and the type of work that children can perform. In all states, children are obliged to attend school until a minimum leaving age, 15 years of age in all states except Tasmania and Queensland where the [[School-leaving age|leaving age]] is 17.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fairwork.gov.au/find-help-for/young-workers-and-students/what-age-can-i-start-work|title=Minimum working age|website=Fair Work Ombudsman}}</ref>

=== Brazil ===
{{main|Child labour in Brazil}}
[[File:Crianca Lixao 20080220 - Marcello Casal Jr. - Agencia Brasil.jpg|thumb|[[Child labour in Brazil]], leaving after collecting recyclables from a landfill]]

Child labour has been a consistent struggle for children in [[Brazil]] ever since Portuguese colonisation in the region began in 1500.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=419}} Work that many children took part in was not always visible, legal, or paid. Free or slave labour was a common occurrence for many youths and was a part of their everyday lives as they grew into adulthood.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=417}} Yet due to there being no clear definition of how to classify what a child or youth is, there has been little historical documentation of child labour during the colonial period. Due to this lack of documentation, it is hard to determine just how many children were used for what kinds of work before the nineteenth century.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=419}} The first documentation of child labour in Brazil occurred during the time of indigenous societies and slave labour where it was found that children were forcibly working on tasks that exceeded their emotional and physical limits.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=418}} Armando Dias, for example, died in November 1913 whilst still very young, a victim of an electric shock when entering the textile industry where he worked. Boys and girls were victims of industrial accidents on a daily basis.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=424}}

In Brazil, the minimum working age has been identified as fourteen due to constitutional amendments that passed in 1934, 1937, and 1946.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=428}} Yet due to a change in the [[dictatorship]] by the military in the 1980s, the minimum age restriction was reduced to twelve but was reviewed due to reports of dangerous and hazardous working conditions in 1988. This led to the minimum age being raised once again to 14. Another set of restrictions was passed in 1998 that restricted the kinds of work youth could partake in, such as work that was considered hazardous like running construction equipment, or certain kinds of factory work.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=428}} Although many steps were taken to reduce the risk and occurrence of child labour, there is still a high number of children and adolescents working under the age of fourteen in Brazil. It was not until recently in the 1980s that it was discovered that almost nine million children in Brazil were working illegally and not partaking in traditional childhood activities that help to develop important life experiences.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=429}}

Brazilian census data (PNAD, 1999) indicate that 2.55 million 10- to 14-year-olds were illegally holding jobs. They were joined by 3.7 million 15- to 17-year-olds and about 375,000 5- to 9-year-olds.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} Due to the raised age restriction of 14, at least half of the recorded young workers had been employed illegally, which led to many not being protected by important labour laws.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} Although substantial time has passed since the time of regulated child labour, there are still many children working illegally in Brazil. Many children are used by drug cartels to sell and carry drugs, guns, and other illegal substances because of their perception of innocence. This type of work that youth are taking part in is very dangerous due to the physical and psychological implications that come with these jobs. Yet despite the hazards that come with working with drug dealers, there has been an increase in this area of employment throughout the country.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=421}}

=== Britain ===
{{Main|Child labour in the British Industrial Revolution}}
Many factors played a role in Britain's long-term economic growth, such as the [[Industrial Revolution]] in the late 1700s and the prominent presence of child labour during the industrial age.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=121}} Children who worked at an early age were often not forced; but did so because they needed to help their family survive financially. Due to poor employment opportunities for many parents, sending their children to work on farms and in factories was a way to help feed and support the family.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=121}} Child labour first started to occur in England when household businesses were turned into local labour markets that mass-produced the once homemade goods. Because children often helped produce the goods out of their homes, working in a factory to make those same goods was a simple change for many of these youths.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=121}} Although there are many counts of children under the age of ten working for factories, the majority of children workers were between the ages of ten and fourteen.

Another factor that influenced child labour was the demographic changes that occurred in the eighteenth century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Honeyman |first1=Katrina |title=Child Workers in England, 1780-1820: Parish Apprentices and the Making of the Early Industrial Labour Force |date=2007 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-0-7546-6272-3 |page=3 }}</ref> By the end of the eighteenth century, 20 per cent of the population was made up of children between the ages of 5 and 14. Due to this substantial shift in available workers, and the development of the industrial revolution, children began to work earlier in life in companies outside of the home.{{sfn|Honeyman|2016|p=157}} Yet, even though there was an increase of child labour in factories such as cotton textiles, there were large numbers of children working in the field of [[agriculture]] and domestic production.{{sfn|Honeyman|2016|p=157}}

With so many children working, little or no schooling increased child illiteracy.{{sfn|Honeyman|2016|p=163}} More working class parents chose not to send their children to work. Economic changes — advancing technology, raised wages, more factory regulations — reduced number of child workers.{{sfn|Honeyman|2016|p=169}}

In 1933, [[England and Wales]] adopted legislation restricting the use of children under 14 in employment. The [[Children and Young Persons Act 1933]], defined the term ''child'' as anyone of compulsory school age (age sixteen). In general no child may be employed under the age of fifteen years, or fourteen years for light work.<ref>{{cite web |title=Children's Rights: United Kingdom (England and Wales) |url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/child-rights/uk.php |website=The Library of Congress |publisher=The Law Library of Congress |access-date=12 August 2019}}</ref>

=== Cambodia ===
{{Main|Child labour in Cambodia}}
[[File:Tonle Sap Siem Reap Cambodia Girl-begging-for-money-with-snake-01.jpg|thumb|A little girl making money for her family by posing with a snake in a water village of Tonle Sap Lake]]
Significant levels of child labour appear to be found in Cambodia.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |author=World Bank|date=March 2000|chapter=World Development Indicators 2000 |title=Open Kowledge Repository |doi=10.1596/0-8213-4553-2 |hdl=10986/13828 |isbn=978-0-8213-4553-5 |chapter-url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/13828}}</ref> In 1998, ILO estimated that 24.1% of children in Cambodia aged between 10 and 14 were economically active.<ref name=":12" /> Many of these children work long hours and Cambodia Human Development Report 2000 reported that approximately 65,000 children between the ages of 5 and 13 worked 25 hours a week and did not attend school.<ref>{{cite report |publisher=United Nations |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/cambodia-human-development-report-2000|title=Cambodia Human Development Report 2000 |website=Human Development Reports |date=January 2000|access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> There are also many initiative and policies put in place to decrease the prevalence of child labour such as the United States generalised system of preferences, the U.S.-Cambodia textile agreement, ILO Garment Sector Working Conditions Improvement Project, and ChildWise Tourism.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wells|first=Don|date=2007-06-27|title='Best Practice' in the Regulation of International Labor Standards: Lessons of the U.S.-Cambodia Textile Agreement |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228176587|journal=Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal|volume=27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tepelus|first=Camelia M.|date=2008|title=Social responsibility and innovation on trafficking and child sex tourism: Morphing of practice into sustainable tourism policies?|jstor=23745520|journal=Tourism and Hospitality Research|volume=8|issue=2 |pages=98–115|doi=10.1057/thr.2008.10|s2cid=153642347}}</ref>

=== Ecuador ===
[[File:Child Labor in Morona Santiago, Ecuador 1990.jpg|thumb|Child labour in a quarry, [[Ecuador]]]]
An Ecuadorean study published in 2006 found child labour to be one of the main environmental problems affecting children's health. It reported that over 800,000 children are working in Ecuador, where they are exposed to heavy metals and toxic chemicals and are subject to mental and physical stress and the insecurity caused by being at risk of work-related accidents. Minors performing agricultural work along with their parents help apply pesticides without wearing protective equipment.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harari |first1=R. |last2=Harari |first2=H. |title=Children's Environment and Health in Latin America: The Ecuadorian Case |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |date=1 September 2006 |volume=1076 |issue=1 |pages=660–677 |doi=10.1196/annals.1371.082 |pmid=17119244 |bibcode=2006NYASA1076..660H |s2cid=39554024 }}</ref>

=== India ===
{{main|Child labour in India}}
[[File:A girl drawing water from an irrigation well in India.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Working girl in India]]

In 2015, the country of India is home to the largest number of children who are working illegally in various industrial industries. Agriculture in India is the largest sector where many children work at early ages to help support their family.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=428}} Many of these children are forced to work at young ages due to many family factors such as unemployment, large families, poverty, and lack of parental education. This is often the major cause of the high rate of child labour in India.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=424}}

On 23 June 1757, the English East India Company defeated [[Siraj-ud-Daula]], the [[Nawab]] of Bengal, in the [[Battle of Plassey]]. The British thus became masters of east India (Bengal, Bihar, Orissa) – a prosperous region with a flourishing agriculture, industry and trade.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=421}} This led to many children being forced into labour due to the increasing need of cheap labour to produce large numbers of goods. Many multinationals often employed children because that they can be recruited for less pay, and have more endurance to utilise in factory environments.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=425}} Another reason many Indian children were hired was because they lack knowledge of their basic rights, they did not cause trouble or complain, and they were often more trustworthy. The innocence that comes with childhood was utilised to make a profit by many and was encouraged by the need for family income.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=425}}
[[File:Bangalore India Construction Child Labor Prohibited IMG 5245.jpg|thumb|A sign at a construction site in [[Bangalore]]:<br/>"Child labour prohibited"|300px]]
A variety of Indian social scientists as well as the [[non-governmental organisation]]s (NGOs) have done extensive research on the numeric figures of child labour found in India and determined that India contributes to one-third of Asia's child labour and one-fourth of the world's child labour.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=421}} Due to many children being illegally employed, the Indian government began to take extensive actions to reduce the number of children working, and to focus on the importance of facilitating the proper growth and development of children.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=421}} International influences help to encourage legal actions to be taken in India, such as the Geneva Declaration of the Right of Children Act was passed in 1924. This act was followed by [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights|The Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] in 1948 to which incorporated the basic human rights and needs of children for proper progression and growth in their younger years.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=426}} These international acts encouraged major changes to the workforce in India which occurred in 1986 when the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act was put into place. This act prohibited hiring children younger than the age of 14, and from working in hazardous conditions.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=421}}

Due to the increase of regulations and legal restrictions on child labour, there has been a 64 per cent decline in child labour from 1993 to 2005.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=422}} Although this is a great decrease in the country of India, there is still high numbers of children working in the rural areas of India. With 85 per cent of the child labour occurring in [[rural area]]s, and 15 per cent occurring in [[urban area]]s, there are still substantial areas of concern in the country of India.{{sfn|Lieten|Meerkerk|2011|p=422}}

India has legislation since 1986 which allows work by children in non-hazardous industry. In 2013, the Punjab and Haryana High Court gave a landmark order that directed that there shall be a total ban on the employment of children up to the age of 14 years, be it hazardous or non-hazardous industries. However, the Court ruled that a child can work with his or her family in family based trades/occupations, for the purpose of learning a new trade/craftsmanship or vocation.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

=== Iran ===
{{Main|Child labour in Iran}}
The phenomenon of children labour is one of the social issues of Iranian society, which has taken on serious and diverse dimensions over time. Researches and official and unofficial data show that this social damage is more common in big cities. Also, research data shows that most of the working children in Tehran province are related to [[Afghans in Iran|Afghan children]] who have immigrated to Iran legally or illegally.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Afghan Child Workers in Iran: Registered but still Trafficked |url=https://iranwire.com/en/features/67424/ |work=Iran Wire |date=8 August 2020 |first=Bagher |last=Ebrahimi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-06-01 |title=A report card: Iran and its Afghan children |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/gallery/2015/jun/01/a-report-card-iran-and-its-afghan-children |access-date=2023-12-07 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran needs more help to support Afghan refugees – UNHCR chief |url=https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/iran-needs-more-help-support-afghan-refugees-unhcr-chief |website=UNHCR |first=Gisella |last=Lomax |date=4 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=To be an Afghan child worker in Iran |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/to-be-an-afghan-child-worker-in-iran/ |website=Open Democracy |date=11 October 2021 |first1=Sahar |last1=Mousavi |first2=Ghazaal |last2=Bozorgmehr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Children of Afghan migrants in Iran |url=https://conference.iza.org/conference_files/AMM_2015/naghsh%20nejad_m9218.pdf |first=Maryam |last=Naghsh Nejad}}</ref>

[[Kameel Ahmady]], a [[social research]]er and winner of the Literature and Humanities award from the [[World Peace Foundation]], while emphasizing the fact that most of the children labour in [[Tehran province]] are Afghan children, along with his colleagues believes that with the continuation of Iran's economic crisis, the lack of proper mechanisms to manage and control the phenomenon and absence of legal working visa scheme for Afghan immigrants have caused this social harm to spread.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://japer.in/article/traces-of-childhood-exploitation-a-comprehensive-study-on-the-forms-of-child-labour-in-iran-ck8uxwz4tfv8wjj |title=Traces of Childhood Exploitation: A Comprehensive Study on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Child Labour in Iran, Paper presented at the 2th International Conferences on Economics and Social Sciences Hosted by The Polytechnic of Guarda PORTUGAL, pp. 145–167, August 27 – 28, 2022.|journal=Journal of Advanced Pharmacy Education and Research |date=20 February 2024 |volume=13 |issue=4–2023 |pages=57–64 |doi=10.51847/blnsUHGGhq |last1=Ahmady |first1=Kameel |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author-link=Kameel Ahmady |title=Gender differences in child labour: A systematic review of causes, forms, features and consequences, Paper presented at the 8th International Conferences on Economics and Social Sciences hosted by Cyprus Science University, Antalya, TURKEY, pp. 315–348, October 2022. |url=https://kameelahmady.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Gender-differences.pdf |journal=The 8th International Conferences on Economics and Social Sciences}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.ej-social.org/index.php/ejsocial/article/view/464 |last=Ahmady |first=Kameel |title=Exploitation and Exclusion: A Socio-Cultural Analysis of Child Labour in Iran, 2022, 13th Eurasian Conferences on Language and Social Sciences pp. 561– 583|journal=European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences |date=14 July 2023 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=13–25 |doi=10.24018/ejsocial.2023.3.4.464 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author-link=Kameel Ahmady |title=Violation: Child Labour Rights in Iran – Analysis and Solutions, 7th International Conference on Economics and Social Sciences, Cyprus Science University, 2022, pp. 91–115 |url=https://kameelahmady.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/7th-International-Conference-on-Economics-and-Social-Sciences-Cyprus-Science-University-of-Cypurs-.pdf |journal=7th International Conference on Economics and Social Sciences}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ahmady |first=Kameel |date=2021 |title=Traces of Exploitation in Childhood A Comprehensive Research on Forms, Causes and Consequences of Child Labour in Iran |publisher=Avaye Buf, Denmark}}</ref>

[[Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli]], the Minister of Interior at the time in August 2019, while analysing and describing the situation of working children in Tehran, said: "Reports show that street children live in poor conditions and are exploited." One thing that should be noted is that up to 80% of these children are non-Iranian. Considering that some of these children were Afghan nationals, we have raised the issue with the embassy of this country. If other institutions cooperate, we can take appropriate measures to organise street children, but if they do not cooperate. It has also been decided to issue arrest warrants for gangs exploiting children with the cooperation of the police force and the judicial system.<ref>{{Cite web |trans-title=Iran's Interior Minister: 80% of street children in Tehran are foreigners |date=28 July 2019 |url=https://parsi.euronews.com/2019/07/28/eighty-percent-of-the-child-labour-in-tehran-are-foreigners |language=fa |title=وزیر کشور ایران: ۸۰ درصد کودکان خیابانی در تهران خارجی هستند |website=EuroNews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |trans-title=Rahmani Fazli: 80% of street children in Tehran are foreigners |url=https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1398/05/06/2063570/%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%81%D8%B6%D9%84%DB%8C-80-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B5%D8%AF-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AE%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%DB%8C-%D9%87%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%AF |language=fa |title=رحمانی فضلی: ۸۰ درصد کودکان خیابانی در تهران از اتباع خارجی هستند |website=Tasnim News }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |trans-title=Rahmani Fazli's solution about street children |date=24 October 2017 |url=https://www.mashreghnews.ir/news/790255/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%AD%D9%84-%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%81%D8%B6%D9%84%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AE%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C |script-title=fa:راه حل رحمانی فضلی درباره کودکان خیابانی |website=Mashregh News |language=fa}}</ref>

In [[Isfahan province]], the Iranian Department of State Welfare (''behzisti'') keeps a database of the scanned retina irises of a number of working street kids, and have put "child friendly" measures in place to support them, reduce the social harm from their presence, and improve their quality of life.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-12 |script-title=fa:پذیرش ۳۱۹ کودک کار در اصفهان/تهیه بانک اطلاعاتی کودکان کار با دستگاه اسکن عنبیه - ایمنا |url=https://www.imna.ir/news/581184/%D9%BE%D8%B0%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B4-%DB%B3%DB%B1%DB%B9-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%81%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%87%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%DA%A9-%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%A7 |access-date=2022-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612164814/https://www.imna.ir/news/581184/%D9%BE%D8%B0%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B4-%DB%B3%DB%B1%DB%B9-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%81%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%87%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%DA%A9-%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%A7 |archive-date=12 June 2022 |language=fa |website=IMNA |trans-title=Admission of 319 working children in Isfahan: preparation of database of working children with iris scanning device}}</ref>

Only Tehran as of June 2023 has seventy thousand working children they also collect recycles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=۷۰هزار کودک کار و خیابان در تهران|url=https://www.irna.ir/news/85136661/%DB%B7%DB%B0-%D9%87%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%88-%D8%AE%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86 |access-date=3 April 2024 |website=www.irna.ir |date=11 June 2023 |language=fa |trans-title=70 thousand working and street children in Tehran}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-11 |title=ایران بیش از 70 هزار کودک کار دارد |url=https://farsi.alarabiya.net/2020/09/11/%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%DB%8C%D8%B4-%D8%A7%D8%B2-70-%D9%87%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AF |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=farsi.alarabiya.net |language=fa |trans-title=Iran has more than 70 thousand working children}}</ref>

As of July 2023 %15 of children are child labour, 8% do not have a residence. 10 per cent of children are not in school.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1402/05/08/2933327/%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9-%DA%AF%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%AF%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%AF-15%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B5%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%A9%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA |website=Tasnim News |title="کار کودک" گریبان‌گیر حدود ۱۵درصد از کودکان کشور است! |trans-title="Child labor" is a problem for about 15% of children in the country! |language=fa}}</ref>

===Ireland===
In post-colonial Ireland, the rate of child exploitation was extremely high as children were used as farm labourers once they were able to walk, these children were never paid for the labour that they carried out on the family farm. Children were wanted and desired in Ireland for the use of their labour on the family farm. Irish parents felt that it was the children's duty to carry out chores on the family farm.<ref>Curtin, Chris and Anthony Varley. 1984. ''Children and childhood in rural Ireland: a consideration of the ethnographic literature''. Culture and ideology in Ireland.</ref>

===Japan===
Though banned in modern Japan, ''shonenko'' (child labourers) were a feature of the Imperial era until its end in 1945. During [[World War II]] labour recruiting efforts targeted youths from [[Taiwan|Taiwan (Formosa)]], then a Japanese territory, with promises of educational opportunity. Though the target of 25,000 recruits was never reached, over 8,400 Taiwanese youths aged 12 to 14 relocated to Japan to help manufacture the [[Mitsubishi J2M|Mitsubishi J2M Raiden]] aircraft.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://therunagatesclub.blogspot.tw/2008/06/shonenko-taiwanese-boys-who-built.html|title=SHONENKO - the Taiwanese boys who built Mitsubishi aircraft as Japan's defences crumbled|website=therunagatesclub.blogspot.tw|date=18 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipixels.net/twff/shonenko-En.html|title=Shoneko (2006)|website=ipixels.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quietsummer.com/Emeraldhorizon/SBackgroundE.html|title=SHONENKO - BACKGROUND|website=www.quietsummer.com}}</ref>

===Pakistan===
{{Main|Child labour in Pakistan}}

===The Netherlands===
{{Main|Child labour in the Netherlands}}
[[Child labour in the Netherlands|Child labour]] existed in the Netherlands up to and through the Industrial Revolution. Laws governing child labour in factories were first passed in 1874, but child labour on farms continued to be the norm up until the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.netherlands-tourism.com/history-of-the-netherlands/|title=History of the Netherlands|last=M|first=Jan|website=Netherlands Tourism|date=23 October 2014|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-30}}</ref>

=== Soviet Union and successor states ===
Although formally banned since 1922, child labour was widespread in the [[Soviet Union]], mostly in the form of mandatory, [[unpaid work]] by schoolchildren on Saturdays and holidays. The students were used as a cheap, unqualified workforce on [[kolhoz|''kolhoz'' (collective farms)]] as well as in industry and forestry. The practice was formally called "work education".<ref>{{cite web |first=Svetlana |last=Stephenson |url=http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=child |title=Child Labour in the Russian Federation |date= June 2002 |publisher=International Labour Office |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060922003039/http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=child |archive-date=22 September 2006}}</ref>

From the 1950s on, the students were also used for unpaid work at schools, where they cleaned and performed repairs.<ref>{{cite web |author=Евгений Жирнов |url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/798328 |script-title=ru:Среднее и высшее самообслуживание |date=27 August 2007 |website=Kommersant |language=ru}}</ref> This practice has continued in the Russian Federation, where up to 21 days of the summer holidays is sometimes set aside for school works. By law, this is only allowed as part of specialised occupational training and with the students' and parents' permission, but those provisions are widely ignored.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://otvet.mail.ru/question/77019732|script-title=ru:Школьников заставляют работать в школьном участке в каникулах. 21 дней. Не платят. Нарушаются ли права?|website=otvet.mail.ru|date=26 June 2012 |language=ru}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}} In 2012 there was an accident near the city of [[Nalchik]] where a car killed several pupils cleaning up a highway shoulder during their "holiday work", as well as their teacher, who was supervising them.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lifenews.ru/news/89188 |script-title=ru:Водитель сбил 4 школьников в Кабардино-Балкарии |publisher=[[LifeNews]]|year=2012 |author=Ирина Десятниченко |language=ru |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120421032146/http://lifenews.ru/news/89188 |archive-date=21 April 2012}}</ref>

Out of former [[Soviet Union]] republics [[Uzbekistan]] continued and expanded the program of child labour on industrial scale to increase profits on the main source of [[Islam Karimov]]'s income, cotton harvesting. In September, when school normally starts, the classes are suspended and children are sent to cotton fields for work, where they are assigned daily quotas of 20 to 60&nbsp;kg of raw cotton they have to collect. This process is repeated in spring, when collected cotton needs to be hoed and weeded. In 2006 it is estimated that 2.7 million children were forced to work this way.<ref>{{cite book|title=Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty |author=[[Daron Acemoglu]], James Robinson |pages=loc. 6515–6529 (MOBI)}}</ref>

=== Switzerland ===
{{Main|Child labour in Switzerland}}

As in many other countries, [[child labour in Switzerland]] affected among the so-called ''[[Kaminfegerkinder]]'' ("chimney sweep children") and children working p.e. in spinning mills, factories and in agriculture in 19th-century Switzerland,<ref name="hds-kinderarbeit">{{cite web|url=http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D13909.php|title=Kinderabeit|publisher=HDS|last=Gull|first=Thomas|language=de|date=2008-10-13|access-date=2014-11-15}}</ref> but also to the 1960s so-called ''[[Verdingkinder]]'' (literally: "contract children" or "indentured child laborers") were children who were taken from their parents, often due to poverty or ''moral reasons'' – usually mothers being unmarried, very poor citizens, of [[Names of the Romani people|Gypsy]]–[[Yeniche people|Yeniche]] origin, so-called ''[[Kinder der Landstrasse]]'',<ref name="roger_sablonier_unizh-publikationen">{{cite web|url=http://www.hist.uzh.ch/fachbereiche/mittelalter/emeriti/sablonier/publikationen.html|title=Prof. Dr. Roger Sablonier, Publikationen|publisher=[[University of Zürich]], Historisches Seminar|language=de|access-date=2014-11-15}}</ref> etc. – and sent to live with new families, often poor farmers who needed cheap labour.<ref name="wiedergutmachungsinitiative">{{cite web|url=http://www.wiedergutmachung.ch/|title=Wiedergutmachungsinitiative|publisher=wiedergutmachung.ch|language=de|date=2014|access-date=2014-11-15|archive-date=11 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211171754/https://www.wiedergutmachung.ch/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

There were even ''Verdingkinder'' auctions where children were handed over to the farmer asking the least money from the authorities, thus securing cheap labour for his farm and relieving the authority from the financial burden of looking after the children. In the 1930s 20% of all agricultural labourers in the [[Canton of Bern]] were children below the age of 15. Swiss municipality guardianship authorities acted so, commonly tolerated by federal authorities, to the 1960s, not all of them of course, but usually communities affected of low taxes in some Swiss cantons<ref name="BBC" /> Swiss historian Marco Leuenberger investigated, that in 1930 there were some 35,000 indentured children, and between 1920 and 1970 more than 100,000 are believed to have been placed with families or homes. 10,000 ''Verdingkinder'' are still alive.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29765623|title=Switzerland's shame: The children used as cheap farm labour|work=BBC News|last=Puri|first=Kavita|date=2014-10-29|access-date=2014-11-15}}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/opinion/slaverys-shadow-on-switzerland.html?_r=0|title=Slavery's Shadow on Switzerland|newspaper=The New York Times|last=Wild|first=Tony|date=2014-11-10|access-date=2014-11-15}}</ref> Therefore, the so-called ''[[Wiedergutmachungsinitiative]]'' was started in April 2014. In April 2014 the collection of targeted at least authenticated 100,000 signatures of Swiss citizens has started, and still have to be collected to October 2015.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

=== United States ===
{{Main|Child labor in the United States}}

[[File:Missouri_Governor_Joseph_Folk_inspecting_child_laborers,_1906,_drawn_by_Marguerite_Martyn.jpg|thumb|right|[[Missouri]] Governor [[Joseph W. Folk]] inspecting child labourers in 1906 in an image drawn by journalist [[Marguerite Martyn]]]]
Child labour laws in the United States are found at the federal and state levels. The most sweeping federal law that restricts the employment and abuse of child workers is the [[Fair Labor Standards Act]] (FLSA). Child labour provisions under FLSA are designed to protect the educational opportunities of youth and prohibit their employment in jobs that are detrimental to their health and safety. FLSA restricts the hours that youth under 16 years of age can work and lists hazardous occupations too dangerous for young workers to perform.

Under the FLSA, for non-agricultural jobs, children under 14 may not be employed, children between 14 and 16 may be employed in allowed occupations during limited hours, and children between 16 and 17 may be employed for unlimited hours in non-hazardous occupations.<ref name="childlabor101">{{cite web |title=Child Labor Provision for Nonagricultural Occupations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act|url=http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/childlabor101.pdf|publisher=U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division|access-date=17 April 2012|date=July 2010}}</ref> A number of exceptions to these rules exist, such as for employment by parents, newspaper delivery, and child actors.<ref name="childlabor101"/> The regulations for agricultural employment are generally less strict.

States have varying laws covering youth employment. Each state has minimum requirements such as, earliest age a child may begin working, number of hours a child is allowed to be working during the day, number of hours a child is allowed to be worked during the week. The [[United States Department of Labor]] lists the minimum requirements for agricultural work in each state.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/agriemp2.htm|title = State child labor laws applicable to agricultural employment|date = December 2014|access-date = September 11, 2015|website = Wage and hour division|publisher = United States Department of Labor}}</ref> Where state law differs from federal law on child labour, the law with the more rigorous standard applies.<ref name="childlabor101"/>

Individual states have a wide range of restrictions on labour by minors, often requiring work permits for minors who are still enrolled in high school, limiting the times and hours that minors can work by age and imposing additional safety regulations.