Background
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child
labour as “work that deprives children of their childhood,
their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to
physical and mental development. The ILO has estimated
that in 2004, almost 218 million children (almost 1 in 7) aged
5-17 were involved in child labour worldwide, about 126
million under hazardous conditions. In Asian-Pacific region,
122 million children aged 5-14 were working as child
labourers. It is imperative to know why the children are
engaged in labour and what kind of effect child labour has in
their health, education as well as the economy of their
family.
Methods
This is a descriptive study which interviewed 313 child
labourers working in different industries. It specially tried to
assess the reasons why children joined the labour force,
their family demographics, education and their general
hygienic condition.
Results
83.4% of child labourers joined labour because of poverty,
36.1% of them earned less than thousand rupees a month.
23.6% of them come from a big family with more than eight
members. 30% (94) of them have not received even the
primary level of education. Their overall hygienic condition is
not satisfactory.
Conclusion
In Nepal, poverty is the most common cause of child labour
and child labourers do not have a good hygienic condition.