. Background
Current policies and programmes tend to address separately the problems of women’s
employment and those of child labour. On the one hand, efforts to promote women’s
employment often do not go on to address related factors, such as how empowerment can lead
to more equal gender relations within the family, improved family welfare and, in particular,
children’s education and their protection from labour exploitation. On the other hand, whilst
long term measures to reduce child labour focus on the reduction of poverty through the
promotion of adult employment, there is still limited knowledge of the most effective means
to sustain family livelihoods once child labour is removed as a source of income.
2. Objectives
The current study was carried out to contribute, and build on existing knowledge of
the linkages between women’s employment, family welfare and child labour in Nepal.
Specifically, the study looked at the socio-economic background of 1,463 women workers
and their husbands; their work environment and working conditions; their level of
empowerment; the household division of labour, and the work status of their children.
3. Methodology
The study was funded by the Gender Promotion Programme (GENPROM) of the
International Labour Organization and carried out by NEW ERA, a research institution in
Nepal. A structured questionnaire prepared by GENPROM was used to collect information
and views from women workers. The survey interviewed 1,463 working mothers from seven
sectors: 200 garment workers, 205 carpet weavers, 250 pashmina weavers, 320 agricultural
workers, 80 tea plantation workers, 208 beedi workers and 200 domestic workers. The sectors
had been selected by GENPROM to represent a cross-section of women workers in Nepal.
Focus group discussions and informal interviews with knowledgeable persons were also
carried out to supplement information collected from the structured questionnaires, and also
to gain further insights into the issues and linkages.