Understanding the Socio-Economic and Hygienic Status of Child Labourers in Nepal

Authors

  • Sunil Kumar Joshi Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kathmandu Medical College, Sinamangal, Kathmandu
  • S Shrestha Medical Officer, Bhimphedi Primary Health Centre, Makwanpur
  • R Shrestha Medical Officer, Kasthamandap Health Care Centre, Kathmandu
  • S Vaidya International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/nje.v1i3.5573

Keywords:

Child labour, Poverty, Earnings, Hygiene

Abstract

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.

Key words: Child labour; Poverty; Earnings; Hygiene pressure

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nje.v1i3.5573

Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 2011;1(3) 90-94

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Author Biography

Sunil Kumar Joshi, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kathmandu Medical College, Sinamangal, Kathmandu

 


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How to Cite

Joshi, S. K., Shrestha, S., Shrestha, R., & Vaidya, S. (2011). Understanding the Socio-Economic and Hygienic Status of Child Labourers in Nepal. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, 1(3), 90–94. https://doi.org/10.3126/nje.v1i3.5573

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 3 (2011)

Section

Original Articles

License

  • Upon acceptance Copyright on any research article is transferred in full to the Confederation of Epidemiological Associations (CEA) and International Nepal Epidemiological Association (INEA).  The copyright transfer includes the right to reproduce and distribute the article in any form of reproduction (printing, electronic media or any other form).
  • Articles in the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology are Open Access articles published under the Creative Commons CC BY License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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