Chapter III Migrant Child Workers: Main Characteristics The chapter deals with the various socio, educational, locations, work related and other characteristics of the migrant child workers in order to understand the problems and prevalence of child labour. The perusal of data pertaining to migrant child workers presents very peculiar features. It has been noticed that they got deeply and widely involved in the various economic activities in the urban setting. The urban labour market for child workers has been deeply integrated with the rural areas of the country. The persons in the situation of general economic distress moves to the urban and other centers which provide the livelihood in the complete informal way but even such type of work becomes attractive in the particular setting of extremely low level of economic engagement back at home with the migrants. The availability of even informal work for the first round of migrants in the ultimate way generates the long chain of migrants and the continuous flow of migration. Keeping this in view, the chapter is divided into five main sections. The section first deals with the place of birth, gender and age profile of the migrant child workers. The section second deals with the social and religion wise distribution of the sampled migrant child workers. The section third is concerned with the family sizes and number of migrant child workers. The section fourth provides the information related to the place of stay and years of working of the migrant child workers. The last section provides the information related to the education of not only of the migrant child workers and but also of their parents both father and mother. 3. I Place of Birth and Age The place of birth exercises substantial control over the attainment of various things in life. Every place provides its own set of opportunities to the individuals. There are substantial gaps in the facilities available in the rural and urban areas. More over, the facilities available in the corresponding rural and urban areas vary across the various states of the country. A child born in a region endowed with better infrastructure and facilities has been supposed to progress more in life as compared 51
to the disadvantageous regions. The differentials in regional development over the period results into the perpetuation of various types of inequalities in the societies. More over, the differentials in socio-economic setting not only generate the inequalities but reproduce the new set of inequalities over the period. From the data presented in Table 3.1, it is clear that the place of birth of substantially large majority of migrant child workers falls in the rural areas. Out of 300 migrant child workers, as many as 237(79 per cent) were born in the villages of their respective states. The proportion of the migrant child workers born in the cities was just 21 per cent. It means the bulk of the supply of migrant child workers in the city of Chandigarh owes its existence to the rural areas of the country. It also indicates the dearth of employment opportunities and existence of livelihood problems in the rural economy. The push factors of the rural areas and pull factors of the urban areas are playing in such a manner which has been not only giving birth to the child labour but are also exacerbating the phenomenon of child labour. Table 3.1: Distribution of Migrant Child Workers According to their Place of Birth Place of Birth Number Per Cent Village 237 79.00 City 63 21.00 Table 3.2 shows that the children from large many states have been joining the work force in the city. The number of child labour supplying states turned out to be eleven. It implies that the city of Chandigarh, being prosperous and growing, has been acting as some sort of the nodal centre for the movement of labour in numerous forms not only for the neighboring but also from other states situated at a considerable distance. More over, the city has been emerging as the nodal point of the service oriented economic activities both in the formal and informal sectors. The construction sector in its modern form is in full swing in the city and near by towns and other places in the form of mushrooming of various colonies and apartments. The persons who had benefitted tremendously from the economic reforms have 52
settled in the city in a big way because the city being the hub of modern life style. The rich sections of society need large number of services at their door steps which generate the demand for labour. The rise in income beyond a particular level generates higher level of demand for the services. Table 3.2: Distribution of Migrant Child Workers According to their Native State Name of State Number Per Cent 1.Uttar Pradesh 171 57.00 2.Bihar 36 12.00 3.Orissa 3 1.00 4.J & K 3 1.00 5.Jharkhand 18 6.00 6.Haryana 27 9.00 7.Gujarat 3 1.00 8.Rajasthan 21 7.00 9.HP 12 4.00 10.MP 3 1.00 11.Punjab 3 1.00 The state of Uttar Pradesh constitutes the single largest category by having as much as 57 per cent (171 children) share in the total number of the cases of migrant child workers studied. It was followed by Bihar (12 per cent); Haryana (9 per cent); Rajasthan (7 per cent); Jharkhand (6 per cent); HP (4 per cent); and Gujarat, Orissa, J & K, Punjab, MP (1 per cent each). It means the bulk of the supply comes from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The collective share of these two states was around 69 per cent. It is important to state that the city of Chandigarh in fact lies in the green revolution area which has been attracting all sort of labour from the rest of the country for its emerging farm, non-farm and other associated sectors. It is to be noted that the state of Punjab attracts the huge amount of labour for its economic activities not only in the rural areas but also in the urban areas. The informal sector in the state in urban areas of the state depends considerably on the migrant labour. The migration in the state from the economically backward states started with the maturing of the green revolution during the 1970s. The rapid urbanization generates 53
the demand for labour in a significant way and consequently the migrant population filled the slot in a quick manner. All the urban centers both in Haryana and Punjab now contain large number of migrant workers. Thus, the city of Chandigarh being the most developed centre situated in these states too experienced the large quantity of migrant workers not only in the adult category but also in the form of child labour in numerous forms and modes. Table 3.3: Distribution of Migrant Child Workers according to the Age Age (years) Number Per Cent 6-8 years 60 20.00 9-11 years 96 32.00 12-14 years 144 48.00 The age wise distribution (Table 3.3) of migrant child workers shows that the largest of them fall in the age bracket of 12-14 years. The share of this age group was 48 per cent, i.e. 144 child workers. The next age group with large share was that of between 9-11 years. Its share was 32 per cent with 96 number of migrant child workers. The share of 6-8 years old was 20 per cent, 60 number of migrant child workers. It means the children between 12 and 14 years of the age group was more prone to fall in the child labour supply. At this age they may be more suitable to handle the various works as against the younger age group consisting of between 6 and 8 years. Further, the children when reach higher age group also acquire some experience as they start working at a very tender age. More over, children in the age group between 12 and 14 years become relatively more mature to handle the more types of works and business and trade oriented activities than that of very lower age group. The more proportion of this age group ultimately results in the entry of this age-cohort workers as adult labourers in the national labour force after few years. So, the process of transition of child labourers into adult labourers goes on in the system in its own way. The adult labourers of today may be the child workers of yester years. This is the natural phenomenon associated with child labour in the 54
situation of lack of institutional interventions to break up the vicious cycle of poverty, child labour, illiteracy, malnourishment, etc. Table 3.4: Distribution of Migrant Child Workers according to Sex Sex Number Per Cent Male Female Total 213 71.00 87 29.00 300 100.00 Further, out of the total studied migrant child workers (Table 3.4), as many as 213 (71 per cent) were males. The mail child workers were joining more of economic activities outside the household as compared to their female counterparts. The mail child workers could work during the odd hours and also take up more difficult activities and can stay away from families with little odds as compared to the female counter parts. The number of the female migrant child workers was found to be 87 (i.e. 29 per cent). This implies that the female children may be handling more of the household chores as compared to their male counter parts. Moreover, the female child workers, apart from direct household activities, has also been assigned the task of taking care of their younger siblings as the number of children in the poor families also is on the higher side. More over, when there emerged the livelihood constraint the families prefer to send their male children to far off places as girls are considered to be more unsafe and their movement is permitted by families only through trusted and close family networks. 3.2 Socio-Religious Profile The religion-wise distribution (Table 3.5) of the migrant child workers shows that the majority of them belong to the Hindu religion. The number of migrant child workers in this category was 202, i.e. 67.33 per cent. The next largest category was that of the Muslims, 73 children (24.33 per cent). The share of the rest of the religions was very negligible. The share of migrant child workers belonging to Sikh 55
religion was just one per cent. And, that of Christian it was two per cent. The proportion of migrant child workers belonging to other religions was found to be 5.33 per cent. This category consists of Buddhists and Parsi. This type of participation in child labour again goes well with the concentration of these two religious groups (Muslim and Hindu) in the under developed regions of the country in which general level of distress is disproportionately very high and wide spread. Table 3.5: Distribution of Migrant Child Workers according to Religion Religion Number Per Cent 1. Hindu 202 67.33 2. Muslim 73 24.33 3. Sikh 3 1.00 4. Christian 6 2.00 5. Others* 16 5.33 Note: * Consist of Buddhists, Parsi. The distribution of migrant child workers according to the social category (Table 3.6) provides very interesting details. The share of the migrant child workers who belongs to the General Category of the population was 60, which constitutes 20 per cent of the total studied cases. The largest majority belongs to the Backward Classes, viz. 114 child workers (38 per cent). The next largest group was that of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) which constitutes 22 per cent share followed by the Scheduled Castes (13 per cent). The STs as a group forms 5 per cent. It emerged that the child workers has direct relationship with the social and economic status of the various sections of the population. The overall social and economic backwardness of the sections of the population which belong to the scheduled castes and backward classes has been reflected also in their necessity to send children into various forms of labour in order to supplement the family income so as to sustain their livelihood. The state policy of extending some benefits to notified sections would be of little help when the migration process is very fast and usually the migrants are not recorded in any worthwhile manner. The vulnerability of the 56
families to various types of income shocks in the situation of lack of viable income from the economic acts of the adult members of the family has generated a vicious cycle in which poor households view their children as income earners rather than as consumption as is the case with rich households because they spend so much on the upbringing of their children. In case of poor household the present income is more preferred over the future income. In the situation of extreme distress the specific economic culture takes over the accepted norms and child labour too becomes a way of life which gets entrenched over the years. Table 3.6: Distribution of Migrant Child Workers according to Social Category Category Number Per Cent 1. General Category 2. Scheduled Castes 3. Backward Classes 4. OBC 5. ST 6. Others Total 3.3 Family Sizes and Child Workers 60 20.00 39 13.00 114 38.00 66 22.00 15 5.00 6 2.00 300 100.00 The size as well as the age composition of the families has strong relationship with the socio-economic status of the families. The rise in the economic status of the families resulted in the decline of the family sizes. It has happened across the social, economic and cultural settings all over the world. The pace and pattern of development directly affects the family sizes. The analysis of family sizes of the households which supply child labour proves it very amply. More over, even from the family sizes one can have fairly accurate idea about the family s economic and other status. The number of persons in the families of majority (62 per cent) of migrant child workers range between four and six (Table 3.7). The number varied between one and three in case of 29 per cent of migrant child workers. But in case of 27 cases (9 per cent), the number of family members was seven and above. It means 57
the family sizes of the migrant child workers are considerably on the higher side. This also indicate that these households are at that stage of population transition where the birth rates remained higher because they have not been impacted by the modern development in any worth while manner. This too indicates the higher level of population growth in regions which supply the child labour to the various urban centers in the country. Viewed in larger and national context, it throws much light on the interstate differences in the population growth as different states have been placed at different stages of population growth. Table 3.7: Size of Family of Migrant Child Workers Number of Persons Numbers Percent 1-3 family members 87 29.00 4-6 family members 186 62.00 7 & above family members 27 9.00 Another important feature of the surveyed respondents is related with the number of migrant child workers in their families. From the perspective of households a child labour can take many forms. The child may be working in the vicinity of the household and be living in the household before and after work. The child leaves the household and moves to far flung places and joined the labour force as the migrant child worker. The perusal of the data shows that in as many as 54 per cent of the families (Table 3.8) of the migrant child workers the number of migrant children per family was found to be one. The number of migrant child workers was more than one per family in case of 24 per cent migrant child workers. However, all children were found to be working in case of 22 per cent of families. It implies that large number of families from where come the migrant child workers depends exclusively on the child income in order to sustain the livelihood. The more proportion of younger population in the families in normal situation when child labour is not permitted means more proportion of consumption. But, when children have been used as income earners they partly or fully finance their day to day 58
consumption and families find it as easy option to get it moving in the situation of despair and hopelessness. Table 3.8: Number of Child Workers in the Family of Migrant Child Workers Number of Child workers Number Percent Only One MCW 162 54.00 More than One MCW 72 24.00 All Children are Working 66 22.00 3.4 Residence/Stay and Years of Working The population which faces the problem of proper residences or shelter is very serious in the country. This problem becomes extremely serious in case of the urban areas where the cost of land is very exorbitant. The migration of the large number of population from rural to urban areas has been resulting in urban slums in almost all of the towns and cities in the country. The proportion of slum population in some of the cities is extremely very large. The working population in the cities has been settling in the locations which are devoid of from all the amenities and services and are not fit for human living. From the Table 3.9 it clearly emerged that the majority of the migrant child workers stayed at the place which does not belong to their families or they can not claim them to be their own in any worth while sense of the term. For example, 44 per cent stayed at the rented accommodation and 29 per cent in some form of the tent houses. Those who stayed at the place of work their number is four per cent. And, those who share house with the relative their number were 15, i.e. 5 per cent. And, those who share house with the friend their proportion were 2 per cent. Just 16 per cent have some sort of own or family accommodation. Thus, it emerged that even the children has not only to work but has also to pay for the stay, which essentially is night shelter, in the form of rent. The migrant child workers have to suffer all the problems which are associated with staying with the strangers outside their parents. This affects considerably the behavioral patterns and 59
results in large number of emotional problems because the cases of child abuse are fairly common in such type of social settings. Table 3.9: Residence/Place of Stay of Migrant Child Worker Residence Number Percent 1. Workplace 12 04.00 2. Own Family House 48 16.00 3. Shared House with Relative 15 05.00 4. Shared House with Friend 06 02.00 5. Rented House 132 44.00 6. Tent House / Jhuggi 87 29.00 The migrant child workers have been found to be working in the city for a considerable period of time which is quite visible from the Table 3.10. The age of migrant child worker for the purpose of analysis has been taken as between six years and fourteen years. Out of surveyed 300 such cases of migrant child workers, as many as 89 (29.67 per cent) has been working as child laboureres from the last one year. And, those who were found to be working between five years and six years there number was 32, i.e. 10.67 per cent. The number of the rest of the categories was as follows: between four years and five years (15 per cent); between three years and four years (7 per cent); between two years and three years (25 per cent); between one year and two years (12.67per cent). It implies the some sort of deepening of the problem of migrant child workers and prevalence of child labour continuity. There has been the continuity of the work oriented supply of children in the city as 29.67 per cent of the surveyed children joined the labour force in the city during the last year. More over, data perusal also shows that the children have been joining the labour force consistently as they have been working for all the years of reported durations. The child labour is quite visible in the city in some of the occupations which involves working on self employment basis. Importantly, the last couple of years have seen enhanced efforts and policy pronouncements for removal of child labour through legislative measures and more efforts on compulsory schooling and initiation of more poverty removal schemes and employment 60
generation schemes but all these had not made the desired impact on the reduction of child labour. Table 3.10: Number of Years of Working by the Migrant Child Worker in the City categories Number Percentage Less than one year 89 29.67 1-2 years 38 12.67 2-3 years 75 25.00 3-4 years 21 7.00 4-5 years 45 15.00 5-6 years 32 10.67 3.5 Educational Attainments Education is being treated as the most critical factor in the well being of any individual, society, and community. It is the master key for availing of the higher levels of benefits from the material and other progress of the society which comes from the economic growth and technological progress. More over, education has been recognized as the key component in the human capital and that of human resource development in any society. Further, the well recognized demographic dividend depends upon the quality and quantity of education and training received by the different sections and different age groups of the society. The country has already extremely low level of mean years of schoolings and other education related indices. But, the data on the educational attainments of the migrant child workers (as given in Table 3.11) shows an extremely dismal situation. It is clear that the migrant child workers are essentially a group of illiterates and less educated persons. Out of the total surveyed, as many as 183 (61 per cent) were totally illiterate. The number of primary pass out was 84 (28 per cent). The number of those educated above primary but less than middle was 33, i.e. 11 per cent. Thus, the child work as an economic category thrives on the basis of the illiteracy of the persons involved as putting of children into schools would lead to their withdrawal from the active workforce and immediate loss of income to the family. This proves the fact that child labour and schooling are strongly related to 61
each other and are also treated as close counter parts. It is normally expected that a child would be either in the school for the purpose of study or in the labour force for the purpose of earning. The number of those who are neither in the schools nor in the work force are not that large and the matter of affordability come directly into the picture. Hence, the case of depriving off the eligible age children from the educational benefits is clearly their in the country. Table 3.11: Education Level of Migrant Child Workers before Migration Education Number Per Cent Illiterate 183 61.00 Primary 84 28.00 Above Primary But Below Middle 33 11.00 Total 300 100.00 The level of education of the parents is considered very important in the well being of their children. The country already has been facing the serious problem of first generation learners. In case of migrant child workers, it was found that they essentially belonged to the houses with negligible or very low level of education. They are no where near to what is called human capital. This becomes clear from the perusal of data in Tables 3.12 and 3.13. So far the education of fathers of migrant child workers is concerned, 255 (85 per cent) were completely illiterate. The primary pass outs comprise 24(8 per cent) in total. The middle pass-out was 3 in number. The persons with the matric degree were 12, i.e. 4 per cent. The situation of the mothers was still worse. As many as 291 (97 per cent) were illiterate. The number of primary, middle and matric were three each. Thus, there is no scope for in house process of learning as on the one side the parents are poor and on the other they are by and large not living with the migrant children. So, there exist strong relationship between the education level of parents and that of their wards. It has been happening there in the situation of lack of effectiveness of the public education system which is the only affordable system of education particularly in case of large majority of poor households in the country. 62
Otherwise, the houses which can afford have been sending their wards to privately operated schools which are now operating in large scale. The houses which supply child labour and that too in the form of migratory labour lack almost complete access to the education system what so ever have been created there in their vicinity. Thus, the problem of education of migrant child workers is very serious and big challenge for the policy planners as the children move from place to place in search of employment and are not living with their parents and if they happen to be living with their parents they being illiterate are not in a position to contribute in any meaningful to the educational development of their children. The contribution of home in the educational build up of the children is very crucial but is missing in the case of poor households. A vicious cycle consisting of poor households without any education base and large family sizes has got deepened over the generations with further dependence on child labour for livelihood and income earning on daily basis. Table 3.12: Father s Level of Education of Migrant Child Workers Education Number Per Cent Illiterate Primary Middle Matric Diploma Graduate Total 255 85.00 24 08.00 3 01.00 12 04.00 3 01.00 3 01.00 300 100.00 Table 3.13: Mother s Level of Education of Migrant Child Workers Education Number Per Cent Illiterate Primary Middle Matric Total 291 97.00 3 1.00 3 1.00 3 1.00 300 100.00 63
To sum up, it is clear that the place of birth of substantially large majority of migrant child workers falls in the rural areas of the country. The proportion of the migrant child workers born in the cities was comparatively on lower side. But, it is worth mentionable that the urban areas in the country now contain very large proportion of the population which lives below the poverty line. The concentration of poverty in urban areas has been posing its own sort of challenge to the very process of economic growth. The prevalence of the children working as laboureres in the city who are born in the rural areas of the far flung states indicates the linkages of the labour market for the supply and demand of children as workers. This has emerged as the harsh reality of the economy witnessing a very fast and high growth during the last about two decades or so. The children from large many states have joined the work force in the city. The state of Uttar Pradesh constitutes the single largest category followed by Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, HP, Gujarat, Orissa, J & K, Punjab, and M.P. The largest majority of migrant child workers fall in the age bracket of 12-14 years. Further, out of the total studied migrant child workers as many as 71 per cent were males and belong to the Hindu religion. The next largest category was that of the Muslims. The largest majority belongs to the Backward Classes. The next largest group was that of the Other Backward Classes (OBC), followed by the Scheduled Castes and STs. The number of persons in the families of the majority of migrant child workers range between four and six. The number varied between one and three in case of 29 per cent of the migrant child workers. The population which faces the problem of proper residences or shelter is very serious in the country. This problem becomes extremely serious in case of the urban areas. The natural concomitant of the existence and continuation of the child labour in urban areas is the formation of slums with all the accompanied problems. It clearly emerged that the majority of the migrant child workers stayed at the place which does not belong to their families or they can not claim them to be their. The children have not only to work but have also to pay for the stay, which essentially is night shelter, in the form of rent. The involvement of the children in labour and living in impersonal social environment seriously affects the psychological, social and cultural well being of the child. 64
The educational attainments of the migrant child workers show an extremely dismal situation. It is clear that the migrant child workers are essentially a group of illiterates and less educated persons. Out of the total surveyed, as many as 61 per cent were found to be totally illiterate. The number of primary pass out was just 28 per cent. The number of those educated above primary but less than middle was very low. Thus the first hypothesis of the study which states that the urban informal sector migrant child workers are essentially a group of illiterates stands true. The level of education of the parents is considered very important in the well being of their children. The country already has been facing the serious problem of first generation learners. In case of migrant child workers, it was found that they essentially belonged to the houses with negligible or very low level of education. Further, one can have fairly good idea about the quality of education received by the migrant child workers as learning levels were found to abysmally low across the country. Thus, a specific type of vicious cycle consisting of abject poverty, illiteracy, low and unstable incomes and dearth of worthwhile employment opportunities in the native places of the migrant child workers has intensified which could be made to change only with strong state intervention by proper and effective targeting of the children involved in the labour market. The leaving the question of removal of such types of problems solely to the market and high economic growth will in fact exacerbate it instead of solving it. The state has to create the necessary intervention and response mechanisms to solve the problem of child labour as it is not only the constitutional and statutory mandate but also a human duty to give proper environment to every child for the realization of ones true potential and worth. 65