Child labour in Nepal

[5] The 2003/2004 Nepal Living Standards Survey Statistical Report Volume II[6] noted that the poorest consumption quintile has the highest percentage (18.7%) of child laborers who for more than 40 hours a week as compared with the rest of the consumption quintile.

[9] The ILO's definition of child labour does not include work done outside of school hours or assistance provided to family.

[11] The report indicated other industrial activities like mining and stone breaking, weaving, and domestic service.

Even though these children spend a significant amount of time working in the fields they are often not counted in national statistics as being economically active.

[15] They instigated the Nepalese Civil War in 1996 because the Nepali government refused to address social and economic injustices.

[16] During the Nepalese Civil War children worked as soldiers, sentries, spies, cooks, and porters.

[15] The carpet industry is one of the major sources of income in Nepal and children are seen as the inexpensive labour force behind it.

"Social Labelling" is the work of non-governmental organizations to inform consumers about the conditions that the rug was made in.

[18] Domestic labour for children in Nepal includes childcare, cooking, shopping, fetching water, and cleaning.

[7] Poverty is a major cause of child labour in Nepal and is often coupled with lack of education according to a study by Ersado (2005).

[7] This inequality persists to adulthood, as seen by Nepal's low score on the Gender-related Development Index (GDI).

[15] Even though schooling increases a child's future income, there is a low enrollment rate by poor families.

[25] This effect is seen in a study by Ray (2002)[22] found that increasing the labour market activity of a child negatively affects their schooling experience.

As working takes up time for children to go to school, rate of human capital accumulation is negatively affected.

[25] Nonetheless, a study by Ersado (2005) found that children in Nepal contribute about 7% of the household income, which is quite high compared to other developing countries.

[20] Given the seriousness of the issue of child labour in Nepal, there are thousands of Governmental Organizations and numerous international non-governmental organizations that work in Nepal to tackle the problem of child labour through improving educational standards.

[27] They also plan to assist the Government of Nepal to endorse a hazardous child labour list.

[29] The three programs they currently run involve children’s education, women’s empowerment, and sustainable agricultural development.

Young Nepali girl working in the fields of Nepal
Young girl working in the fields of Tansen, Nepal
Young girls working in the brick kilns of Nepal