child labour
RESEARCH SUMMARY
CHILD L ABOUR IN INDIA
Economics of Child Labour
A case study of the glass bangle industry
BACKGROUND
Child Labour
The glass manufacturing industry in Ferozabad, Uttar Pradesh, produces bangles, utensils, bulbs, decorative articles etc. The glass industry has been classified as hazardous and the employment of child labour (children below age 14 years) in it is prohibited. However, available research and literature indicated that child labour was concentrated mainly in the production of glass bangles. At the time of the present study over 50,000 children were generally believed to be engaged in the hazardous glass bangle industry of Ferozabad. The process of manufacture of glass bangles is broken down into six separate stages and each stage is done by a separate specialized enterprise. At the first stage, the spring bangles are produced at a glass factory and it involves work at the furnace and handling, coloring, and shaping the molten glass into a spring form or rings. The subsequent processes like straightening, linking up the edges of the glass spirals, joining the edges, hardening them, cutting designs into them and coloring the bangles are done in separate stages by small informal sector enterprises using different tools like kerosene lamps, abrasive wheel, mud oven, and chemical colors for each of the processes. Unlike glass factories, these small informal sector enterprises are not registered and difficult to observe as they are often located inside households and in small alleys. Moreover, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 does not cover the informal sector.
OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY
The study aimed to document the extent of child labour, types of activities in which children are engaged, employment conditions , and the cost implications of eliminating child labour.
Data collection involved an enterprise survey. As the production process for glass bangles involves a number of
CHILD L ABOUR IN INDIA
Economics of Child Labour
A case study of the glass bangle industry
BACKGROUND
Child Labour
The glass manufacturing industry in Ferozabad, Uttar Pradesh, produces bangles, utensils, bulbs, decorative articles etc. The glass industry has been classified as hazardous and the employment of child labour (children below age 14 years) in it is prohibited. However, available research and literature indicated that child labour was concentrated mainly in the production of glass bangles. At the time of the present study over 50,000 children were generally believed to be engaged in the hazardous glass bangle industry of Ferozabad. The process of manufacture of glass bangles is broken down into six separate stages and each stage is done by a separate specialized enterprise. At the first stage, the spring bangles are produced at a glass factory and it involves work at the furnace and handling, coloring, and shaping the molten glass into a spring form or rings. The subsequent processes like straightening, linking up the edges of the glass spirals, joining the edges, hardening them, cutting designs into them and coloring the bangles are done in separate stages by small informal sector enterprises using different tools like kerosene lamps, abrasive wheel, mud oven, and chemical colors for each of the processes. Unlike glass factories, these small informal sector enterprises are not registered and difficult to observe as they are often located inside households and in small alleys. Moreover, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 does not cover the informal sector.
OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY
The study aimed to document the extent of child labour, types of activities in which children are engaged, employment conditions , and the cost implications of eliminating child labour.
Data collection involved an enterprise survey. As the production process for glass bangles involves a number of