Abstract
Globalization should be beneficial in the long term. Developing countries through increased FDI and better access to world markets, should boost their exports, benefit from advanced techniques and skills, improved productivity, and increased number of productive jobs in the modern sector of the economy. With the increased rate of investment, MNCs are expected to rapidly increase the rate of jobs as compared to their relatively few jobs at present. Thus, income levels would also improve and would release economic pressure from poor families to depute their children to labor. Globalization should reduce the incidence of child labor in developing countries in the long run. Most child laborers come from poor families in South Asia like in other parts of the world. However, poverty is not the only reason children work, nor it is as central as many people think. Recent studies that examined the poverty role in child labor revealed that factors, such as education being low on the parents' priority list, especially in case of girls, and low standard education systems contribute equally to child labor, instead the poverty alone. Poor parent, illiteracy, socio-economic scenarios, poor education infrastructure, low awareness levels, high percentage of adult unemployment and under-employment are amongst the child labor generating factors. Perception of an early adulthood in South Asia also influences increased child labor. Expecting children of 10 years age to equate with adults in physical performance is another influential factor in many countries. Agriculture, child domestic labor (CDL), debt bondage, hazardous and export industries, child trafficking, and informal sector are some common platforms for child labor in South Asia. About 7.2% of South Asian children between 5 to 14 years are laborers. On the basis of officially available statistics, it is estimated that in South Asia out of a total of 300 million children, aged between 5 to 14 years, 21.6 million children are laborers. In Bangladesh, out of 35.06 million children (5-14 years), 5.05 million children are working. Similarly in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, out of 210, 6.23, 40, and 3.18 million children, 11.2, 1.66, 3.3 and 0.48 million children are working respectively
Imran Naseem,. (2008) Globalization & Child Labour Situation in South Asia, The Dialogue, Volume 3, Issue 4.
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