Week 2 Article Summary
Michelle Esfahani
Global Management
September 7, 2012
Mark Harvey

Article Analysis: India Proposes Ban on Child Labor The article chosen for analysis is about the child labor laws in India. Amy Kazmin wrote the article for the Washington Post in August of this year. This analysis will describe the problem in India, the previous laws passed, and if this current law will help children in India. India is known as an “emerging economic powerhouse” (Kazmin, 2012), and is also known to have impoverished children as part of the workforce. According to Kazmin, the number of children in the workforce was estimated in 2001 at 15 million, down to 5 million in 2009 according to Statistics Ministry. This is disputed by UNICEF, who estimates the number of children working under the age of 14 at 28 million. While the laws may help in theory, the enforcement of these laws is another story. A law was passed called the 1986 Child Labor Act, which banned children under 14 from working in any hazardous condition, and later amended in 2006 to include the employment of children in homes, restaurants, or tea stalls. In 2009, the Right to Education act was passed to guarantee all children between 5 and 14 to have the right to free-government education. The problem with these laws is that enforcement is difficult. Many families rely on the income children can earn just to live. It is believed that if a full ban on child labor is enforced, impoverished households would be even more impoverished, and artisanal skills may not be passed down. Another view by the wealthier population that hires children as servants is that they are providing a better life for the child, than what they would have at home. These laws are hard to enforce, but at least they are trying to help most children, especially those who are forced to work in hazardous