Child domestic work

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Child domestic labour refers to situations where children under 18 years old are engaged to perform domestic tasks in the home of a third party or employer in a context within which they are exploited. Of the more than 200 million children working in the world^[1], a substantial percentage are child domestic workers.

[edit] Exploitation and the International Labour Organization

Children who perform domestic labour can easily become the victims of exploitation because they are often not visible to the outside world and it is particularly difficult to regulate any activities in private homes. Children who perform domestic labour are likely to be from very poor families or to be orphaned, to have have no effective social or legal protection, and to be either unaware of their rights or unable to exercise them. They may be exploited economically by being forced to work long hours with no time off. They may work for low wages or without payment. They are at risk of being deprived of the rights due to them as children in international law, such as the right to education, to play, to health,and protection from physical and mental abuse. Whenever such exploitation is extreme - for example, when it involves trafficking, slavery-like situations such as debt bondage, or work that is hazardous and harmful to a child's physical or mental health - it is considered one of the worst forms of child labour by the International Labour Organization^[2]. --Supermoishe (talk) 07:25, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Statistics

The International Labour Organization estimates that more girls under 16 are in domestic service than in any other category of work^{[citation needed]}. In many places, children are being paid under the minimum wage. In India, one company pays workers 5-10 cents an hour when minimum wage is 17 cents^{[citation needed]}. Also in the Middle East regions, children earn $7.00 an hour to spend at malls or whatever when in some parts of India, children earn 20 cents an hour for food^{[citation needed]}.