What are the root causes of child labour?
The root causes of child labour are not simply economic, poverty is just one factor. Other causes include inequality, lack of educational opportunities, lack of decent work for adults, economies strongly dependant on agriculture, slow demographic transition, consumerism, and the impact of tradition and culture. In some cases the problem is aggravated by rapid migration from rural to urban areas and from poorer countries to more advanced economies. The role of the child within the family, parental and community attitudes to the child, and especially the role of girls in the family, manipulation of the market by unscrupulous employers – all these contribute to child labour, as do factors that increase a child’s vulnerability to exploitation, such as armed conflicts or natural disasters. Age, gender, ethnicity, social class and deprivation all interact to affect the type and intensity of work that children perform, as well as whether they work or not. Lack of adequate policies in the coun
