CHILD LABOUR
Child labour is common in the Third World, where most children are required to make a contribution to the household economy. Child labour takes economy many forms from paid work in a factory and other types of wage labour such as street-vending to bonded labour in which a child must work to pay off a family debt. Child labourers are popular with employers, since they work long hours for low pay and are unable or unwilling to complain about poor conditions. Many work in hazardous activities such as brick-making, construction and mining, do not receive adequate nutrition or health care, and have little formal education (Box 24.6).
Child labour is a graphic representation of urban poverty and deprivation. The meagre earnings of children make a significant difference for impoverished families, and for many femaleheaded households the contribution of the first-. born is essential to family survival 26 In extreme cases, children may be sold into conditions little better than slavery. Child prostitution is an increasing problem in cities of Asia, in Bombay alone an estimated 100,000 are exploited in this way In most Third World cities there is a growing population of street children who have left home or have been abandoned. Legislative attempts to abandoned regulate child labour are largely ineffective, being almost impossible to enforce in cities where the mass of the population are engaged in a daily struggle to satisfy their basic needs.