Bonded Child Labour

When dealing with exploitative child labour, there are two main types of labour: bonded and non-bonded (In non-exploitative child labour, it is always non-bonded, or the work would no longer be non-exploitative).

Non-bonded:
Non-bonded child labour is child labour in which the child working is not working to pay off a debt that they or their family owe to the employer of the child. This does not mean that non-bonded child labour is good, however. Children may not be paying off a debt, but may still be “forced” to work for food and shelter in very poor conditions. Bonded child labour, though, may be considered the “worst” kind of child labour because the child can be physically forced to do the work to pay off their debt.

Bonded:
Bonded child labour is child labour in which, “a child (below 18 years of age as defined in the UNCRC) working against debt taken by himself/herself or his/her family members… without or with the child's consent, under conditions that restrain his/her freedom and development, making him/her vulnerable to physical and other forms of abuse and deprives him/her of his/her basic rights.” (This is also called debt bondage)

Bonded child labour is caused when a poor family needs money (for food, a sickness, etc.) to pay for something. If the family has enough to pay, there is no problem. When, however, the family does not have enough, they may need a loan. Employers of bonded labourers know how to take advantages of these situations. They will provide the family varying amounts of money (in India, for example, a place where bonded child labour abounds, these amounts are generally in the $15-$220 range) in exchange for the servitude of a child.

This child is then forced to work – whether they agree or not – for the employer until they work off the debt with their wages. Unfortunately, employers generally charge absurdly high interest rates and have low wages, so in many cases, the debt actually goes up instead of down. This can cause the child to work for many, many years – even until adulthood in some cases – before he/she is allowed to stop working. Often, these children transfer this debt to their children later on in life, continuing the cycle.