Informal Economy and Legal Enforcement

The research process for my literature review focused primarily on child labor laws applicable to the formal economy. Much of the scholarship addressed the plight of those children unable to attend school because they were working in workshops or factories or whatever other establishment. The argument followed that it was a travesty these children were deprived of their basic right to an education. However, there was little mention of the children who were not attending school and not employed in the formal sector. For whatever reason, their condition was neither startling nor troubling enough to warrant being counted in the same statistic as the others.

            In her article “Crusading for Children in India’s Informal Economy,” Neera Burra draws attention to these children—to the children left out of the government’s protective arms. Many of these children were either working in the informal agricultural sector or if the children were not “directly working on production related work, they are engaged in supporting the ‘care economy’ so that their mothers can be freed up for wage employment” (Burra, 5201). For this latter group of children, a formal education was never an option because someone needed to stay home to take care of the younger children while the parents were working during the day. In their specific condition, these children would not be considered child laborers because they are working in their homes, in what is called ‘family work.’ As such, there would be no law prohibiting such household work, and no law compelling them to abandon that housework to attend school. Should these children too then be considered child laborers? Should the international community expand the definition of the child laborer?

            Which leads me to the second gap in the research for the literature review: enforcement of child labor laws and compulsory education requirements. Much of the child labor occurs outside the reach of the state apparatus in the most rural corners of the country. How would the state be able to force those children engaged in ‘family work’ to attend school? If the state does not consider the children laborers, then how would one ensure that their rights are respected?

            Furthermore, the state already faces enough trouble enforcing the labor laws in the formal economy. Burra notes that “wherever there are raids, either the employer has some advance information or if caught, out-of-court settlements between parents and employers takes place” (Burra, 5204). Conditions such as these reveal that parents are easily co-opted into the system by employers and often become part of the problem. If the problem and the proposed solutions are so bleak in the formal economy, how does one propose to make a more effective solution in the informal economy? Perhaps further research should examine not only the introduction of child labor laws, but also the subsequent enforcement of these laws. It’s not enough to simply say that children should not work and are entitled to a basic education. Both states and NGOs should work toward that end.

Burra, Neera. "Crusading for Children in India's Informal Economy." Economic and 
     Political Weekly 40, no. 49 (December 3, 2005): 5199-208.