Migration of Working Children in Nepal
Author(s): B. Kumar B. Suwal K.P. Adhikari Y.B.Gurung
Increasing dependency on agriculture in Nepal has resulted in growing demand for labour and, in particular, child labour as an integral part of the family farming workforce. However, if the household economy is not able to absorb the children, they are pushed to migrate to work either as cheap agricultural wage labourers or domestic servants. The main objective of this study is to provide, for the first time, estimates of migrant child labourers and to examine the activities of the children by region of destination, occupation, age and gender. The study is based on the Migration and Employment Survey, published in 1996, carried out by the Central Department of Population Studies at Tribhuvan University. The sample design of the survey involves stratified multi-stage probability cluster sampling. The research identifies two types of migrant child labourers: those who move for economic reasons irrespective of occupation (type 1); and those who move for non-economic reasons but were already engaged in economic activities (type 2). Initially, the study demonstrates that the 15-17 years old age group is the most active group. Moreover, the rural-urban and urban-urban streams of migration are mostly made up of type 1 migrant child labourers. However, when looking at overall internal migration, type 2 migrant child workers are more represented than type 1. Concerning countries of destination, India receives the largest number of child labourers from Nepal. Secondly, in terms of educational status acquired at the place of origin, type 1 child labourers are more likely to migrate if they have primary, secondary or higher or secondary education. Thirdly, amongst educated children, more males than females tend to move from their place of origin, but the overall higher mobility of female children (10-17 years old) may be attributed to marriage-related migration. Finally, both types of child migrants experience occupational shifts after they leave home. Amongst type 1 migrant child labourers, there is major shift from agricultural to non-agricultural labour. However, with regard to the occupations of type 2 migrants, continuation of the same occupation before and after migration is found to be a common phenomenon.