Latest modern slavery fight updates - FreedomUnited.org
Donate

Young Children Forced to Work Kilns with Parents in India

  • Published on
    September 20, 2017
  • News Source Image
  • Category:
    Child Slavery, Debt Bondage, Forced Labor, Human Trafficking, Supply Chain, Worker Empowerment
Hero Banner

Families working in Indian kilns insist that their children work alongside them in order to reach the quota needed to earn them a minimum wage. A Reuters article reported that about 80% of the young workers are between 5 and 14 years old. The children work 7 to 9 hours assisting their parents making 1,000 bricks daily.

The information was confirmed by Anti-Slavery International and Volunteers for Social Justice, saying, “In this system, only the bricks count, human beings don’t. If you don’t put children to work then you can’t complete the kind of production required to earn the minimum wages…. Child labor is incentivised.”

“There are at least 100,000 working brick kilns in India employing about 23 million workers, the report said, adding that one third of those living at the kilns are children.”

Children like Yashoda who is only 9-years-old would rather be reading or in school, but she must wake every morning at midnight to go to work with her dad.

Subscribe

Freedom United is interested in hearing from our community and welcomes relevant, informed comments, advice, and insights that advance the conversation around our campaigns and advocacy. We value inclusivity and respect within our community. To be approved, your comments should be civil.

stop icon A few things we do not tolerate: comments that promote discrimination, prejudice, racism, or xenophobia, as well as personal attacks or profanity. We screen submissions in order to create a space where the entire Freedom United community feels safe to express and exchange thoughtful opinions.

Notify of
guest
6 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Dr, Bijaya Sainju
7 years ago

The situation is same in the case of Nepal too…

Jeanet
Jeanet
7 years ago

Horrendous!

Eduardo Coronel Munguia
Eduardo Coronel Munguia
7 years ago

Los niños merecen libertad es su derecho

Eduardo Coronel Munguia
Eduardo Coronel Munguia
7 years ago

Deben dar livertad a los niños. Es su derecho

sohan
sohan
7 years ago

We noted this 40 years ago as children fill the brick moulds with mud and adults carty these to the kiln

This week

Starbucks sued over complicity in trafficking and forced labor of coffee workers in Brazil

On April 24, 2025, the advocacy group International Rights Advocates (IRA) filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Starbucks. The suit alleges that the global coffee giant knowingly profited from coffee harvested through forced labor in Brazil. Simultaneously, Coffee Watch submitted a petition to US Customs and Border Protection to block imports of coffee produced with forced labor. The case centers around eight Brazilian workers identified as

| Thursday April 24, 2025

Read more