How are people being affected?

Poverty & Child Labour

Poverty

Almost half of the world’s population (over 3 billion people) live on less than $2.50 per day and at least 80% of humanity live on less than $10 per day.

Poverty has a major affect on the lives of hundreds of millions of people throughout the world, especially in Africa and parts of Asia. The following statistics give an understanding of how grave the situation is becoming:

There are 2.2 billion children in the world and 1 billion (every second child) lives in poverty. Of the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:

  • 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
  • 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
  • 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)

Also there are 121 million children out of education worldwide.

A staggering 10.6 million children died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5, 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized and 15 million children are orphaned due to HIV/AIDS.

The following are statistics on the lack of water and sanitation.

  • Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
  • Also, 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.
  • Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
  • More than 660 million people without sanitation live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million on less than $1 a day.
  • Access to piped water into the household averages about 85% for the wealthiest 20% of the population, compared with 25% for the poorest 20%.
  • 1.8 billion people who have access to a water source within 1 kilometre, but not in their house or yard, consume around 20 litres per day. In the United Kingdom the average person uses more than 50 litres of water a day flushing toilets (where average daily water usage is about 150 litres a day. The highest average water use in the world is in the US, at 600 litres day.)
  • Some 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhoea.
  • The loss of 443 million school days each year from water-related illness.
  • Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.
  • Millions of women spend several hours a day just collecting water.
  • To these human costs can be added the massive economic waste associated with the water and sanitation deficit.… The costs associated with health spending, productivity losses and labour diversions … are greatest in some of the poorest countries. Sub-Saharan Africa loses about 5% of GDP, or some $28.4 billion annually, a figure that exceeds total aid flows and debt relief to the region in 2003.

http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats#src10

Child Labour

The above issues have led to a major problem of Child Labour in developing countries. Around 1 in every 6 children in the world today is involved in child labour, doing work that is damaging to their mental, physical and emotional development.

Almost 55% of the children of the world are working under trying and torturous circumstances. They are suffering. Their health is failing and a large number do not live to even see their adolescences, while still more do not live beyond their thirtieth birthday. This is a dreadful situation.

Below are some distressing statistics on Child Labour published in 2005:

  • 246 million children are child labourers.
  • 73 million working children are less than 10 years old.
  • No country is immune: There are 2.5 million working children in the developed economies, and another 2.5 million in transition economies.
  • Every year, 22,000 children die in work related accidents.
  • The largest number of working children – 127 million – aged 14 and under are in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of working children: nearly one-third of children age 14 and under (48 million children).
  • Among working children ages 5 to 14 in the world, 69% are employed in the agricultural sector, 9% are employed in the industrial sector and the remaining 22% are employed in the services sector.
  • 8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities.

(International Labour Organization, 2005) http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats#src11 http://www.childlabour.in/child-labour-statistics.htm

Whats Happening? » How are People Affected? » What Can We Do? »