There is a real danger that efforts to stop child labour may push children further into the invisible sector or onto streets creating worse problems for them. To even begin to solve child labour we need to get rid of the man cause, which is poverty. International financial institutions, like World Bank, have made child labour worse by demanding that countries with big loans cut public spending on schools, health care and job creation. These Structural Adjustment Programs have increased poverty and child labour. The World Bank needs to take the first step and take responsibility for undoing some of the damage they have caused.
Poor education is one of the main forces that are keeping child labour strong.
For education to become a solution to child labour, schools need to be close by, free and compulsory. It is easier to watch school attendance than to inspect factories and work shops. It is also easier to encourage parents to send their children to school than to forbid employers to employ children. Children need an education that is useful to them - they need to believe that their schooling will advance their lives instead ofjust preventing them from earning money. Most countries have laws against child labour and an increasing number of these countries are going to new lengths to enforce them.