ABSTRACT
The issue of child labour has become a controversial issue, not only among researchers and social activists, but also among the parents and the children themselves (Boyden, Ling and Myers 1998, Lieten and White 2001, Lieten 2002a). In the course of their upbringing many children work, and such work may be considered a healthy process of socialisation. But, especially in developing countries, quite a number of children are heavily exploited through their work and are unable to attend school. These conditions have led to a forceful demand for a total elimination of child labour. Total elimination is indeed an appropriate policy for exploitative and impairing forms of child labour, but we should not forget to differentiate between exploitative forms of child labour and work that does not hamper a child’s social, physical, and mental development.
