CHILDREN IN INDIA:
THE FACTS
HOW MANY THERE ARE
• Every year, an estimated 26 million children are born in India – more than the
current population of Australia.
THE DISAPPEARING GIRLS
• Girls are much more likely to be aborted or to simply disappear. Between
2000 and 2011, the number of children between ages zero and six declined
by 5.05 million, and girls accounted for 60 percent of this number.
• There are now 48 fewer girls per 1,000 boys than there were in 1981. This
decline is three times more severe in rural areas than it is in urban areas.
CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS
• India has made great progress in enrolling children in primary school. However, many children drop out. The number of pupils who reach the last grade
of primary school has risen from 62 percent in 1999 to 81 percent in 2002.
According to the latest figures, 78 percent of children complete a primary
education.
CHILD LABOR
• India has the largest number of child laborers under the age of 14 in the
world. Children are often forced to work for as many as 18 hours a day. They
suffer from malnutrition, impaired vision, and deformities from sitting long
hours in cramped and overcrowded workplaces.
• Child labor is connected to religious belief. About 12 percent of children from
households headed by Hindus are engaged in work, while the corresponding
figures for Muslim and Christian households are 10.8 percent and 7.4 percent
respectively.
CHILDREN WHO TURN TO CRIME
• 57 percent of juveniles involved in crime come from poor families whose
annual income is below 25,000 rupees (roughly U.S. $375).
• 18.1 percent of these children are illiterate; 37.8 percent have at least a
primary education; 31 percent have an education above primary but below
the secondary level, and only 13 percent have studied at the secondary level
or higher.
SOURCE:
CHILDREN IN INDIA 2012: A Statistical Appraisal
Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation
Government of India
19