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Hidden Youth - The glass handcuffs of Firozabad - UP, India(35 images)
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'Hidden Youth' is a project documenting child labour in Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city' and located in Western Uttar Pradesh, about 40 Km from Agra, home of the iconic Taj Mahal.

A medium-size urban city, Firozabad is the largest centre for glass items production in India and it specialises in bangles, or bracelets, which are used as women's ornaments during and after...
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  • Labourers are producing glass bracelets used as women's ornaments during and after marriage, which are traded throughout India and internationally. After a major clean-up by the authorities in the industrial area of Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, child labour has been largely uprooted, but it continues unabated hidden inside the homes of slum dwellers on the outskirts of the city. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
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  • A labourer in a glass bracelets factory is pushing broken glass back into a furnace for it to be melted and reused. After a major clean-up by the authorities in the industrial area of Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, child labour has been largely uprooted, but it continues unabated hidden inside the homes of slum dwellers on the outskirts of the city. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A child is transporting unfinished glass bracelets from a house to another one on the road connecting two sections of the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family home in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, has been transformed into a small-scale workshop. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family home in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, has been transformed into a small-scale workshop where young boys and girls are aligning the ends of bracelets produced in coils by factories nearby. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family home in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, has been transformed into a small-scale workshop where young girls are decorating the bracelets produced in factories nearby. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family home in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, has been transformed into a small-scale where young girls are decorating the bracelets produced in factories nearby. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • The owner of a house transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, is showing a bundle of bracelets just painted by local children. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A young girl is decorating glass bracelets inside a house transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A young girl is decorating glass bracelets inside a house transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
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  • Chotte, 10, a child with serious sight and hearing difficulties and whose father died only a few months ago, is collecting bracelets to be painted into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. While his mother sells the bracelets on the street, he is employed for 10 Indian Rupees (0.20 EUR) a day in this house to carry on basic duties. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A mother (right) and her young daughter (left) are joining bracelets with the use of a gas flame inside their home, transformed into a small-scale workshop, in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A group of young women are decorating glass bracelets inside a house transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • Three brothers are painting bracelets inside their home, transformed into a small-scale workshop, in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A young boy is moving bundles of just painted glass bracelets inside a house transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family is decorating glass bracelets in front of their home transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family home in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, has been transformed into a small-scale workshop where a young girl is collecting and counting bracelets to be sent in bundles to other houses for further processing. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family home in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, has been transformed into a small-scale workshop where young boys and girls are aligning the ends of bracelets produced in coils by factories nearby. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family is decorating glass bracelets on their doorstep in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A mother is decorating glass bracelets while her young child is sleeping on the bed inside her home in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family is aligning glass bracelets inside their home transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A young girl is joining is joining bracelets with the use of a gas flame inside her home transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • Two young boys are decorating glass bracelets on their doorstep in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
    Hidden_Yout...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • A family is decorating glass bracelets in front of their home transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
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  • The owner of a house transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, is painting bundles of bracelets while a local boy is assisting him. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide. By photographer Alex Masi
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