Why Children?

Besides being paid low wages, children can be monitored and exploited easily. Also, children tend to remain with the master weavers for longer periods than adults. The reasons being trotted out to justify the employment of children are that "they learn a skill" and that "their fingers are nimble enough to make small, intricate designs faster than adults". Some parents, particularly from communities that are traditionally not weavers, believe that their children will learn a skill if they are sent to a "task master" at a tender age. But studies have proved that these beliefs are wrong.