One of the worst places for child labor is China. According to Liu, the actual legal age to work in China is 16, but their laws are very lightly enforced. Even though their laws are lightly enforced, children in China are still pushed into working at a young age mostly because of their family’s poverty. Chinese child labor has taken the lives of thousands of young children after the child may have worked to many hours or may have been infected from toxic materials (Children Rights). The most common work that kids participating while doing child labor includes mostly agriculture, industrial work, and services (Children Rights). Chinese child labor has an enormous impact on children physically, mentally also, and deprives them of their
Carson,Scott Alan. “Chinese Sojourn Labor and the American Transcontinental Railroad.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics JITE J Inst Theor Econ 161.1 (2005): 80-102. Web
The novel Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys does an excellent job illustrating the troubling issue of child labor. The extent of child labor in a country is directly linked by the nature and extent of poverty within it. Child labor deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity. It is detrimental to physical and mental development. Today, there are an estimated 246 million child laborers around the globe. This irritating social issue is not only violates a nation’s minimum age laws , it also involves intolerable abuse, such as child slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor, and illicit activities. In Between Shades of Grey , Lina and her ten year old brother are unrightfully charged 25 years of labor at a work camp in Siberia. It prevented the children from going to school and used them to undermine labor standards. In the harsh winter and even worse living conditions, they watched their mother as she starved to death.
The way in which people work in the labor force and are managed has changed quite a big deal since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Prior to the Industrial Revolution many people worked on the land and worked at a pace that was applicable for them with no one looking over their shoulder to make sure work was being done. One of the biggest reasons for the changes to the industrial society pertains to the discipline and surveillance in the labor force. Some of the many changes that that occurred because of the how laborers worked and having a manager were: strikes, the ending to child labor, creation of the middle class, and new political ideology.
Throughout time children have worked myriad hours in hazardous workplaces in order to make a few cents to a few dollars. This is known as child labor, where children are risking their lives daily for money. Today child labor continues to exist all over the world and even in the United States where children pick fruits and vegetables in difficult conditions. According to the article, “What is Child Labor”; it states that roughly 215 million children around the world are working between the ages of 5 and 17 in harmful workplaces. Child labor continues to exist because many families live in poverty and with more working hands there is an increase in income. Other families take their children to work in the fields because they have no access to childcare and extra money is beneficial to buy basic needs. Although there are laws and regulations that protect children from child labor, stronger enforcement is required because child labor not only exploits children but also has detrimental effects on a child’s health, education, and the people of the nation.
What is Child Labor?Child Labor is work that harms children or keeps them from attending school. Around the world and in the U.S., growing gaps between rich and poor in recent decades have forced millions of young children out of school and into work. It is estimated that 215 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 are currently working under conditions that are considered illegal, hazardous, or extremely exploitative.1 Underage children work many different types of jobs that included commercial agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, mining, and domestic services. Some children were involved in illicit activities that included drug trade, prostitution, and other traumatic occupations that included serving as soldiers. Child Labor involved threatening children’s physical, mental, or emotional well- being. It involved intolerable abuse, such as slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor or illicit activities and prevented children from going to school.
Here many uneducated children, who do not have the financial resources to stay in school, migrate into big urban cities in search of jobs to make ends meet. The type of work that these young kids go and find are usually very labor intensive jobs such as textile, clothing, shoe, and toy manufacturing. Where they need little to no prior knowledge of working, and are put in long hours and very repetitive jobs. During my research I found that in China it is more common to see young girls working either in workshops or in the street, than it is for young boys. This is due to the fact that girls in China are not forced by their parents to complete their studies. The government of China does have laws and rules against the use of child labor in factories. There are special agencies that specifically go to each and every workshop or factory every year in search of child labor. The only problem with these laws and agencies is that they are not very enforcing. When an employer is caught using child labor, whether it is forced, excessive, or in hazardous conditions they are simply given a fine that they must pay to the government, and are forced to return the child home immediately. This causes for big private companies to simply keep hiring and hiring cheap child labor and only paying a fine without seriously facing the consequences. Employers usually also close their doors during the day, to not let any
A survey done every four years says that there has been less child labor in countries such as India and Morocco than in the United States (Barta and others). Some companies overseas have strict policies against child labor; for example, a toy factory in China will not accept children for work because they feel children should not be forced to do hard labor for any amount of money. On the opposing side, in some places child labor is a huge problem such as Africa and parts of Asia. For example, in Bangladesh several under 18 workers were found working in Rana Plaza and a 15 year old worker died in a factory accident in May, according to Kate O’Keeffe of the Wall Street Journal. O’ Keeffe also writes, “There is concern that child labor will go for the worse rather than for better, especially if Western economies rebound stronger.”
In terms of laws prohibiting child labor, 180 countries have ratified the Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, which prohibits all forms of child labor, including child trafficking, slavery, hazardous work, etc., yet child labor continues to happen in these countries. Other countries like India and Eritrea also need to be pressured and convinced to ratify this convention(ILO). This is not the only law prohibiting child labor, however. Globally, child labor before the age of 14 has basically been banned, but most countries do not enforce this rule or have exceptions to this
The child laborer can work in different fields. Some are engaged in agricultural labor, manufacturing, mining, domestic service, types of construction and also begging on the streets. Some are engaged in more dangerous conditions such as armed conflicts, commercial sexual exploitation, drug trafficking and also organized begging. These forms deprive children from freedom and human rights. Moreover, they certainly engender harmful effects. Children may receive no payment; they just take advantage of being fed and having a place where to sleep. They don’t have any protection in case they get sick or injured.
We are often unaware or pick to disregard the problem of child labor in sweatshops. However, even though most people are not conscious of this, it is a reality that many children are deprived of their childhood and are enforced to work. It has been estimated by the International Labor Organization (2013) that 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work in emerging countries. More than half of these child laborers are hired in Asia, others work in Africa and Latin America mostly.
Child Labor is not an isolated problem. The phenomenon of child labor is an effect of economic discrimination. In different parts of the world, at different stages of histories, laboring of child has been a part of economic life. More than 200 million children worldwide, some are as young as 4 and 5 years old, are slaves to the production line. These unfortunate children manufacture shoes, matches, clothing, rugs and countless other products that are flooding the American market and driving hard-working Americans out of jobs. These children worked long hours, were frequently beaten, and were paid a pittance. In 1979, a study shows more than 50 million children below the age of 16 were considered child labor (United Nation labors agency data). In 1998, according to the Campaign for Labor rights that is a NGO and United Nation Labor Agency, 250 million children around the world are working in farms, factories, and household. Some human rights experts indicate that there are as many as 400 million children under the age of 15 are performing forced labor either part or full-time under unsafe work environment. Based upon the needs of the situation, there are specific areas of the world where the practice of child labor is taking place. According to the journal written by Basu, Ashagrie gat...
Child labor is nothing new to the world. It has been a part of almost every society in recorded history. From ancient times, children have been a part of the economic survival of their families, particularly in industries like the farming and crafting industries. What remains confusing is the exact definition that separates child labor from just children doing work. Child labor is meant to define unfair, abusive work whereas work is an important part of the sculpting of most children. There is no question in society that some forms of labor are acceptable and some are not. Children may work without being abused and in many countries and even some American cultures, it is both necessary and integral that children perform some laborious duties. The line between work and child labor is most commonly drawn where normal tasks are replaced with exploitative tasks and children are expected to do things that go well beyond the borders of inhumane. An example of this overstepping the boundaries is the following text taken from an actual court case in 1833 following an investigation into the practice of child labor during the British industrial revolution:
Child labor has existed in almost every society throughout history, and although most nations have rid of this abusive practice, it still exists in many poor, third-world countries today. Child labor is the misuse and exploitation of children at work. Some children labor under harsh conditions, such as working long hours, receiving low to no wages, and being placed in unsafe environments. Today no society advocates child labor, however, it continues and according to the United Nations is a “growing evil” (Greene 9). Child labor not only prevents children from receiving an education, but the responsibility of supporting a family can cause long-term psychological and physical effects. Although many western activists are taking steps to regulate child labor, competition on the world market is slowing the reform process.
A young child dies from exhaustion, their limp body has been pushed to the very limit and they finally give in to death and another child has just become a statistic. This child was not even eleven years old. They had just completed their twenty hour day and then stumbled home 6 miles from where they were working. They saw their house in the distance which gave them hope to keep on walking. They dragged their feet towards the corner where they slept; their eyes are drooping not just from physical tiredness but from the pain of living this way. The last thing this little child saw was darkness, the last thing this weak child felt was coldness and the last thing this unfortunate child could do, was give up. At last this child is able to rest. This child was a victim of child labour. So, I ask you; is child labour morally right? I will argue that the exploitation of children is always wrong but that sometimes child labour is a necessary evil. I will also distinguish between child labour and child work.
Child labour continues to exist even after having many laws and regulations implemented to put an end to it. The problems that lead developing countries into the path of child labor and causing it to be problematic to re-direct their path are said to be the most common causes, including poverty, limited access to education, the repression of worker’s rights, laws an...