Luke McKenna. "Child Labor Is Making a Disturbing Resurgence Around the World." businessinsider.com. Copyright 2012 Business Insider. Web. 26 February 2013.
There is a multitude of information necessary to know in order to obtain a better understanding of child labor. This page will illustrate many of these points.
What is considered an act of child labor?
Child labor is the employment of children in violation of statutes, that harms their health and strips them of their self-esteem. The employment of children is considered illegal when it breaks laws, gives the children no choice but to work, and/or places them in hazardous or abusive conditions (merriam-webster.com).
What are the most common causes of child labor?
Poverty and unemployment are the main factors in causing child labor. Children are often the last line of defense in an impoverished family, their parents and siblings relying on them to pay to get food, water, and clothing. Because so many people in the world are living in poverty (according to a UN study, about one fourth), there is much motivation for a poor child to join one of the illegal work-forces. Another cause is the lack of free schooling in developing nations. It is estimated that 75 million children are out of school, and with nothing to occupy their day and no hopes of becoming a learned adult, they turn to child labor then and there. Lastly, child labor is still going on because labor laws have become rarely enforced over the years. This becomes even more of a problem because of large corporations that use child labor, which engineer attacks on the organization of labor unions in order to hide their law breaking (University of Iowa Labor Center).
What physical health effects does child labor have on children?
Child labor heightens risk for many physical ailments and maladies. Some of these issues will affect them for the rest of their lives, such as overly accelerated skeletal growth, a premature development of body tissues, risk of hearing loss, unhealthily high rate of absorbing chemicals, a low tolerance for hot temperatures, and an unnaturally small build. Many children will have an unhealthful need for more food and rest (University of Iowa Labor Center). Child laborers have also been shown to have an increased risk for child mortality and morbidity, especially correlating with the diseases AIDS/HIV and Malaria (Roggero et al).
What mental health effects does child labor have on children?
If the physical health effects weren't enough, child labor also causes many mental issues. Examples of mental risks include "...aggression, misconduct, substance abuse, sleep deprivation, a likeliness to drop out of school, and lifelong trauma" (University of Iowa Labor Center). Mental health issues also include the destruction of a child's dignity and self-esteem by them feeling of little worth. This often comes about through abuse from employers and coworkers and economic pressure put on them by their family, especially if they are the only member of the family with an income. This will make them feel more like an economic tool more than a person and may alienate them from their family (Agbényiga).
Why are injury rates so high among child laborers?
Children get injured at work quite often due to three main reasons: their inexperience, lack of supervision, and hazardous conditions (University of Iowa Labor Center). In the US alone, 64,100 children were sent to the emergency room in a one year span (Nixon). One of the most dangerous environments for child laborers is agriculture. Many children working on farms are injured due to pesticide exposure, the use of dangerous machinery, and the long hours spent exposed to the sun and elements. Many of these children are also very young, starting as young as seven years of age (National Center for Farm-worker Health).
What is the connection between child labor and child abuse?
"Child abuse is the harm of children due to intentional human action. It is a purposeful attack on his/her well being" ("Child Labor and Child Abuse in Developing Countries"). There are four types of abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect. 57,000 children under 15 die per year due to abuse, and child laborers are often abused by their employers and/or coworkers. Helpless children are unable to defend themselves against adults who have been known to neglect children of food and rest during the work day. Child laborers are also frequently beaten if they are not working fast enough. Mental abuse is also common through threats and the destruction of their pride (uniteforsight.org).
Where is child labor most prevalent today?
There are three main areas where child labor is common; Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and, most of all, Asia. One of these nations is Indonesia, where child labor has become increasingly problematic in the fishing industry. These children are forced to work on dangerous fishing boats called jermals and in factories, where they have to prepare the fish to be sold in dangerous conditions. On top of this, they have to sleep in filthy metal shacks, and injuries often go untreated, leading to infection and, more times than not, death. In China, many children are illegally employed in factories, and kidnapping has become a large issue. Bangladesh has shown the most recent child labor problems. Over 6.6 million Bangladeshi children are employed in this third world country, which is bordered by India over land and by the Bay of Bengal over sea. The main problem there is children being enslaved and turned into domestic servants, waiting on their cruel master's needs ("The Story of Child Labor").
What do child laborers do?
Over half of child laborers are estimated to work in agriculture, with common jobs including picking the crops, fixing irrigation canals, climbing ladders, cultivating soil, and carrying heavy loads ("The Story of Child Labor"). Another job child laborers are used for is the military, where children are stripped of their innocence by being forced to harm and kill other human beings. The most common job for female child laborers is domestic service, where they are forced to clean, cook, and take care of children. Industrial work in factories is another common job. However, child mining is one of the more dangerous jobs.
Children work as young as six or seven, breaking rocks, washing, sieving, and carrying ore. Nine year old children work underground setting explosives and carrying loads. Mining operations involving child labor include:
-gold in Colombia
-charcoal in Brazil and El Salvador
-chrome in Zimbabwe
-diamonds in Cote d'Ivoire
-emeralds in Colombia
-coal in Mongolia
("Child Labor Public Education Project").
How does child labor affect a child's education?
Child labor has a deep and direct relationship with education. A 2004 investigation shows that child labor was a severe detriment to school attendance and attainment levels, and that many child laborers would or could not put their full effort into their education. Another study showed that, in Indonesia, a country that exemplifies how horrible child labor really is, 86.69% of child laborers would attend their job but not school. This is an issue because the passing of knowledge from adult to child is what leads to discoveries and new knowledge, and if this continues to go on Indonesia and many other nations may find themselves in a cultural and economical stagnation (Pitriyan).
What effect does child labor have on our global economy?
Child labor's effect on the world's economy is difficult to see currently. However, within fifteen years it will become increasingly evident. Fifteen years from now, 730 million new people will have joined the adult workforce. Among the child laborers who are in this group, the majority will be unhealthy or uneducated, rendering them unfit for many important professions. This is detrimental to our economy and society in general because important occupations that require a formal education may quite possibly go unfilled due to a lack of qualified candidates. Other jobs that may go unfilled are ones involving manual labor. This is because most child labors have become sickly or crippled, so there is a limited pool of people who can do these jobs. This could greatly threaten our economy in the future ("The Story of Child Labor").
Is child labor connected to poverty?
Child labor absolutely has a direct correlation with poverty later in life. This is because of the tendency of child laborers to become unemployed as adults, as discussed in the previous question. This likeliness to become impoverished is problematic because of its direct effect on society. Since most nations have funds to support their citizens in poverty, the unemployed former child laborers will be placing a financial burden on the inhabitants of this nation. With the rise of unemployed child laborers, taxes will also rise. There are over 200 million children in the world today, so even if just half of them become unemployed later in life, we may find ourselves in an astronomical financial stupor (Blunch et al).
What have child labor laws been like throughout the years?
The first laws against child labor were passed in 1802 by the British Parliament. It prevented the employment of children under nine in cotton mills. Germany was the next nation to place some restrictions on child labor in 1839. Although Massachusetts had outlawed child labor prior to this, in 1836, the United States is not recognized for this as very few states followed their example. At this time, the American Industrial Revolution was in full swing, a period of time when manufacturing was popularized in the United States during the 1800's and early 1900's (Solomon-McCarthy). 20% of children were employed at this time, and they were viewed by employers and the government as benefits to the economy due to their cheap wages. Child Labor was finally abolished nationwide in 1938, when the Supreme Court passed the Fair Labor Standings Act, which prevented the employment of hazardous work under 16 and the employment of other work under 14. (World Book Volume 3). Today, the employment of youths under 16 is prohibited except in special situations. In these situations there are limits on how long a youth may work, the times during the day in which they may work, and their wages. Hazardous work is strictly illegal without specific qualifications depending on which job this is ("Labor Laws").
What is child labor like in the United States
"'Child labor today is at a point where violations are greater than at any point during the 1930's,' said Jeffrey Newman of the National Child Labor Committee" (Nixon). In fact, during a nine year span, over 670 children were killed at their jobs in the US, as found by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Furthermore, NIOSH found that 64,100 children went to the emergency room in one year alone due to work-related injuries.There are an estimated 5 million children in the American workforce, most of them in the multi-billion dollar agriculture industry. This issue has gone on for so long due to the fact that the average business is estimated to be inspected for child labor once every 50 years. Inspectors spend only five percent of their time looking into child labor and abuse issues. Violations have a maximum penalty of $10,000 and are rarely enforced. Corruption is also prevalent in these laws. For example, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and Food Marketing Institution (FMI), two organizations known to use child labor, have given 1.3 million dollars to the Republican party in recent years, so many Republican politicians turn a blind eye on their crimes (Nixon).
How does child labor effect the family?
"Most child laborer's families are characterized by being low income, having limited access to land, and having no social protection" (DeBrenna L. Agbényiga). There is often an unhealthy relationship between child laborers and their families because of the strain they go through to support their families. They are pressured to be the person their parents and siblings have to rely on. This can often lead to the snapping of bonds, ripping a family apart because of the stress put on a young child to be the provider for the household. This further affects our community because one of these people could be a friend or neighbor, and we will give up our time or possibly our money to help this person ("Child Labor: Family Survival Strategies and Their Impact on Child Development- A Call to Action").
How are we working to end child labor?
In order to end child labor, unions in nations across the world have formed alliances to rid ourselves of this inhumanity. One method being used is helping to organize labor unions in third world countries in order to make it easier to investigate businesses and crack down on Child Labor. The ILO and other organizations are also appealing to large institutions, asking them to purchase products from only lawfully made products. This has been successful with many influential groups, such as the Olympic Organizing Committee and FIFA. Governments across the world are also trying to help end child labor by promoting free education to all youths. Lawsuits have been filed against corporations that use child labor in order to discourage this practice amongst all businesses, big and small. Most importantly, companies are now labeling products that are manufactured without the use of child labor. If we buy only these products, we can help to make a difference in our society and save the lives of millions of innocent children. (University of Iowa Labor Center.)