Is Child Labor Efficient - Essay Example

Child Labor: The Moral Obligation of Society to Contain The Practice In a layman’s language, child labor is the use of minors to work for the purpose of pay. In many cases, the children work in unhygienic or inhumane circumstances on a full time basis. This serves in denying them an opportunity to spend their time at school. The purpose of this study is to analyze the main causes of child in some selected parts of the world and the effects of the practice. It aims to show the moral obligation that the society has to stop this evil. The main source for reference for this study is a 2003 World Bank endorsed report which provides facts about the practice. It also recommends possible interventions that can be taken by various stakeholders. One may ask whether  the responsibility of containing this evil be left only to governments. The main stakeholders such as employers, guardians, civil groups, labor authorities and governments have a mandate to collectively strategize on how to look and solve this issue once and for all. This is because if this does not happen the larger society will be in ruin as Larson (14) observes. Introduction Child labor is a nagging issue that is present in most developing countries. This is because of the fact that the policies and laws that govern labor are either too lenient or don’t exist at all. This can be traced back to the period when the world was in the Industrial revolution era according to Sailee Kale (1) who is a contributor to the issues that relate to labor. At this point in time, many industries were  constructed to manufacture commodities. Because the owners were keen to reduce the expenses that were originating from the inputs, they resolved to adopt cheap labor to maintain the desired profit levels. The main source for this labor was destitute children who could work for food and menial allowances. Such situations are reported by NGOs and the media on a daily basis in India and Africa where children toil the farms and manufacturing factories. The main cause of this situation as this study is going to highlight is poverty and ignorance. Faraaz Sidiqi a human labor consultant speaks widely on these issues and interventions that ought to be taken if the battle against child labor is to be won. Background Information According to Sidiqi (20) Africa and Asia account for more than 90% of the global child labor exploitation cases. This is because of the fact that they are developing at a unusually high rate. Countries in these regions have agriculture and industrial sectors as the backbone for their economies. The two sectors are labor intensive meaning that they demand a high recruitment of workers to carry out menial jobs. Labor costs take the largest fraction of input expenses in any industry hence a constant search for cheaper supply by the owners. The available option for such labor is the children who are an easy target since they may not be aware of their rights. In the report that was investigating the trends of child labor from 1993-2003 by the World Bank, 22% of all workers in Africa and 15% in Asia were children. This can be a staggering revelation especially at this age and time when the world stresses on education for the future generations. The children working on massive farms or dungeons of factories miss education. The other issue on why the situation is prevalent in today’s society is the policy framework that exists in the affected countries. The laws that dictate labor in those countries are either too vague or are not implementable at all by the authorities as the report shows (67). Therefore, the starting point for solving this problem is through a thorough scrutiny of the laws that dictate how children and labor issues relate. This paper will expound on other probable causes of child labor and its associated effects. Later on, there will be a comprehensive look at recommended practices to change the aspect of child related labor. Causes of Child Labor Poverty and Overpopulation The lack of basic amenities in some parts of the world is the main reason for child labor exploitations which Sailee(6) puts across. In his argument, he implies that the majority of people who seek such avenues for jobs are desperate for employment and financial empowerment. Because of the poor pay that parents receive in farms and factories, they opt to take their children along so as to increase the pay. Poverty means that these people may never have a voice to raise their grievances about their working conditions; hence they make a convenient target for exploitations by employers. On the other hand, overpopulation especially in key towns and cities places children at a vulnerable position for labor exploitations. Studies from time to time indicate that poorer people tend to have more children than the rich. This is a visible case in slum areas of cities around Asia and Africa where sights of street urchins are a common scenario as Burra (45) observes. It becomes almost impossible for the family to take care of these kids due to overpopulation, hence they find their way to the hard labor for survival. Corruption and Impunity It is surprising that countries where the laws that guard children rights exist, child labor exploitation is still in  existence. This is because of the fact that the rich owners corruptly entice the authorities with money and favors so as to sustain the cheap labor provided by these children. It is a leading cause of child exploitation especially on labor matters and governments may find it hard to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators. It is sad to note that most political leaders are also the economic leaders in these countries. They own considerable farms and industries that employ these children as McMillan observes (7). Because of the fact that they may want to protect their business interests, they opt to adopt poor policies that govern their labor laws. The victims of such circumstances are the children as they suffer more as they are voiceless. This trend is extremely high even in some developed countries such as China where minors reportedly work in quarries which deal with mining of coal and gold. This is a more complicated issue to deal with because any attempt to point fingers towards such economic powerhouses may not yield much fruit. Rapid rural-urban migration Many people migrate to the cities in search of a better life and opportunity than those on the villages. This is because of the hope they have in accessing better facilities such as hospitals, better schools, safer places and entertainment. Such factors have seen a massive urban influx of people from villages to towns and cities. Countries in regions of Southern Asia and Africa report the highest cases of child labor . Reports such as that of America-India Foundation (35) indicate that cases of minors also travelling to urban areas are on the increase. For survival purposes, they end up working in stores, markets or even factories. Ignorance and Lack of Rights Awareness Most of the parents and children working in such scenarios may not be aware that such situations breach their labor rights. The children are ignorant on the fact that it is against their right to work in such environment. This is because of the poor education and knowledge that they have. They lack awareness on what constitute children’s rights on labor matters. Therefore, they readily agree to sell’ off their children since they believe it is proper that they get money for survival. This is another difficult mental dimension that can not be reversed easily from the population. Countries that have many people committing such crimes have minimum civil education concerning the matter. In some countries, children especially females are denied the right to have proper education from the start by their families (Beverly 34) . This sets president for these kids to engage in heavy labor from an early age for the purposes of survival. Since they can not be able to secure proper employment, they end up poor and the cycle continues down to their children. Social-cultural factors In some cultures, the definition of employment revolves around permanency of a job hence a higher status in society. In India for instance children are sent off by their parents to work in farms in order to get not only financial progress but also social recognition as reported by Burra (45). Children are seen by their guardians as a source of livelihood for the families. The male children are an asset to the family unit while the female are considered as liabilities. This places the girls at a disadvantaged position because they are often used as a laborer in wheat and rice farms of the country by commercial farmers. Such factors contribute to the persistence of the problem because they tend to be complicated. With this in mind, civil societies have increased their efforts to curb the problem as it will be seen later by the report. The Consequences of child Labor Health Effects These children who   work for long hours often have go with minimal rest and  eat improper diet. This means that their fragility makes them exposed to a number of health issues. In most cases, the number of hours determines payment  prompting the children to skip meals or spend little on proper diet. In other cases, the children et are injured or permanently disabled especially when working in stores where manual labor is done. Children are  used to carry heavy loads from vehicles or to stores for acutely minimal pay as some reports indicate. It is only obvious that the minors working at these establishments do not have any medical cover. For some companies which have such covers, they may not forward the cases to insurance companies in the first place because that may expose their illegal practice to the public as noted by Baland and Robinson (147). These factors deny the children valuable life saving services. In the long run, the minors develop complications in their old age which include physiological diseases on their bodies. Other diseases that are likely to develop on these victims include chest and lung infections that emanate from the exposure of dust or fumes from these factories. Long term Unemployment This issue brought about from by the fact that these children seldom have the basic education and formal skills. This is because the time they ought to have spent in their youth attaining employable skills was used in menial jobs. As they get older, it becomes difficult to get formal employment or self employment because of their limited knowledge. This is an effect that child employment has on the victims which is not reversible because it causes permanent mental disability (America-India Foundation, 85). Unemployment for these people means that the cycle of poverty continues because their children will receive poor education and knowledge. Subsequently, their children   the same lifestyle of their parents had when growing up. This is the long term effect that children who get early employment are likely to face in their lifetime. In the same breath, the employment that these victims have bars them from joining labor unions because it is not permanent. It means that the rights of these people get continually trampled on without proper redress. Therefore, child labor is the worst from of labor because of the longevity of the effect on the children. Social Effect Children who are employed in these places at an early lack the social learning environment which may pose a serious problem in the long term (Larson, 12). They may never learn to cope well with the society because of the fact that they lack social experience from the start. Ultimately they leave their employment when the management finds that it can not pay them anymore to join the society. Since those who lack formal skills cannot find proper employment to feed their families, they may resolve to unprecedented ways of survival. Some of them become petty thieves and muggers in order to get food and upkeep. This is a serious insecurity booster for the whole society. Others become beggars and street dwellers because they lack proper housing in the cities. Because of these, many people suffer because of the activities which may be practiced by these people. On the other hand, the girls may opt to social vices such as prostitution because of the money. Such vices affect the general society because they contribute to the spread of diseases such as AIDs and other STDs. Underage prostitution is rampant in countries like India and Southern African states because of the child labor-related cases. Effect on the National Level The nation as a whole bears the brunt of child labor in several ways. These include, increased illiteracy levels amongst the people where a youthful population can not read or write.  There is a situation where innovation by these minds is not fully exploited by the system because of their limited skills. On the other hand, Sidiqi (1) notes that people with limited skills get underpaid meaning that the country’s taxation is limited. Because of this fact, the income par capita is low and consequently slowing down economic growth of the country. All these factors show that child labor is not a subject that is to be taken lightly because of the adverse effect that they have on the on the society. The following are the recommendations that have been cited by  major stakeholders to help address the issue. Recommendations The stakeholders who include parents, civil societies and government should develop strategies to increase the awareness of the effect of the minors’ labor as well as address what constitutes of child labor. The government ought to adopt strict policies  to safeguard the children  affected by the labor exploitations. To contain this matter Baland and Robinson (67) suggest that penalties which that include heavy fines and total closure of such establishments that practice child labor should be adopted. The government should improve the qualities of education by investing more to build schools in rural and impoverished areas to discourage children who are targets for labor. Involvement of civil societies and fund communities since they understand the law that talks about labor laws is also recommended by the reports . These organizations are also better placed to carry out research on the issue and offer decisive information. Conclusion This study has looked on various dynamics that surround the issue of early childhood labor. It has looked at several issues that make child labor a sensitive issue to deal with by offering a brief background on the same. An analysis of some of the causes of this practice has shown that poverty, rural urban migration constitutes the biggest contributors to child labor. As a consequence, the effects of these practices include poor health for the children, lack of proper education, long tem employments because of the menial skills stand so on. Ultimately, all the stakeholders have a mandate to strategize on how to look and solve this issue once and for all because of the effect that it posses to the society as a whole. Works Cited America-India Foundation. Locked Homes, Empty Schools, the Impact of Distress Seasonal Migration on the Rural Poor, New Delhi: Zubaan 2006. Print Baland, Jean-Marie and James A. Robinson “Is Child Labor Efficient?” Journal of Political Economy. 2000 .108(1), p 219. Print Burra Neera. “Child labor in India’s rural areas: A Special Focus on Migration, Agriculture, Mining and Brick Making”. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights 2009. 1(1) pp 1-35. Print Beverly, Grier. Child Labor and the State in Colonial Zimbabwe Johannesburg: Macmillan Publishers. 2005. p 77. Print Kale, Saiile. “Causes and Effects of Child Labor” Buzzle.com Articles, 2011. Web 17 April 2012 < http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-and-effects-of-child-labor.html > Larson, Desi and Schmitz, Catharine. Child Labor a Global View. Lewiston: Greenwood Publishing Group. 2004. Print McMillan, Margaret. “Child Labor and the Half-time system” Clarion Pamphlet, 2010 ed. 15, p 12. Print Siddiqi, Faraaz., and Patrinoz, Harry. “Child labor issues causes and interventions”. Human Capital Development and Operations Policy. 2003. 56(1) Pp 1-86. Print Read More