Is It Difficult to Curb Child Labor - Essay Example

?Critically discuss why it has proved so difficult to curb child labour Introduction Child labour has become one of the major issues being faced by the international community, especially those concerned with international human rights. Children are valuable resources for most nations especially as they represent the future of most nations. In recent years, however, the child labour issue has grown into a significant problem in the world. This problem has also grown to more serious proportions with more children being involved in labour and exploitation. The issue of child labour is mostly seen in under developed and developing states, almost reaching alarming proportions. Even with the implementation of laws within the local and international setting seeking to manage and reduce child labour incidents, this issue has remained a major problem. This essay shall now critically discuss why it has proved difficult to curb the child labour problem. An overview of the child labour problem will first be presented followed by issues and challenges relating to child labour. Possible proposals and recommendations to curb child labour will also be presented in this essay. Body About 246 million children are said to be involved in child labour according to the UNICEF1. About 20% of these children also work under very dangerous, unhealthy, and unsafe conditions, including work in mines, work with chemicals in agriculture, and working with hazardous machines2. Cases of child labour are also very extensive, covering various countries, and being subjected to different conditions, including work in their own homes. A good majority of these children are in the agricultural setting. There are also millions of young female children working as household helpers, often open to exploitation as well as abuse. Millions more are exposed to unfavourable conditions as they are subjected to trafficking, debt payments, slavery, child soldiering3, and prostitution4. Estimates indicate how Asia and the Pacific area have the biggest number of child labourers as young as 5 years to 14 years. Sub-Saharan Africa has about 48 million child labourers with Latin America and the Caribbean having about 17.4 million child labourers5. Fifteen percent of children in the Middle East and North Africa are also working with about 2.5 million and 2.4 million children subjected to work for developing and developing states6. This problem will likely continue to escalate and worsen in the years following due to the current unfavourable conditions present in these countries where child labour statistics are high. Child labour is very much related to rural activities. In Pakistan for example, close to 70% of their working children are carrying out agricultural works7. The young boys would likely be involved than girls in child labour and the older children are often involved in paid work8. The issue with child labour relates to the impact on the welfare of the children and the impact of such issue on households. In India, courts ruled against the practice of employing children in factories to make fireworks, including other dangerous occupations9. This is the idea which supports majority of the policy discussions on child labour and is the basis for ILO Convention No. 13810. The favourable impact to the household on allowing child labour mostly relates to economic benefits and the decreased educational cost in not sending the child to school11. The main costs relating to child labour refers to the possibly decreased future wages of the child as he or she would enter into the adult workforce; as he or she has lower educational attainment, his or her work qualifications are compromised. There are specific accepted premises on child labour which should support the discussion. For one, it is very clear that child labour very much indicates poverty among households where children are living. In a review of studies which portray major negative relations between child labour and household income, such relationship is less relevant for the more progressive but still developing nations12. There is a negative relationship between the income of the household and child labour alongside a positive correlation between the income of the household and the school enrolment numbers; no relationship was observed in Peru13. It is difficult to curb the child labour practice because it is basically a problem which is embedded in the issue of poverty. For as long as poverty exists, child labouring and working would not ever be completely eradicated, no matter how strong the efforts of the government authorities are in preventing and reducing this problem. Poor households are likely to send their children to work and child labour would likely impact on poverty on the following generation as it would likely decrease the number of child enrolled to school14. This pattern between poverty and child labour is based on a vicious cycle of poverty where the children of the poor parents remain poor as they usually skip school in order to work. Such cycle is known as the poverty trap which affects generations of individuals with hardly any favourable developments for those affected15. It is important to understand the actual elements which can sometimes cause such trap. Child labour is also difficult to curb because of the imperfect financial systems, including investments made on human capital. In general, parents are very much aware of the implications of their children actually working. There are different perspectives on what would be considered appropriate levels of child labour and granting that the implications and costs of working children correlated with the favourable impact of education are not entirely known, this would mean that the general population is discounting the other elements relating to the society of well-learned individuals16. The costs relating to child labour include decreases pay as he or she would reach adult years due to the fact that she is less educated as compared to her non-working and more educated contemporaries. These implications are seen more into the future; in effect, in terms of cost-benefit assessment, the computed value relating to costs are estimated. In relation to absolute costs, higher rates of interest mean decreased discounted values in terms of cost. The favourable impact of child labour relates to current income for the child. Such benefits are immediately felt, without any discounting needed17. Based on a social perspective, it is beneficial to increase the hours of child labour and decrease hours in school to the point where the current computed value in terms of future costs for added child labour are managed by the present benefits for the child’s family. It may not necessarily appear that the favourable conditions in society is for child labour to be totally absent; this would likely be based on how productive child labour is, including the extent to which the child’s education would improve future results and income benefits, with future salaries being discounted18. Under these conditions, where the financial markets function well and no problems on agency are observed, parents may actually be making decisions better in terms of allowing their children to work and not letting them go to school. Even where parents are considered poor, they are also often given options in financing their children’s education. Such decisions are very much important. Such option however creates a dilemma for parents who have limited sources in financing their children’s education19. Under these conditions, parents often give up the future costs relating to child labour in relation to the current and early benefits of child labour. In cases where the family is poor, the costs of current returns from the child’s work are superior to potential higher wages for the child if he or she were allowed to study. Without sufficient access to the financial markets, there is also inadequate funding made for education, often prompting children from poor families to work. These children are also vulnerable to occasional shocks into their family and possibly work life, especially those children belonging to farming communities. With occasional shocks into the agricultural industry, there may be observed increases in attendance or decreased rates of child labour or vice versa20. Where families can secure good credit options, they would likely borrow in order to fill in their needs, and decrease the impact of occasional shocks to their financial situations. Under these conditions, the situation of the family would not be changed. However, this situation would not anymore be applicable if the family has no means to fill in its financial needs during times of transitory shocks. Poor households may sometimes be forced to choose between enrolling their children and be subjected to a continued decline in their economic conditions or to try to alleviate their family’s current financial status by letting their children work21. The option here is not simply presented under black and white conditions. There are other elements involved in the situation which has made it difficult for authorities to curb child labour practices. Jacoby and Skoufias further observed how school attendance among children going through financial issues has been observed in different Indian farming families22. Similar observations have also been made in Tanzanian families with greater impact seen among poor families with limited assets to use as collaterals for financing options23. In India, the court ruled against Panjab University and Children Homes run by the Department of Women and Children and the Observation Home for its unfavourable conditions for their children 6 to 14 years of age who were under their care. These conditions included long work hours and unsanitary living conditions24. Child labour has basically become a related symptom to poverty and is often observed in the national levels with country data indicating higher rates of child labour in poorer countries. In general, trends indicate 51% of variations for countries in relation to child labour. However, poverty is not the only cause for child labour with policy response mostly relating to poverty reduction sometimes being less successful25. Some variations in child labour may also not necessarily be explained with income and the financial markets. For different levels of income, it may be possible to observe differences in child labour. Other elements are sometimes clearly manifest. The changes in income, sometimes being dynamic in relation to levels of income are a related factor. The studies on child labour also indicate to different economic and related elements. Better quality and accessibility in schools are crucial as they impact on the general benefits from education and child labour, sometimes making both entities attractive and favourable to the family26. Where there are limited work opportunities for young adults entering the workforce following school, there may not be much motivation for families to send their children to school. Limited basic services may imply that children must take on a greater responsibility in relation to household chores and works. Where families are not aware of the favourable elements arising from education or where general attitudes are forgiving of child labour, the children would most likely be encouraged to work rather than go to school. Child labour is hardly an isolated problem which can be understood by evaluating financial conditions alone. Instead, child labour is an issue which is more or less a combination of different elements which cover various traditional policy standards27. As indicated by solutions in managing child labour during the Hague Global Child Conference of 2010, responses to this issue has required comprehensive and cross-agency applications which would address different issues28. While the social protection is an important aspect of the child labour issue, it is also crucial to note that social policies is just one aspect of the policies relating to child labour. Patterns have been observed more for poor countries where child labour has become prevalent. In Sudan, child labour for children in the poor families is eight times more than the child labour observed in the richer households and countries. In Congo, the disparity is at a factor of five, for Bolivia, a factor of four, and Ghana and Brazil, at a factor of three29. However, such strong link between income and child labour cannot necessarily be interpreted as proof for income alone being the factor causing child labour. This is because low income for some families is usually also combined with different elements which would eventually differentiate the poor families from the non-poor families, including qualities which can impact on the need to choose child labour. The families with low income for instance would likely be different from their non-poor neighbours mostly in relation to what basic services they can avail of, their educational attainment, their land ownership, and their employment status. All of these elements generally impact on decisions referring to child labour. Proof on the causal link between child labour and income mostly relates to the impact of income in terms of other household qualities which also would have an impact on the low income status. Country reports on child labour indicate that income has the biggest role in terms of establishing the number of child labourers even where qualities of communities and individuals are also considered. Country reports are based on different studies relating to data referring to the increasing number of studies evaluating episodic information to determine the impact of income in detecting child labour. Studies generally support the perspective that poverty causes families to consider child labour even if the result of such option may not be beneficial or even consistent. Data from Vietnam indicate that the expansion of income in majority of the households in the country also caused a major decrease in child labour30. However, a follow-up study showed that the impact of poverty reduction in causing the decline in child labour was not as substantial in the years which followed31. This indicates that although income is a crucial measure for the manifestation of child labour, it is not the only measure which is and which can be used. For South Africa, the number of child labourers was decreased and those going to school rose as families started benefitting from cash transfers32. This same trend was also observed in Ecuador with child labour decreasing as more cash transfers were observed33. In India, the increase in school attendance and the decrease in child labour were observed more in the rural regions where income was higher34. Studies also refer to the impact of increasing income on child labour as is observed for households which are very poor. In some studies already cited above, the most significant decrease in child labour statistics were seen for Vietnamese families which used to be near the poverty line that later experienced better incomes and an escape from their poor state. For Peru, Dammert discussed how the favourable response of child labour to different policy and income changes caused an expansion of options, followed by a decreased responsiveness to financial changes35. Hou’s study in Pakistan evaluating income improvements relating to a better economy also saw evidence on the differential impact on child labour in terms of income levels36. Related challenges which make it difficult to curb child labour include family size. For families in the under developed and developing countries, the size of families is considerable, sometimes including extended family members like grandparents, nephews, nieces, brothers and sisters. As such, the family is very much burdened by the considerable expenses allocated for family upkeep. Where the needs of the family overwhelm their income, the burden of earning more falls on children37. Alongside this challenge is the fact that parents do not have much interest in their children engaging in work. This is often seen in rural areas where the people are not exposed to different option in education. They are more concerned with the practicalities of life, including the fact that they consider education expensive and they need their children to help with the chores and other rural activities. The cycle of limited educational attainment and child labour is also a major challenge for many poorer households. As these poorer households have also not gone through higher levels of education, they are not properly informed about better options outside their usual rural living. Their children also go through a similar process in their education and their rural living. They believe that it is their duty to help out their parents in their farms, look for work where they can find it in order to help bring in more income. Their educational attainment is very low and they are not properly informed that they would have better options and better income if they would stay in school. Under these conditions, where the aspiration of the parents in terms of education is low, their children’s aspiration would also be within the similar levels. More than the families or households, the practices in communities also bring about difficulties in relation to the management of the child labour issue. Child labour is an accepted norm for some communities where the caste system is in place. In some parts of Africa and Asia, this caste system is a way of life ingrained in the fabric of the community. To these communities, they do not believe child labour is unlawful. They even believe that these children are better off than other children who do not work because they are earning for their family, able to survive better the daily demands of life38. They also believe that child labour is a modern concept which has been formulated without taking into consideration the contextual application and practices relating to children working or involved in labour for their family or for their personal survival. As such, the issue of child labour has yet to be settled in its proper place and in its acceptable conceptualization. Conclusion The issue of child labour has been difficult to curb because it is an issue which is very much anchored on poverty and poverty has always and will likely be a major problem for the world. Due to financial and economic difficulties, children are driven to work. Laws have been in place seeking to define and regulate child labour. Difficulties in implementation are very much apparent due to the financial and poverty dilemma of child labour. Poor educational status and community practices are also difficult to change, often leading to a worsening of the child labour issue. For developing countries, child labour remains major issues and challenges in its resolution are founded on the poor implementation of child labour cases as well as the low educational attainment for most of these poor families and households. More efforts are needed on the part of the communities and the international community and lawmakers in order to adequately resolve this issue, including its causes and its consequences. Bibliography Cases Flomo v. Firestone Natural Rubber Co, (2011) 43 F.3d 1013 (7th Cir. 2011) Hemant Goswami vs. Union of India (2009) CWP 2693/9968 (2010) Mehta v. 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