The Occurrence of Child Labor - Essay Example

31 July 2008 Child labor remains to be one of the most controversial social issues of today. According to the "Global Child Labor Trends of 2006”, an estimated 218 million children are subjected to labor worldwide in 2006, with the Asia and Pacific countries having the largest number of children working at an estimated 122 million children. (Hagemann et. al. page 1 http://www.ilo.org/ipec/lang--en/index.htm) More often than not, the workplaces where children are exposed to are very dangerous environments. In Brazil, children around the ages of 9 to 15 years work in sisal farms where they cut, pile and haul leaves of the plants for the production of rugs, rope and other things. Many children along with their parents suffered life-threatening injuries – punctured eyeballs, scarred legs and missing limbs – from the sharp blades and machines in the field. (Buckley para. 1, 2 http://www.commondreams.org/views/031600-102.htm) Several child laborers experience harsh living conditions. They are locked, sometimes chained, in crowded rooms for long hours like prisoners. Many develop illnesses and diseases like silicosis and tuberculosis. Some are kidnapped and later sold to flesh traders as slaves. Employers at times abuse the children by beating them, branding them with hot irons like livestock, torture them, or deprive them of food. In worst cases, they get killed while at work. (Kalmes para. 6 http://www.ilstu.edu/~jnassar/child.html) Probably the major cause of child labor in some, if not all, of the countries is poverty and underdevelopment. Child labor makes it a necessity for economic advancement. Another problem is the differences in culture. For example, some Hindi societies have a natural division of labor called castes, and because children are better at tasks that need little to no experience, they are deprived of schooling and are made to work instead. Furthermore, putting a stop to child labor does not assure a better life for the child. These children, and their families, work to live. This circumstance might push them to enter dangerous jobs. (Kalmes para. 3 http://www.ilstu.edu/~jnassar/child.html). One of the causes of child labor may be in relation to the global market. Third World countries prefer to use child labor to fit their economies. Because of globalization and the growing economic condition worldwide, the demand for exports in the developing countries increased. To provide an adequate supply for that demand, however, these countries have opted to find cheap labor to cut production costs, and this means using child labor. In a number of Western establishments, for example, they cut labor costs by sending their unfinished products abroad for cheap laborers, namely children, to construct. In spite of this, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) makes banning products merely because they were made by child laborers illegal for any country. This, in turn, lets employers exploit the destitute children for work. (Kalmes para. 5 http://www.ilstu.edu/~jnassar/child.html) The governments’ need to gain more profit, then, had an effect in the use of children at work. For instance, when the Indian economic policy came under the control of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1991, the government cut down on social spending – these including funding for food, health, and education – and focused more on exporting. This is in relation to Kalmes’ claim that a rise in exports also gave rise to the demand of cheap labor. Although it is not the IMF’s fault that there is child labor, economic policies aggravated its use in export industries. (Prashad para. 12 http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com) A common argument in the child labor issue is that foreign trade and globalization increases the instance of exploiting the use of children when the demand for goods made by children increase as well. (Edmonds and Pavcnik page 17 http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Eeedmonds/jep.pdf) This supports the conviction, therefore, that competition between industries does not explain why child labor still thrives, although the world is growing richer, more democratic and more educated. Developing countries only make up a small portion of world exports, and according to the World Bank, less than 5 percent of child laborers work in export industries. (Buckley par. 11 http://www.commondreams.org/views/031600-102.htm) The United States, on the other hand, have taken steps to curtail child labor. In 1999, former President of the United States Bill Clinton declared that the worst forms of child labor must be eradicated. These include slavery, poverty, debt bondage, prostitution and any work that can potentially harm the physical and psychological well-being of children. The International Labor Organization (ILO) then finalized a new convention regarding the worst forms of child labor. (Prashad para. 1, 2 http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com) But other developing countries led Brazil, Egypt and India did not acknowledge Clinton’s idea. They accused him of using moralistic language to conceal protectionist policies restricting the import of products from the Third World countries. (Buckley para. 6, http://www.commondreams.org/views/031600-102.htm) In Bangladesh, where around 6.5 million workers are children, the Bangladesh Garment and Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) settled, under pressure, with the United States to eliminate child labor. Pressure grew, however, when NBC’s Dateline aired a report on modern forms of slavery, such as child labor in South Asia. Thousands of children were jobless, yet their living standards did not improve. The United States government then urged BGMEA to change its decision. In 1995, BGMEA and the United States signed a memorandum which states that the employers agreed to retain child laborers and build schools for them, on the condition that they should not hire any more children. The IMF and the United States were then forcing the Bangladeshi government to reduce expenses on health and education. (Prashad para. 5 http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com) On the other hand, the frequency of children working also seems to be relative to the economic condition of their environment. For example, children in rural Tanzania tend to work when families suddenly experience low harvest, and that children stop working when harvests are good. Philippine families with relatives working abroad reacted to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. An increase in remittance income of overseas workers through positive exchange rates allows less time for work and more school hours for the children. (Edmonds and Pavcnik page 16 http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Eeedmonds/jep.pdf) Furthermore, evidence provided on three factors of poverty shows the correlation with child labor. First, there is a significant decline in child labor when the living standards of families show improvements. Even though the need for the employment of children proliferates, there are less families participating in child labor if their incomes rise with trade. Second, unexpected changes in the family’s economic situation are strongly connected to child labor. For instance, struggling in saving or borrowing income over time is usually associated with poverty. Several countries reveal that credit limitations and credit market imperfections increase the number of children who have to work. Third, the lack of or poor educational institutions drive children to work instead. Some schools do not have adequate teaching facilities and thus loses the child’s interest. Some are just too expensive for the parents’ meager earnings to accommodate. (Edmonds and Pavcnik page 4 http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Eeedmonds/jep.pdf) Child labor is a severe and complex problem that cannot be solved easily. Trade sanctions, as Clinton has implied, is not the answer to the problem but literacy and education for the children. Through education, children from the Third World countries will also help eradicate poverty and child labor in the future. (Kalmes para. 8 http://www.ilstu.edu/~jnassar/child.html) In Chennai, where the Campaign against Child Labor held a conference in 1994, the thousands of child laborers who participated demanded access to education near their homes, free school supplies, appealing teaching methods, and jobs for their parents and daycare for their siblings. Although the conference did not go into unionization, it showed how these children are able to reason out for themselves. (Prashad, para. 19 http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com) International pressure on eradicating child labor compelled the government of Brazil President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to create an anti-child labor initiative, a program that pays parents to send their children to school. Many of them cannot attend school, or attend irregularly, because their parents make them work when there is little money. (Buckley par. 16, 26 http://www.commondreams.org/views/031600-102.htm) Aside from proper education for the children, cash transfer programs can greatly reduce the occurrence of child labor. Policies aimed at improving school infrastructure and reducing the fees for schooling; along with conditional cash transfers programs for households to accommodate schooling has the most promising way to minimize child labor. Not only did it increase school attendance, but it also showed evidence of reducing child labor. (Edmonds and Pavcnik, 27 http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Eeedmonds/jep.pdf) Works Cited Hagemann, Frank et. al. “Global child labor trends 2000 to 2004.” International Labor Organization. Apr 2006. International Labor Office, Geneva. 29 Jul 2008. Path: Information Resources; Global Child Labor Trends 2000 to 2004. Buckley, Stephen. “The Littlest Laborers: Why Does Child Labor Continue To Thrive In The Developing World?” CommonDreams.org News Center. 16 Mar 2000. Washington Post. 30 Jul 2008. Kalmes, Sarah. “Child Labor in the Third World.” Dr. Jamal Nassar. 1997. Student to Student Textbook. 30 Jul 2008. Edmonds, Eric and Nina Pavcnik. “Child Labor in the Global Economy.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 2005 (2004): 34 pages. 30 Jul 2008 Prashad, Vijay. “Calloused Consciences: The Limited Challenge to Child Labor.” Dollars and Senses Magazine No. 255 Sept.-Oct. 1999. Third World Traveler. 30 Jul 2008 Path: Life and Death in the Third World; Calloused Conscience. Read More