The Issue of Child Labor - Research Paper Example

The most recent data in 2010 from the International Labor Organization(ILO) (2010) reveals that child labor is a major issue globally. There are approximately 215 million children characterized as child laborers globally with 306 million children characterized as employed (ILO, 2010). While the latest data reflects a reduction in child labor since 2000, the numbers stalled as of 2006, and the number of child laborers globally remains unacceptable (International Labor Organization, 2010). According to the International Labor Organization (2010), agriculture remains the sector most frequently associated with child labor with Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and West Asia identified as the most problematic areas.

Increasingly children are working in unsafe conditions in agriculture in the production of global agricultural goods such as bananas, rubber, tobacco, cocoa, tea, coffee, and cotton (International Labor Organization, 2010). Child labor in agriculture is not restricted to developing countries. For instance, a recent report claims that 9 percent of farm laborers in the US are children as young as 7 years old that work between 14 and 16 hours daily for a full seven-day work week and are paid well below the mandated minimum wage (Adame, 2010).

Aside from agriculture, Western retail companies have increasingly become complicit in the exploitation of child labor in their supply chains where child labor is reportedly used in “low-cost” countries in the production of goods distributed globally (Weele, 2010, p. 55). For instance, Nike was condemned by the Western press for the use of child laborers who worked in Pakistan in the sewing of soccer balls for Nike (Heal, 2008). This research study analyzes the issue of child labor globally and identifies the political, economic, and cultural aspects of child labor.

In identifying the common political, economic and cultural factors that contribute to exploitive child labor, this research study attempts to determine how these factors can inform a more effective program for the reduction of or the elimination of exploitive child labor.  This research study is therefore divided into four main parts. The first part of the paper defines child labor and identifies the main legal issues addressed by the international regulatory regime.  The second part of the paper presents an analysis of trends in child labor globally.