Child Labor in the Global Economy
Child labor has been an issue of concern for decades. In recentyears child labor has been brought to the forefront of media attention byactivist groups who have exposed numerous large corporations, such asReebok, WalMart, and major clothing manufacturers who outsource work tosweatshops around the world. Child labor has become a topic forinternational organizations concerned with its impact on globalization. Throughout history and within all cultures, children have workedalong side their parents in the agricultural field, the marketplace, andaround the home as soon as they were old enough to perform simple tasks(Child pp). It was not until the introduction of the factory system thatthe use of child labor was regarded as a social problem (Child pp). InBritain, during the late 18th century, cotton mill owners collected orphansand children of poor parents throughout the country to obtain theirservices merely for the cost of maintaining them (Child pp). In manycases, the children were as young as five years old are were forced to workthirteen to sixteen hours a day (Child pp). As early as 1802, socialreformers attempted to obtain legislative restrictions against the worst
On May 1 2004, the Ugandan government announced that it is drafting alabor policy that will address the increasing child labor situation as aresult of the diseases, disturbance and poverty within the east Africancountry (Ronald Pp). There are problems with the intuitive solution of immediatelyabolishing child labor to prevent such abuse (Siddiqi pp). The ILO has introduced several child labor conventions among its members,including "a minimum age of 16 years for admission to all work, a higherminimum age for specific types of employment, compulsory medicalexaminations, and regulation of night work" (Child pp). Studies from 1979, showed that more than 50 million children under the ageof 15 were working in jobs that often consisted of hazardous conditions(Child pp). However, the data reveals the reverse, countries with higher per-capitatrade actually have a significantly lower incidence of child labor (DaviesPp). The role of children differs in developed and developing countries and atcertain levels of poverty in developing countries, child labor may play aninstrumental role in the economic survival that augments national economicdevelopment (Siddiqi pp). And in 1848, Pennsylvania became the "first state to regulate the agelevels of youth employed in silk, cotton, or woolen mills by establishing aminimum age of 12" (Child pp). Approximately 2 millionchildren have lost their mother or both parents due to AIDS, and many ofthese orphans have become heads of households responsible for caring foryounger siblings (Ronald Pp). Child labor is particularly prevalent in rural areas whereit is difficult to enforce minimum age requirements for schooling and work(Siddiqi pp). the child-labor system, however, little was ever done even toenforce the existing laws limiting work hours and establishing a minimumage for employment (Child pp). The firstproblem is that there is no international agreement defining child labor,making it hard to isolate cases of abuse, let alone abolish them, andsecond, many children may have to work in order to attend school soabolishing child labor may only hinder their education (Siddiqi pp). As the industrial system developed in other countries, abuses ofchild labor similar to those in Britain became common (Child pp). In 1924, Congress passed an amendment to the U. It is estimated that there were 186 million childlaborers under the age of 15 in 2000, with about 110 million below the ageof 12, and 246 million in the 5-17 age group (Every pp). "Working at looms,for example, has left children disabled with eye damage, lung disease,stunted growth, and a susceptibility to arthritis as they grow older"(Human pp).
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