FREE ESSAY ON CHILD LABOR

CHILD LABOR

Introduction
Child labor is a serious problem in many parts of the world, especially in developing
countries. Labor is defined as physical or mental work especially of the hard or
fatiguing kind. (Webster's Dictionary) Child labor usually means work that is done by
children under the age of 15, which restricts or damages their physical, emotional,
intellectual, social, or spiritual growth as children. The International Labor
organization estimates that there are 250 million children worldwide, between the ages of
5 and 14, who are now working. 
"Africa and Asia together account for over 90 percent of total child employment" (Faraaz
Siddiqi) Child labor is especially common in the rural areas of these countries. Usually
there are no age requirements for schooling or for work. There are many reasons that
these children work; poverty, lack of education, lack of knowledge of one's rights and
cultural tradition are all contributing factors. These children are often working in
severe and hazardous conditions. These children are deprived and mistreated. They are
often beat or severely punished for making even the slightest mistakes. They receive low
wages and perform tasks that are usually the work of adults. The International Labour
Office reports that children work the longest hours and are the worst paid of all
laborers. These children can be found working on farms, in factories or mines, and even
fighting in wars. "Much of the nation's farmland is worked by toddlers, yokes teams of
three-, four-, and five-year-olds who plough, seed and glean fields from dawn to dusk."
(Jonathan Silvers)
Bonded Labor
Three types of bonded labor exist in practice around the world. The first type involves a
child inheriting a debt carried by their parents. The enslaved parents find no
alternative except to essentially turn over the rights of their child to their masters.
Another form of bonded labor occurs with a child being used a collateral for a loan. A
parent facing an unusually large or urgent expense would use this method of obtaining
necessary money, for example the rebuilding of a home due to damages. A worker can also
enter into bondage to their employer by requesting an advance on future wages they expect
to earn. In all these cases the debt is consistently increased to a sum beyond the
capacity of the worker. Expenses and interest consume all wag and also cause the debt to
grow. The debt takes over takes the worker and remains indefinitely. ("Child Labour: The
Situation)
Contributing Factors
There are many reasons that child labor is so prevalent in these countries as opposed to
here in America. Though restrictions exist in many nations, children do work. Child labor
is most concentrated in Asia and Africa, which together account for more than 90 percent
of total employment. Though there are more child workers in Asia than anywhere else, a
higher percentage of African children participate in the work force. Asia is led by
India, which has 44 million child laborers, giving it the largest child work force in the
world. In Pakistan, 10 percent of all workers are between the ages of 10 and 14 years.
Nigeria has 12 million child workers. Child labor is also common in South America, there
are 7 million children working in Brazil. (Siddiqi)
Children work for many different reasons. The most prevalent one being poverty. Children
are sent to work to help support their families who might be in such desperate conditions
that even the meager salary the children receive will help For example; minors in
Paraguay contribute almost a quarter of the total family income. Children are often
driven to work by their families. In some developing countries people often have children
because they know that they can be profitable. 
Schooling problems also contribute to child labor. Children seek employment because there
is often no access to schools, whether it's because of distance or because there are no
schools at all. If there is access, the low quality of the school system often makes a
working life more desirable than receiving an education. Schools in many of these under-
developed countries are often overcrowded, have inadequate sanitation, and unskilled
teachers. Parents would often rather see their children working than in a school where
they feel they are wasting time. A major reason India has the largest juvenile workforce
is because 82 million children are not in school. Only 41 percent of Indians over the age
of 15 are literate. (Siddiqi) 
Many times the lack of education by both the parents and the children are major
contributors to the number of child workers. A non-educated parent doesn't have the
common knowledge to know that by forcing their children to work they are harming them.
Even if laws restricting child labor do exist in these countries, the people are
virtually unaware of their rights as well as their children's rights.
Tradition also plays a major part in contributing to the number of child workers in these
countries. The established female roles teach that women will not fit into society if 
they are educated. Many families raise their daughters solely to take over the household
duties in order to release the mother. In India, people of the lower caste system are
expected to perform manual labor, and are therefore even less likely to attend school. 
Another practice that is common in these countries is parents assigning different roles
to their children. This has been called child specialization and is another contributing
factor to child labor. (Siddiqi) This practice involves certain children going to school
while others are designated to work, usually the oldest child is the one to attend
school.
Child Labor in Pakistan
"Pakistan has recently passed laws greatly limiting child labor and indentured servitude-
but those laws are universally ignored, and some 11 million children, aged four to
fourteen, keep the country's factories operating, often working in brutal and squalid
conditions." (Silvers)
Last year the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated the number of worker
Pakistani children to be "realistically in the region of 11-12 million." At least half of
these children are under the age of 10. Even though restrictive laws were recently passed
they have had almost no effect. Children in 
Pakistan makes up a quarter of the unskilled work force and can be found in almost every
factory, workshop, and field. In the rural areas of Pakistan, children are raised without
health care, sanitation, or education. As soon as the children are old enough, their
parents teach them that they are expected to pay their way and sacrifice for their
family. Bonding is also a common practice in Pakistan and the children often regard it as
a right of passage into adulthood. 
Early in this decade the Pakistan National Assembly enacted two laws meant to curb such
practices. The first, The Employment of Children Act of 1991, prohibited the use of child
labor in hazardous occupations and environments. The second, the Bonded Labor Act of
1992, abolished indentured servitude and the peshgi system. As progressive as these laws
were, the government failed to provide for their implementation and enforcement. It also
neglected to inform the millions of working children and indentured servants that they
were released from their debts. (Silvers)
A Foreign Concept
The concept of child labor is a somewhat foreign one on America. We Americans aren't
faced with many of these problems in this day and age. There is a greater level of
education in 
American and there are laws that require children to attend school. There are also laws
that limit the age for working, usually anywhere from 14 to 16 years old. Unlike these
under developed countries, employers who are found to have minors working for them can be
in serious legal trouble. In America we have the welfare system that can help families in
need rather than having their children work. In America we have an excellent public
school system where children can receive a free education if they cant afford to pay for
one. Levels of family income are higher in America than in other more under developed
countries. Even if families are faced with a life of poverty they usually don't resort to
sending their children to work at such young ages. 
Working Towards A Solution
There are many problem areas that need to be addressed when it comes to child labor. One
possible solution can be found in education, of both children and adults, in the
countries where child labor is prevalent. The more educated the population, the more
aware they will be of what is going on around them and how they can make the necessary
changes. Their needs to be some type of social awareness or activism in order for any
changed to take place. There are many different organizations here in America that try to
raise awareness about child labor. Some of these organizations are Free The Children and
Child Labor Coalition.
Bibliography
Works Cited
? "Child Labor in Pakistan," Jonathan Silvers, The Atlantic Monthly, February 1996.
? Child Labour: The Situation, http://freethechildren.org/campaigns
? Child Labor: Issues, Causes and Interventions, Faraaz Siddiqi,
http://www.worldbank.org/html