In the United States, child labor and sweatshops are illegal, and society frowns upon any business that exploits children in the production of goods. Though most would say that they would not support a company that uses child labor to produce its goods, almost everyone has, in fact, knowingly or unknowingly, supported these businesses in one way or another. Children are involved in the production of many of the everyday goods we import from overseas, including the manufacturing of clothes, shoes, toys, and sporting equipment, the farming of cocoa, cotton, sugarcane, and bananas, and the mining of coal, diamonds, and gold (The U.S. Dept. of Labor). Often, we are blinded to this fact.
Child Labor is defined by the International Labor
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Dept. of Labor).
To target child labor and other abusive labor relationships, the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) was created in 1993, as part of the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). Its initial focuses primarily were to gather information and increase knowledge of child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking practices worldwide and to promote international cooperation to eliminate the “worst forms of child labor”, defined as slavery (or practices similar to slavery), the sale or trafficking of children, debt bondage or serfdom, the forcible recruitment of children for armed conflict, the commercial sexual exploitation of children, the involvement of children in drug trafficking, and the involvement of children in work that is likely to harm their health, safety, or morals (The U.S. Dept. of Labor).
As international and domestic concern over child labor grew, the efforts and the activities of the OCFT also expanded, with increasing emphasis on child labor issues. The OCFT currently conducts research to identify specific goods from specific countries
However, addressing the problem of child labor will require more than recognizing its connection to poverty. Governments, human rights organizations, labor leaders, corporations, and health professionals must all work together to find effective ways to ensure that the world's children are educated and not exploited in jobs in multinational or illegal industries. By proposing this act, it would prohibit U.S. imports of goods produced by children laborer. Such legislation would help third world countries enforce laws against child labor; ultimately, it would protect the world's youngsters from the abusive and hazardous conditions often found in factories that rely on low-wage labor. It would curb poverty by getting these kids out of hazardous, abusive working conditions and into school where they may receive an education and contribute productively to their economy. We look out for animals and prisoners, but fail to protect youngsters from exploitive and abusive labor.
Lots of well known products made overseas have been made by the works of child labor.The question is should buy them, and the answer is no. One reason not to buy them is because the children are working in dangerous conditions with heavy machinery and toxic material. But more importantly the children working deprives the of their education and childhood overall. Instead of having good childhood memories they have to work countless hours on a machine that could kill them if they don’t focus. Even if it’s true that the children working is mainly because of the survival of the family,people shouldn't buy products made with child labor because one dollar won't suffice the amount of money they have to live in the first place.
“The main cause for children doing work is poverty,” says Nadira Faulmuller in “This Company is Employing Children”. People should buy products made with child labor. Buying these products will support the many families of the working children, since the reason children are working is poverty. Not buying the products can create more problems for the children working. Even though some say that working children are robbed of their education, individuals should buy products made with the use of child labor because hard labor has the ability to motivate children to get an education.
However, we can still find children being abused. We can still discover children being abused and used as the lowest form workingclass people. Such websites like Human Rights Watch, allow people to keep up with child labor events through the world. Hundreds of thousands of children continue to be exploited in the United States. Many forms of evidence has been gathered that informs people that children as young as eight and younger are put to work in arenas such agriculture, heavy industrial, farms and ranches. The children are victims to five times the fatalities of their adults and older children, who suffer injuries related with these industries. The most extreme child labor employment are sweat shops. Sweat shops are no secret to many people in the world. Sweat ships force children to work in unbearable type conditions. Even though they are protections in place, the illegality of employing children and the consequences that follow are tragic to say the least. This is not only true for the child ,but also for our society as a whole.
One advantage of globalization is that it has tried to decrease the amount of child labor in Third World countries. Divakaruni states in her essay that, “Some days back, the House passed a bill stating that the United States would no longer permit the import of goods from factories where forced or indentured child labor was used” (340). Although this bill seems like a great idea, Americans do not truly see all the reasons behind using child labor. America is significantly different than Third World countries. One of the main reasons for parents selling their children was because they could not afford to take care of them or keep them properly nourished, for it was not for the sole purpose to get rid of their children. The children’s strong work ethic provided money to live and feed themselves. However, the author states that this bill is “of no use unless it goes hand
The main law regulating child labor in the United States is the Fair Labor Standards Act. In general, for non-agricultural jobs, children under 14 may not be employed, children between 14 and 16 may be employed in allowed occupations during limited hours, and children between 16 and 18 can be employed for unlimited hours in non-hazardous occupations. Thousands of children are trafficked right here in the United States. These kids are not criminals, they are victims. Give them what they need to go from victims to survivors. Millions of children around the world are subjected violence, exploitation and abuse. Many more, not yet victims, also remain without adequate protection. Children disappear every day around the world. They are left to fend for themselves while their parents work long hours,
In conclusion there aren’t many child labor issues in America they are mainly in South America, Asia, China, and India. I have learned a lot about child labor throughout this research.
The year to year increase in consumer demand for cheaper products have led major corporations to outsource labor in foreign countries with little to no laws preventing child labor and the building of sweatshops. Many parents here in America would be disgusted by the idea of forcing their young children to work long hard hours in factory but the truth is because of our desire for cheap products, “As many as a million children ranging in age from 5 to 15 work as debt-bonded laborers in the loom sheds of India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to the U.S. Department of Labor and the ILO” (Razzi 46). Many of the products we enjoy today such as soccer balls are made by child labor, “Eighty percent of the soccer balls sold in the U.S. are produced in a small region of eastern Pakistan, where about 20% of the work force is between 5 and 14 years old, according to the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF)” (Razzi 46). Child labor does not just exist in third world countries, “The International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations that is based in Geneva, estimates that about 13% of the world's children between the ages of 10 and 14 work, along with untold numbers of younger children” (Razzi 46). Even more surprising is the that sweatshops also exists here in America, “More than a quarter of a million people work in U.S. sweatshops, according to the Labor Department” (Razzi
In a handful of third world countries living with poverty, the only way for a child to afford his dinner, a loaf of bread, is to stitch balls for hours a day. Child labor, children under the age of 1 working for pay, is a common thing for these kids I n third world countries. Working in factories and making money is everything to these kids because it benefits their families and their countries. Consumers should purchase products made by the hands of children.
Child labour is much worse than it is portrayed by the media. Child labour includes the employment of children in the business, food, clothing industries that is considered to be illicit or exploitative (Bonnet, 2017). It denies children their basic rights such as protection and freedom from exploitation. Children, instead of going to school, work in dangerous and physically damaging work due to limited access to resources. Reliable statistics are scare as child labour continues to grow each day in third world countries such as Africa. An abundance of evidence supports the idea that child slavery still exists in modern societies, where an estimation of 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are affected by slavery around the world (ILO,
There are approximately 215 million children under the age of 15 that are working in the child labor industry around the world. What can be done to resolve this global issue? Child labor is when companies use children to perform manufacturing duties— typically being paid in low wages. There are many different reasons and causes of child labor such as: poverty, globalization, and corruption. In some countries, however, child labor is considered a cultural norm. Although most prevalent in third-world and underdeveloped countries, it is perpetuated by the growing demand for manufactured products in countries such as our own. This constant increase in the demand and production of these manufactured products often leads the product’s owners towards significant income or loss, depending on the success of their products. These manufacturing companies in turn pursue the cheapest form of labor available to them in order to conserve more funds.
The primary step of my project is raise awareness of child labor because although it is not seen in a place like America, it is relevant in other countries and we are unknowingly supporting it. For example, Nestle and Hershey’s attain their cocoa from farms that use child labor. Or H&M, which supplies clothes made from cotton picked by children (Lamarque). Mostly importantly Microsoft and Tesla, who use cobalt, a substance dangerously mined by children (Sanderson). All these companies have profited through products of child labor because they are cheap. In fact, the National Labor Committee states that a Microsoft supplier paid child workers “$.65 per hour to work 16.5 hour days.” (Carlson) With such a salary, a child would barely buy food. Unfortunately, we are unwittingly supporting child labor by consistently buying
Although in America we have protected our next generation by out lawing child labor, we are constantly helping the growth of child labor in other parts of the world. How you might ask? By buying the products produced through child labor from other countries. As American consumers we need to stop buying products produced by child labor. The sources that I will be analyzing and will provide dates and facts to examine how we in America have increased the buying of products from other countries that have child labor as their number one workforce, how by buying from these countries has hurt Americans, how our import has increased, and exports decreased, and how this has hurt America’s economy dramatically.
Groups of people that are against the issue of child labor, or child exploitation, cooperate and begin organizations. Founded by a few, to grow into a much more effective project was the way to let the rest of the world aware about the current situation of children being exploited. A well-known organization named International Labor Organization (ILO), has created a project to take action against child labor. The project is named International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), which was created in 1992. IPEC has reached milestones to be closer to eliminating child labor, according to ILO-IPEC (2013), “Global number of children in child labour has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million children. More than half of them, 85 million, are in hazardous work (down from 171 million in 2000).” It can be seen that progress and action has been made, a potential to making a difference in the issue. There may be an effect, but awareness alone cannot solve this issue. Using awareness like this need to think their strategies and improve
Sweatshops have been controversial throughout many years but often neglected by the United States. Factories that fail to offer their employees living wages and fair working conditions can be considered sweatshops. Multinational corporations are using third-world countries to create a product at low wages for long hours under extreme conditions. Children that are under the age of thirteen are involved in child labor in developing countries. Thousands of children work in sweatshops to assist their families. Child labor interferes with their ability to attend schools. Workers that make products in foreign countries are shipped to the United States to create a more substantial profit. Today, people are not aware of working conditions in developing countries; people are suffering from health issues from hours of hard labor. The conditions are often dangerous. “The gazebo factory, for instance, had no secondary exits, no guarding on machines, no first aid supplies, no eye protection--the list kept going” (Frank). Not to mention, poverty has a significant impact on the sweatshops; people are willing to work dirt cheap in dangerous environments to take care of their family. Employees in sweatshops are forced to work in harsh working conditions; individuals are experiencing health issues from working long hours, while manufacturing products under minimum wage, in developing countries employment of children, is also involved. Therefore, laws must be passed to fix these conditions.