Preview

Child Labour

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1422 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Child Labour
"An analysis of the development and

changes in the use of child labour"

Contents:

1. Introduction…………………………………………3
2. What causes child labour…………………………4
3. The effect on the economy…………………….5-6
4. What needs to be done?....................................7
5. Conclusion……………………………………….7-8

Introduction.
The phrase "child labour" might seem straightforward and easily defined. However, both component words have uncertainties attached to them. When does an individual stop being a child; at the age of 15 years, or at 18 years? Are ‘labour ' and ‘work ' the same thing, or is ‘labour ' perhaps arduous in a way that 'work ' is not?

Some research (www.1) defines a child arbitrarily as someone who has not yet reached the legally set minimum age for leaving school. The Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1998 defines a child as a person ' below the age of 18 years, unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier '. The international Labour Organisation (ILO), which is affiliated with the United Nations, has designated 15 years as an appropriate minimum age of entering the labour force, and 18 as a minimum age for hazardous work. There is no watertight definition of "child labour", hence the responsibility lies on all those who use the phrase to attempt to make it clear how are employing it (Hobbs S. 1999)

What causes child labour?
It is often assumed that the amount of child labour in a country is determined by the nature and extent of poverty in it. Studies that have been undertaken in various countries around the world, particularly those that are relatively underdeveloped economically (such as the former Soviet-block countries as Russia and Romania), do show that child labour and poverty are intimately linked. However, it is also clear that the specific circumstances of child labour in particular countries, or parts of countries,



Bibliography: Books: 1. Anderton A. (2001) Economics 3rd ed. Italy: Legoprint 2. Hobbs S. (1999) Child Labour; A World History Companion. England: Oxford, ABC-CLIO Ltd 3. Kirby, P. (2003) Child Labour. Printed in China 4. Pettitt B. (1998) Children and work in the UK. Great Britain: Poverty Publication 98 5. Surridge M. and Gillespie, A. (2004) AS Business studies 2nd ed. Italy: Hodder & Stoughton Educational Internet: 1. www.streetkids.org 2. www.ilo.org 3. www.unicef.org

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Child labor is one of the world’s biggest problems, especially in emerging economies. The term describes tiring or hard work carried out by children below the age of fifteen, which interferes or harms them spiritually, morally, physically, psychologically, and socially. Most child laborers miss the childhood experience by facing different forms of abuse. Some children have to drop out of school or combine studies with paid or unpaid work. Contrary to popular belief, child labor is not necessarily forced labor. Some underage children join the workforce because of poverty. Such children work either voluntarily or at their parent's bidding to supplement the family income. Moreover, orphaned children look for work to meet their basic needs although…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Child Labor in America

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Child labor is used for the employment of children below a certain age, which is considered illegal by law and custom. The ages varies from country to country and government to government. Child labor is a world phenomena which is considered to be inhuman by many organizations. Child labor was considered to be a human right issue ,but came out to be a public dispute. Child labor is widely spread all over the world. Child labor is used for domestic work, factory work, agriculture, mining, having business’ run such as; selling food, and helping parents. In some factories children are forced to weave carpets, polish shoes, and ship off store goods.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Child labor is any work that interferes with a youth’s childhood in a mental or physical way or any work that may harm one under the age of eighteen. During the Industrial Revolution in Europe during the late eighteenth century sparked the rise towards modern laws against child labor. Since ancient time children completed hard jobs with little no pay and before the Industrial Revolution many children were working in sweatshops or other means to help their family earn money. The number of working youth has lowered significantly since then, yet there still remains millions of children age five to seventeen in factories around the world. In the 1990s the United Nations exposed many companies who based the production of their sales on child labor;…

    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Child Labour In Canada

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Child labour usually means work done by children under the age of fifteen, which limits or damages their physical, mental, social or psychological development. Some work does not harm children and may in fact be beneficial for them. Most people agree that when we talk about child labour, we refer to something in tolerable - young children denied school and play working simply to live, in dangerous conditions. Some of the worst child labour abuses involve mostly four and five year olds.…

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Baland Jean Marie, James Robinson Journal of Political Economy, 2000, vol. 108, no. Edmonds, Eric V. (2007), ‘Child Labor’, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper 12926,…

    • 340 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    work situations where children are compelled to work on a regular basis to earn a living for themselves and their families, and as a result are disadvantaged educationally and socially; where children work in conditions that are exploitative and damaging to their health and to their physical and mental development; where children are separated from their families, often deprived of educational and training opportunities; where children are forced to lead prematurely adult lives. (World Education, 2008).…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Child labor is often confused as work being done by a child. This isn't always the case, child labor can be defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential dignity, and harmful to their physical/mental development. Around the world countries consider whether or not child labor should be legal or illegal. Currently, areas around the world have limits on child labor that include amount of hours a week a child is allowed to work, age allowed to work, and the type of job a child can pursue. Other parts of the world has no limitations on child labor including: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Somalia. Child labor should be illegal until a certain age to prevent children from dangerous situations in the workplace, to sustain good health and well being, and to have a childhood and future potential.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics in Clothing Industry

    • 2950 Words
    • 12 Pages

    References: 2. International labour office ( June,2004) Child labour: a textbook for university students International Labour Organisation…

    • 2950 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    During the Industrial Revolution, children as young as four were employed in production factories with dangerous, and often fatal, working conditions. Based on this understanding of the use of children as laborers, it is now considered by wealthy countries to be a human rights violation, and is outlawed, while some poorer countries may allow or tolerate child labour. Child labour can also be defined as the full-time employment of children who are under a minimum legal age.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article “Child Labor Pros and Cons”, the author discusses the importance of child labor in many families, saying, “In poor countries like Bangladesh, working children are essential for survival of many families” (1). In many areas in which child labor is common, financial stability is lacking. For example, Bangladesh, a third world country, legally employs children ages fourteen and up. One main reason many children work in this country is to bring in income in order to help support their families. Without their financial support, families would be unable to afford housing, food, clothing, and other necessities that they are otherwise to purchase. Although working as a child is far from ideal, it helps both the child and their family to have what they need to live…

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with, one striking element of Ian Paul’s article is the powerful evidences being explored to encourage readers how child labour is being stopped. According to UNICEF, child labour is defined by age groups, the working hours they do, and the activities performed by the child. Both UNICEF and the International Center On Child labour And Education acknowledges that in Asia and Africa, child labourers are drastically increasing while the industrialized nations, which have lower amounts of child labourers remains. These statistics prove that children are forced to work to contribute to household incomes. For instance, in India, because of industrial development and poverty, children are economic contributors for their households by working in the agricultural sector or at home. The government has been actively passing laws to stop child labour since 1930s, despite the attempt; 11.2 million children contribute to child labour, with the number still increasing. Professor Sylvain Dessay and Stephane Pallage published a study, banning child labour, which is supported by over 150 countries. However this hinders the situation because it suggested that a decrease in economic funding would damage the developing countries’ incomes.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Smaller countries are not the only ones that have been affected by child labor. Wealthier countries such as America have had a dark past with child labor like many of the present day third-world countries. In the early 1900's, America was industrializing itself and began developing assembly lines to mass-produce items. This was a stepping stone into changing the economy. The problem with this approach, however, was all of this was happening right around the time of World War I and the Great Depression. These two events caused widespread poverty to families throughout the United States. Children were forced to work in terrible conditions because either their father was at war or it was impossible to put food on the…

    • 954 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    south africa

    • 29844 Words
    • 120 Pages

    Myers W, 1999: ‘Considering Child Labour: Changing terms, issues and actors at the international level’ in Childhood: A global journal of child research 6(1).…

    • 29844 Words
    • 120 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Child Labour

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages

    ‘’ UNICEF defines child labor as a work that exceeds a minimum number of hours , depending on the age…

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Child labour is a devastating problem that affects the survival of humanity, despite the effort to curb the act, yet it continues to be widespread all over the world. Child labour is a phenomenon attracting a global attention and it constitutes a threat not only to humanity but also to a meaningful survival of human race. (Bidemi and Adefuye 2007) citing Oloko, 1986) noted that children traditionally help their parents in occupations involving physical labour in rural and urban areas, the children of traders would assist their parents to sell their goods usually under the supervision of the parent. Today, the…

    • 1592 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays