Child Labor

Unfortunately, because families are living in poverty, some have no choice but to force their children to work. People who live in extreme poverty often rely upon child labor in order to earn extra income to attain basic living necessities. Sadly, many children are being forced to work beyond their physical ability... ... middle of paper ... ...e high rates of unemployment and civil war. Unfortunately, many of them are made to work beyond their physical ability and under life threatening conditions. This practice is illegal in most countries.

The worst area in the world for child labor is in third world countries, because the children are dropping out of school so they can get some money so they don’t starve to death. Child labor laws were wrong because they force children to work 16 hours or more each day and up to 60 hours a week, and they work these long hours in hazardous, toxic conditions. There are many reasons why child labor exists today, and why it existed long ago, two of the main reasons being poverty and unemployment. Lots of families will rely on their children for their basic necessities such as food, water, and housing, something they should of thought about before they had a child of their own. The children are recruited because they usually don’t know their human rights, do the hardest, most dangerous work without even knowing it; they also accept low pay.

Child labor not only prevents children from receiving an education, but the responsibility of supporting a family can cause long-term psychological and physical effects. Although many western activists are taking steps to regulate child labor, competition on the world market is slowing the reform process. After the industrial revolution, Children began to work outside of the home and leave the protection of their families to work in mines and factories. Child labor takes place because of a combination of social and economic factors. Dabeida Agramonte suggests the following are possible explanations for the occurrence of child labor: “Factors like poverty, lack of employment and low household income; lack of access to a quality education, the lack of alternative recreational spaces in communities and the existence of broken families.

Many of these children worked in factories, mills, mines, and other horrible places. Some families sold their children into labor for money to pay off debts. These children worked off the debt and were a source of income for the family. Today, child labor is illegal in most developed countries. There are strict laws that monitor the jobs, hours, wages, etc.

Child labor is an appalling struggle in Bangladesh. The child labor in Bangladesh today is very comparable to the child labor that occurred in Britain in the 19th century (Brennan, Deirdre. Journal of International Affairs, 2001).Young children may have to work in sweatshops, clothing mills, and as camel jockeys just to support them and their families. Children may have to work at food mills to provide food for themselves and other people as well. Their families live in such harsh conditions, that they cannot even provide for their children.

Nowadays, child labour is one of the most important problems in some countries and this problem tends to spread around the word day by day. Some researches indicate there are approximately 246 million children around the world whose ages are between 5 and 17 have to work in job. In addition, nearly 70% or 171 million children are likely to work in harmful conditions. Working in mines with chemicals or pesticides in agriculture are only two examples for hazardous works for children (UNICEF, 2006, p.37). Children workers main purpose is providing money or food for their family, because their families are mostly live in low economical conditions.

For those who worked in factories, life wasn’t any better. Workers received very low pay and worked long hours. Some workers had to work seven days a week, and sometimes those workers were children. Workers under 16 had to labor long hours and received even less the pay as an adult. The factories were unsafe as well, so not only were workers receiving low wages, but they also were putting their lives at risks.

Child labor continues to exist because many families live in poverty and with more working hands there is an increase in income. Other families take their children to work in the fields because they have no access to childcare and extra money is beneficial to buy basic needs. Although there are laws and regulations that protect children from child labor, stronger enforcement is required because child labor not only exploits children but also has detrimental effects on a child’s health, education, and the people of the nation. Currently there are laws and regulations that protect children from working in hazardous workplaces at a young age. The article, "The Impact of Discrimination on Working Children and on the Phenomenon of Child Labour” mentions the Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1938 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt not only set the minimum wage but also banned children under the age of sixteen from working.

Many of these children are captured and kept by force but many are also ‘sold’ by their families who believe that they are the answer to be able to provide for their impoverished relatives with income for their survival. Children used in child labour are exploited for little or no pay. Children used as slaves are common in India, Pakistan, Nepal and other nations in Southern Asia but the practice is found throughout the entire world. It is stated that over 186 million children aged between five and fourteen work for a living. (Chambers, 2005) Most of these children have no benefit at all from the meagre wages that they earn and usually neve... ... middle of paper ... ...ganisations.

Industrializations negative effects were bad working conditions, long and strenuous hours, injury and even death took it role on the society during this time. First, during the industrial revolution, bad working conditions were almost for sure. So many people had been stuck with a dangerous job, and on top of that the way they worked was even worse. Even little kids had to work in these terrible conditions. Children were forced to work where adults had a hard time working, mostly things that were easier so that way it wasn’t too complicated to where they couldn’t do it or slowed production.