Child labor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Child labor - Essay Example Child labor is such an epidemic that has taken its toll in almost every society of the world with varying degrees of severity and figures. 2. Child Labor International Trade Union Confederation defined child labor as any work that hinders in the development of the true potential, acquisition of dignity and that may obscure the physical and mental growth of a child (1). There exist many types of child labors across the world; agricultural work, industrial work, lifting goods etc. International Labor Office Geneva provided the figures that around 211 million children were known to be employed in full time child labor jobs in the year 2000. According to International Trade Union Confederation, every individual under the age of 18 is considered to be a child, however the age bracket of the children included in this statistic were from 5 to 14 years of age (1). This figure does not even include the children who might be working on shifts basis for lesser durations in a day. This appalling figure serves to make one realize the severity of this situation. 3. Causes and Solutions of Child Labor According to this publication by International Labor Office Geneva, the presence of child labor is lesser in developed countries as compared to the developing ones since developed countries have been recorded to have 2% of child labor and developing nations possess as much as 30% of child labor. One factor that can explain the extensive differentiation between these figures is poverty. Udry agrees with this factor and stated that many economists believe that poverty is a major aspect that compels the parents to send their children to participate in earning for the household (2). However, the eradication of poverty cannot simple be the solution of child labor; it must be accompanied with the creation of awareness of the hazardous causes of undermining the value of education and development of mental growth of the child. It is often witnessed that uneducated parents do not conside r child labor as any wrong conduct and impose the decision of work upon their children. It seems as a natural process in their lives since their ancestors have been following the same direction since ages. This causes the poor children to grow up to be uneducated and poor adults who cannot break the vicious cycle and earn a better place and respect in the society. Vandenberg stated that the cost of education tends to become a hindrance in its acquisition and ends up making the children resort to child labor as the choice other than education (15). He also provided a useful figure that pointed out that Kenya took a positive step against the eradication of child labor in 2003 and abolished the fees from primary schools (18). This step proved to get 1.5 million children off from the streets and their work and starting acquiring education. Free education is a good approach to reduce child labor but the shortage of earnings in a family may prove to incline the parents to send the childre n in the world to earn again. A good strategy to avoid such relapses of poverty can be to regulate effective implementation of the minimal wages to ensure that every adult is able to afford a comfortable living without depending on his children to participate in making ends meet. The people or organizations that promote and encourage child labor often