Child Labor In The 1800s

During the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s child labor was a social issue that developed in the United States. In the early 1900’s, so many children ages 16 and under were working in American mine and factories. Our kids should not be forced to work at such an early age, they need education and a good childhood that they will always remember. Some children that are as young as 4 years old are being forced to work in crammed, dangerous factories. These factories are full of poisonous fumes and diseases that can obviously kill. Kids as young as 13 are being forced to work around 13 hours a day. Working these 13 hours is exactly what most adults are working at the time. Kids are also earning a lower wage since they are minors, employers

Child labor is a serious problem that affects children from third-world countries all over the world. These children are exploited by multinational corporations ,for their cheap labor all over the world. People, then buy products that come at a cheaper price, from these multinational corporations.These children are often overworked and treated unfairly. People need to stop buying items from countries that endorse child labor.

Child labour is a very real problem in the world today, and although it is declining, progress is happening at a slow and unequal pace. Child labour by the International Labour Organization is defined as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development (Diallo, Etienne, & Mehran, 2013, p. 2).” In the most extreme forms of child labour it could account for child enslavement, separation from their families, exposure to serious hazards and illnesses and being left to fend for themselves on the streets (Dinopoulos & Zhao, 2007). In order for certain types of work to be included as “child labour” depends on the child’s age, the type of work,

“The International Labor Organization estimates that at least 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working, mostly in the developing world.” Many Americans view child labor as wrong or dangerous, but they do not realize how essential child labor can be in developing countries. In the article “Regulated Child Labor Is Necessary in Developing Countries,” by John Tierney, a current author for the New York Times, focuses on child labor and why it is essential in some developing countries. Tierney creates a sympathetic tone for the readers to try and understand the struggles regarding child labor in developing countries.

Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time.”

Child labor is historically defined as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development” (Hansan, 2013). Legally, to be considered child labor, work must involve at least one of the following characteristics:

Child labor is a sigsignificant problem in developing. Countries across the globe(Dilascia,tracey m).one of the most oftern -cited examples of child labor abuse occurs in manufacturing industries(Dilacia, tracey m).one of the most frequently proposed solutions to the child labor problem is the imposition of economic(Dilacia tracey m ). Many international organizations as well a number of European counties oppose placing on countries that permit child labor( Dilacia tracey m).ultimately ,the problem of child labor will not truly be solved until the poverty( Dilacia tracey m).It is estimated that a staggering million child across the world are exploited child laborers(zoltan, melania barto ).while the u.s. often speaks against child labor and has federal and state laws punishing those who illegally exploited children in this country(zoltan, melania barton). In order to prevent child labor,the u.s. must impose economic santions on countries that continue to exploit children(zoltan ,melanina barton).For instance ,the worst forms of child labor convention 182, enacted in 1999 , was designed to prohibit the worst forms of child labor.( zoltan.

Poverty is general scarcity, dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. The main cause of child labor is poverty. According to Nadira Faulmuller, “The main cause for children doing work is poverty-their survival and that of their families depend on it.” Another reason for child labor is the concept that money is a necessity. Nadira Faulmuller states that, “Earning money is an unavoidable necessity for them.” This shows that child labor is needed for the survival of the children and that of their families.

Historically, the world is in constant need of a labor force to supply its goods. In measures of greed however, the acquisition and implementation of laborers has not always been as well as it is now in the U.S. Upon the first century of America's founding, many people and corporations have used children unjustly in order to achieve moderate production and monetary benefits, that is until the advent of government prevention measures. Even though corporations may argue, that in modern times, child labor has been entirely eliminated, labor laws of the past are not being fully enforced as they should be. In the Gilded Era of the U.S, the implementation of labor laws laws such as the FSLA, or the Fair Standards Labor Act, as well as the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, helped shape the country for the benefit of the people, by stopping cruel abuse of children for the workforce, the actions that were taken then and the laws that were implemented, must still be enforced today to prevent the United States from falling back into the slavery like conditions of it past.

One of the major issues faced between third world countries and with western civilization is the question of having child labor laws. Most of the westernization would all agree to get rid of the young under aged children from working in these dark, tight, ill ventilated factories or workshops. However, Chita Divakaruni explains how if the child labor law was to be passed then the children will have no other way to survive and result into being a robber or even worse and lose all their pride that they carry. Divakaruni explains how the passing of the child labor law in the United States, which will prohibit the import of goods from factories that has under aged children working in, would affect the children’s life as a whole and these children will have to result in a worse way of living to survive. On the other hand, Americans see an under aged child working long hard hours in a factory as a huge problem that needs to be stopped. These

The problem is enormous, but the trend, fortunately, is heading in the right direction. The overall growth of an economy is by no means the only factor, nor for that matter the most important factor, in the mitigation of child labor.

“Child labor keeps children out of school and is thus a major barrier to development. (1)”

Currently there are 168 million child laborers in the world. More than half of them, 85 million, employed at hazardous jobs, according to the International Labour Organization. In the article “In Praise of Cheap Labor Bad jobs at bad wages are better than no jobs at all”, Paul Krugman Professor of economics at MIT, explains that child labor cannot just be wiped away like so many other distasteful practices. That it takes a perfect storm of economic success and low child labor numbers for a full transition to labor laws that ban it. Employers will agree to follow the law; similar to what happened in the U.S. in the 1930’s when Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. This Act established standards for the basic minimum wage and overtime pay. It restricts the hours that children under age 16 can work and forbids the employment of children under age 18 in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. Krugman believes that many developing countries are not at a point where they can support a full ban on child labor. He gives the example of countries like “Indonesia [who are,] still so poor that progress is measured in terms of how much the average person gets to eat” (Krugman 4). Professor of economics at Yale university, Christopher Udry, in his article “Child Labor” provides a definition of child labor as “ the sacrifice of the future welfare of the child in exchange for additional income” (243). The causes of Child labor are not as simple as cultural or economic reasons, and a

Negative effects of child labor can be solved through provided and accessible education to continue a child’s growth

Edmonds. Eric V. and Nina Pavcnik. (2005). Child Labor in the Global Economy. American Economic Association. Book.