Janet Daugherty Child Labor

The definition of child labor is labor that is performed by a child who is under the minimum age specified for that kind of work in accordance with accepted standards. The legislation for the minimum age standards is set by the individual countries legislation. Child labor is further defined as labor that is also likely to impede the childs education and full development (Johnson, Morozowich, Velasco, & Wawrzak, 2007). The different types of child labor include agriculture, domestic work, factories, bonded child labor, forced, trafficking, or street work. Bonded child labor comes about from parents receiving payment in advance for the services of their children and then hands the child or children over to the employer. Forced child labor could be compulsory work in an armed conflict of a small nation. Trafficking is the utilization of children to traffic drugs or contraband or for the sexual exploitation of the child. Street work includes utilizing the children as clowns, fire-kids, shoe shiners, or other such activity for pay (Johnson, Morozowich, Velasco, & Wawrzak, 2007). The International Labor Organization estimates that over 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working around the world. Approximately 120 million of these children are working full-time to support their families who live in poverty conditions. Child labor is more concentrated in the global south but it is rampant throughout the world, including in the United States. Children are working in conditions that are dangerous to their health, both physically and mentally (International Labor Rights Forum, 2011). Many of the children working as child laborers are from very poor families and work to pay for family expenses or for their education. One of the issues that has come about from enacting child labor laws in various parts of the world is that these children still must find a way

to generate income for their families and some have turned to illegal activities such as prostitution (Shah, 2001). A committee working under the guidelines set forth by UNICEF determined that poverty is the greatest factor that contributes to child labor. As of 2001, Somalia and the United States of America were the only two countries in the world that had not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The United States had signed it, but not ratified it. Somalia had not even signed it and in 2001 did not have an internationally recognized government which is required in order to ratify the agreement. In the United States there have been many instances of child labor violations. In the 1970s, the issue of child labor came to the attention of many international organizations such as the United Nations. These organizations researched the issue of child labor and sweatshops; then drafted codes of conduct to be followed by their member countries. In 1995, the association of clothing manufacturers in the United States and the workers union (Amalgamated Clothing Textiles Workers Union) signed a collective agreement which included a code of conduct for their businesses and their subcontractors and created a minimum standard for wages, work hours, and child labor rules. Several companies joined together to fight the sweatshops and took steps to respect human rights in general. These companies worked with their subcontractors to ensure this was happening. Some of the companies involved include, Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, Banana Republic, Nordstrom, Bath & Body Works, Old Navy, Lands End, Lane Bryant, Levi Strauss, Express, Liz Claiborne, and Victorias Secret. In the United States, citizens have a false sense of respecting human rights and think that violations of child labor rules only occur in other parts of the world. An example of the falseness of this occurred in 1995. Kathy Lee Gifford was a very successful actress and talk show host during the 1990s. She had a clothing line at Wal-Mart. This clothing line became the subject of

investigation by the National Labor Committee because teenage women were found sewing the clothing at a plant in Honduras. The clothes were exported to the United States for sale at WalMart. It was found that about 10 percent of the workers who made the Kathie Lee fashions were between thirteen and fifteen years old. The investigation showed that these young women were not allowed to take breaks or get drinks of water if they became thirsty. They worked overtime and twelve-hour shifts to meet deadlines. Bathroom breaks were limited to two times per 12-hour shift and the workers were required to raise their hands for permission to enter the locked restrooms. Supervisors screamed at the young teens to work faster. The machines used to make the clothing were dangerous to operate and many were in states of disrepair. These young ladies were paid thirty-one cents per hour. The factory they worked in did not allow them knowledge of their rights. Armed guards were used to intimidate the employees. If they attempted to learn their rights or to organize to attempt to get better conditions, they were either intimidated or fired illegally. When the information became public in the United States about the labor for Kathie Lees clothing line, she attempted to undo the public damage to her reputation. She made statements that she was trying to help kids and was being kicked in the teeth for her efforts. The network she worked for (ABC) put out public relations programs showing her innocence and promoting her good work at charities. It was later discovered that blouses for the Kathie Lee line at Wal-Mart were being made in a sweatshop in New York where workers had to work sixtyhour weeks without being paid for previous work. The actress responded by having her husband take money in envelopes ($300) for each mistreated worker to the sweatshop and hand them out. Wal-Mart also was mentioned in other instances of child labor violations. Many of the products that were purchased in Wal-Marts prior to 2005 were made in China and Bangladesh

where women and children were forced to work for thirteen cents per hour. Workers were paid 10 cents for each shirt they sewed. Some young workers were made to work 80 hours a week at garment factories in Bangladesh which is a violation of the maximum work week of 60 hours (Knapp, 2005). Wal-Marts response in 2005 was that they had no knowledge of the child labor violations but that they did not condone it. The internal audit report for 2000 for Wal-Mart showed that there were extensive violations of child labor rules. Instances of children having to sleep on factory floors so that could work long hours and work weeks and often they were not allowed breaks or meal times. One of the factory owners admitted to considering his employees as slaves (Knapp, 2005). The average pay in Chinas sweatshops for Wal-Mart was about 3 cents per hour with some 18 hour work days. Children are locked in with no way of escape and then must sleep in provided dorm rooms so they can get up and do the same thing the next day without escape. China has made a commitment to end child labor. The nation ratified two International Labor Organizations conventions concerning labor practices. One of the bans is on children under 15 years of age working and the other bans prostitution and slave labor. Even though the laws have been enacted, factory owners are not abiding by them (Knapp, 2005). The agriculture industry in the United States and other countries has many child laborers. The U.S. Department of Labor is working on updating the child labor laws for agriculture which has not been updated since the 1970s. The Department is looking at more stringent guidelines to protect the young workers and save lives. Agriculture is the most dangerous industry in the United States with 21.3 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers ages 15-24 years old. Farm workers in the 15-17 year old range die at a rate that is four times greater than the average

worker. Accidents involving young workers in this industry include a 9-year old farmworker who was killed in 2006 when he fell off a machine that was being driven by a 16-year old. Other young people have been seriously injured by working around animals. New restrictions would include restricting children under sixteen years old from working herding animals on horseback or working from a tractor. These rules would include children of the owners of the farms (Colberg, 2011). Nations around the world have cases of child labor human rights violations. Nestle is the worlds largest food company. They purchase cocoa from the West African cocoa industry. In West Africa, hundreds of thousands of children have been forced to harvest cacao beans over the last decade. These children have worked in very abusive conditions. When the information was discovered ten years ago, there was much discussion and pledges by these companies to practice fair trade. Ten years later, there has not been much progress in this area. In 2009, the United States Department of State estimated that approximately 109,000 children were working on South Africas Ivory Coast cocoa industry. Ten percent of those were victims of human trafficking. Nestle has engaged the assistance of an organization to investigate the child labor on the cacao farms. A team will go to the Ivory Coast in January 2012 to map the supply chain for cocoa. If child labor instances are found by this study, Nestle will be advised on what to do about it. The Vice President for Operations for Nestle issued a statement that there is no place in the Nestle supply chain for child labor and they will work to address the issue (Barclay, 2011). In India there are widespread child labor issues. India has over 50 million children under the age of 14 who are working performing some type of labor. Many of these children work in firecracker factories. The Child Labor Protection Act bans child labor but in India this law is not

enforced. The government of India provides a free education for children now, but there are around 8 million children not attending school because they work or there are not enough schools to accommodate them. The lack of education and poor working conditions contribute to malnourishment and younger mothers giving birth. The child mortality rate in India is at 7.2 per 100 live births (Barclay, 2011). Child labor is also widespread in Asia. Children who are born in poor families usually have to start work at a young age. These young children are often abused, harassed, and underpaid. The issues of child labor and child sexual exploitation are extensive in south Asia which has the largest population of children in the world (Shaju, 2011). These children often lack proper health care, nutrition, and education. The World Health Organization estimates that almost 53,000 child deaths in Asia in 2002 were due to child homicide. Organizations have been working on rescuing children from banned occupations and getting them into schools (Shaju, 2011) Children are still being exploited in many countries around the world because they will work (or are forced to work) more than adults and at a lower rate of pay.

References Barclay, E. (2011, November 29). Nestle to investigate child labor on its cocoa farms. The Salt, Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/thesalt Child labour statistics (18th International Convention of Labour Statisticians). (2008, December). Retrieved from International Labour Organization website: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/--stat/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_099577.pdf Colbert, S. (2011, December 1). U.S. labor department proposes updated child labor regulations. News Oklahoma. Retrieved from http://newsok.com Deepa, G. (2011). Child labor in India [Web log post]. Retrieved from Africa and the world: http://www.africaw.com/forum/f2/child-labor-in-india-child-abuse-in-india

Dinopoulos, E., & Laixun, Z. (2007). Child Labor and Globalization. Journal Of Labor Economics, 25(3), 553-579. Gupta, S., Pirsch, J., & Girard, T. (2010). An Empirical Examination of a Multinational Ethical Dilemma: The Issue of Child Labor. Journal Of Global Marketing, 23(4), 288-305. doi:10.1080/08911762.2010.504519

International Labor Rights Forum. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://www.globalissues.org Johnson, R., Morozowich, M., Velasco, J., & Wawrzak, D. (2008, September 24). Costa rica and guatemala: an analysis of child labor. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CFwQF jAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftest.business.illinois.edu%2Faguilera%2FF08_LIR554_pres entations%2FChild%2520LAbor.ppt&ei=V6zXTqC1BIScgQfGsY2RDw&usg=AFQjCN GFVgY5QCg9buv99mT3ZutrvH183w&sig2=TlLcJMZhZ4gYmPJPOO5y3g Knapp, D. (2005, November). Child slave labor in Wal-Mart [Web log post]. Retrieved from IHS Child Slave Labor News: http://ihscslnews.org
Saad-Lessler, J. (2010). A CROSS-NATIONAL STUDY OF CHILD LABOR AND ITS DETERMINANTS. Journal Of Developing Areas, 44(1), 325-344.

Shah, A. (2001, January 1). Child labor. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://www.globalissues.org Shaju, A. (2011). Child abuse in asia [Web log post]. Retrieved from Africa and the world: world: http://www.africaw.com/forum/f2/child-labor-in-asia-child-abuse-in-asia TED case study. (2001, May). Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://www1.american.edu/TED