Wouldn’t you want your child to have a real childhood?
By: Keona green, Kris Harley, Brionna Harrison, Amber Fisher
What is Child Labor? Child labor is work that takes over the childhood of children. The labor makes minors unable to attend school, and also endangers their lives. This act still takes place illegally in the United States and in other countries around the world.
When the lives and the rights of children are at stake, there must be no silent witnesses.�-unknown
Causes: Poverty. Lack of education and exposure. Future health problems. Lost of childhood. Exploitation of cheap labor.
Did you know? One in six children between the ages 5-14 are involved in child labor in numerous countries. 126 million children work in hazardous conditions. Some children receive beatings and sexual violence by their employers.
What if it was your Child? In serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanityCarol Bellamy.
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Africa
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South Am.
Quick Facts: Child labor laws in the United States set the minimum age to work in an establishment without restrictions and without parents' consent at age 16. Nike has been accused of using child labor in the production of its soccer balls in Pakistan. In some areas of China children make up ten to twenty percent of the work force. In Northern India the expectation of little children for labor is an accepted practice and perceived by the local population as a necessity to alleviate poverty. With more than a third of Africa’s children not attending school, and most of them working, the child labor issue will be central in the fight against poverty and destitution.
T h e r e a r e a n e s t i m a t e d 2 5 0 m i l l i o n c h i l d w o r k e r s b e t we e n t h e a g e s o f 5 a n d 1 4 years old. The International Labor Organization estimates that 215 million children ages 5-17 are engaged in child labor It would cost $760 billion over a 20-year period to end child labor. The estimated benefit in terms of better education and health is about six times that—over $4 trillion in economies where child laborers are found Some children are forced to work up to 18 hours a day, often never leaving the confines of the factory or loom shed.
Where is Child Labor Most Prevalent? Child labor has existed throughout history. In the 17th century, any child was put to work in variety of tasks. China, which is now a lowermiddle income country, was a country full of poverty, repression of workers’ rights, and limited prohibitions on child labor. Many children were put to work to help their families with financials, and bring in an extra income. China’s child labor is now a huge problem. For example, in 1994, about 48 Chinese brick shop workers kidnapped over 100 children and 40 of those children were forced to work 10 hours a day with no wage. Child labor is part of the reason for China’s economic achievements, and laws prohibiting against it aren't being reinforced resulting in the continuation of inhumane treatment. Because these laws are there, they could possibly cost a child their life because their owners are scared to get caught. These children are forced to work before they’re adolescents due to circumstances such as poverty, sometimes at places where their lives are threatened everyday.
Country information: Location-China Capital- Beijing Population-1,331,460,000 Size-about 9, 596, 960 square kilometers Language-There are seven major Chinese dialects and many sub dialects. Mandarin (or Putonghua), Mortality rate-1000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age 5 Life expectancy- 73 Doctor to patient ratio-1 to 230(fourth lowest in the world) Living on less than $2 a day-More than 660 million people without sanitation live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million on less than $1 a day.
Did you know? In the last few years, the rate if children kidnapped has increased rapidly and those children kidnapped are sold off to factories to work. Many companies prefer child labor because children are cheap, obedient and agile enough to maneuver in small machine-cramped work areas. Families sell their children as commodities to exploitive employers for additional sources of inc
Why Is Child Labor A Problem In China? What Can We Do To Help/Prevent These Issues? Current Events: China Says Abusive Child Labor Ring Is Exposed On May 1, 2008 in Dongguan, China, the country’s biggest manufacturing city was discovered for a child labor ring by Southern Metropolis. Donuggan is known for its prosperous factories of electronics. The businesses went through worker shortages, inflation, and rising currency and had children to fill in the positions. The children were from poor areas in China and were to pick up the lack of the missing workers. These children did not give consent but were kidnapped to obtain cheap labor and were forced to work three hundred hours a month, receiving very little pay and were under slave-like conditions. Fortunately the Chinese authorities rescued over 100 of the children and hope to rescue the others and the factories were penalized/arrested and license was revoked.
Case Study: The Southern Metropolis reported child tracking and laboring in Dongguan, China. The children came from Liangshan in Sichuan, a province in China with 85 percent of children leaving school to work and were abducted and distributed in truck loads. All victims were under the age 16 and were promised to be payed a high wage. These children were scolded and beaten, and were rewarded one proper meal every few days. Some little girls were raped. Day after day, they undertook arduous labor. The children said they thought about escaping but the roads were blocked and they were threatened and warned if they tried to run away, there will be a price to pay. A reporter visited the factory, pretending to be interested in purchasing a child and found out the 60% of the workers were children and they worked 300 hours a month and received little pay(2.5 yauns) because they had a low asking price. There was over 600 children some as young as 10 years old.
Solutions: Ways to put an end to child labor is to encourage education. Show children that education is important and that they need social and professional skills. Another way is make sure labor laws are being enforced. The government is enabling labor from children to go on; ending their childhood and threatening their lives. Another way is to eliminate poverty. There are many banks contributing to funds to help with health care and new jobs. There’s something we all can do whether its giving money or speaking out on the issue.
What Makes America different?
Current Situation: The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) creates standards: overtime pay, minimum wage, whistleblower, equal pay, and also record keeping standards. There are federal, state, and local government laws that have been established so that it is illegal to work at a certain age. FLSA was designed to protect educational opportunities of minors. Laws prohibit employment in jobs that are harmful to ones well-being. Case Study: Nike has been accused of child labor in Pakistan with their production of soccer balls. Like the United States of America, Pakistan has laws that are against slavery and child labor. Two organizations (GATT, WTO) make it so that the United States and other countries can not discriminate against goods made by children. The Government America has faced child labor throughout history. The industrial revolution was a major part of child labor; children were using risky machines that could harm them if they made the wrong move. During the revolution the government stepped foot unto the situation and created laws to protect workers. However still today, in the United States of America, we might come across child labor. The government needs to open their eyes and actually take visits to the work places and check the ages of all the employees. If they actually took the time to check, we would finally be able to eliminate illegal child labor.
Organizations UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour. html AFL-CIO http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/globale conomy/ Alliance or Responsible Trade http://www.art-us.org/ Tronie Foundation http://troniefoundation.org/human_trafficking.htm l?gclid=CL-2xZmQpqgCFQQbKgodIRyeIA Children of the Night http://www.childrenofthenight.org/?gclid=CMW6l7 yQpqgCFQbCKgodWSgJGw