Why Child Labour is needed

[Mr-Snickers]

An essy I've written as I realized that it's not so much a one sided issue as I once thought. Also (as I know this will happen) Don't just flame without reading all "AHH child labour is evil you sick bastard!" because I'll state this. I agree with that, my point is that while child labour isn't good. It's needed, theres simply no way for some children to survive otherwise. Please read.

Child labour is employment of children under the legal working age. Child labour is a very important across the world for a number of reasons. It provides children with vital funds needed for education and food for survival, is important for maintaining a higher standard of living for first world nations, and can in situations help a third world nation develop economically. As such it can be not supporting child labour is quite literally tearing a future away from children and depriving them of much needed resources. (References from 1, 2, 4 and 5).
In 2001 the ILO (International Labour Organization) has stated that with the help of children many poor families can afford vital essential services and even food that they desperately need to survive (Vincent Wong para 2). Many may perceive that others could simply hire adults to do the same job and provide food, but what is not considered are exceptionally larger families as are more common in third world nations. In these cases it may not be possible for two parents to care for an entire family, even more true if it is a single parent raising the family or they are involved in agriculture, when crops are failing. The problem of providing such things can be in certain cases solved by child labour (Vincent Wong para 1 and 2). Through working the fields with their parents or working in the textile industry children can be a vital link in the family for providing food and shelter. Especially in areas where jobs are in high demand and parents are already working.
Also importantly child labour is important for children in the learning experience, and important for developed countries where child labour is not viewed as an overly large issue. Goods produced by child labour are also important to the developed nations economy as well through corporations. Multibillion dollar corporations use varying forms of child labour internationally, and it is because of that people are able to afford goods as cheaply as they can. Corporations are able to hire children to work in areas where their money is comparatively worth much more. For instance in Indonesia Nike pays its workers roughly $2.20 a day (Vincent Wong para 3).Although this is comparatively low to Canadian standards, $2 dollars go much further in Indonesia, and because of the cheap labour Nike is able to sell its products for much, much less due to how inexpensive it is produce them. This is why “designer clothes” cost so much, they may perhaps be of the same quality of clothes made by child labour but they are made by people paid much more. So through child labour everyone is benefiting, the child is able to make money, the corporations save money, and the consumer is able to buy goods for a lower cost. These places where child labour is used grants children a valuable learning experience for later in life where they have a better understanding of the workplace and through hard work can prevent child obesity, a growing problem in the world.
While some may argue that child labour is abusive, and usually involves abduction or being forced upon children, many incidents are entirely false or greatly exaggerated. In fact the ILO has measured that 10% of children involving child labour work in sweatshops, the majority working in agriculture. Thomas DeGregori, Professor of Economics as Houston University also states in Bangladesh before child labour many children were actually performing much more dangerous and hazardous activities including children engaging in child prostitution and begging for money. Child labour in the area virtually eliminated this problem but when import bans on child labour destroyed many of the jobs created by child labour many children were forced back into these negative positions, and did not end up in schools or under care as hoped (Thomas DeGregori para 3). Media coverage greatly exaggerated some of the terrors of child labour by displaying stories of abused children forced to work all day every day. These events are very unfortunate, but most children voluntarily involve themselves in child labour to provide better for themselves and their family. Almost half work part-time, and not all day every day as is implied in some areas. UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) has stated in the book “What Works for Children” that children involved in the garment industry had more well paying jobs with more chances for advancement then almost all other forms of employment (Thomas DeGregori para 4 and 5). It can also be debated that many of the tasks done by children are too physically hard or dangerous to do; the reality is that many children do these high-risk jobs willingly. This is because jobs that require children to do dangerous tasks are usually rewarded with a higher earnings then more frequent low risk jobs, with this higher income children can spend more on their family and themselves (“A Theory of the Worst Forms of Poverty”).
Finally and perhaps most importantly child labour is important in providing children with a much needed education and important for nations with a growing economy (“A Theory of the Worst Forms of Poverty” / Vincent Wong para 1 and 2). Numerous nations in the world cannot afford universal education such as high schools and public schools like developed nations. Through child labour, income can be used to buy school books and provide children with an education that they may be very well able to use to gain a better more fruitful job to provide even more for their family, or they may go on to live healthier more informed jobs. Whom are people living a continent away to judge whether they can have a job to pay for themselves? Also importantly, child labour provides a way for developing nations to remove themselves from debt. Each year countries of the third world grow more and more indebt to other nations requiring foreign aid and other services. By allowing child labour more money comes into the country from corporations and first world nations allowing the economy to prosper through a larger working force. These nations may still be growing at a slower rate but child labour is an important factor in that growth, without it much of their working force would be gone which would mean less workers for hire and less money coming into the market.
In conclusion child labour is vital in providing children with funds they need to survive and are required for their education, it also plays an important role in supporting our greater standard of living and helping third world nations remove themselves of debt and build a better more stable economy. Child labour is part of even Western heritage albeit less common today (Wikipedia section 3). In conclusion, child labour is a powerful economic tool that is essential for supporting children globally.

Bibliography
1. http://www.youthlinks.org/article.do?articleI D=1031&sl=e - Vincent Wong “Human Security, Pro Child Labour” Copyright 2003
2. http://www.cato.org/dailys/10-08-02.html - Thomas DeGregori “Child Labour? Or Prostitution?” Copyright 2007
3. http://www.hoover.org/publications/uk/3411401 .html - “Take it to the limits” an interview of Milton Friedman, Nobel prize winning Economist.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour - “Child Labour” written from various sources. Last updated April 17th 2007.
5. “A Theory of the Worst Forms of Child Labour” by: Professors’ Sylvain Dessy from Laval University and Stéphane Pallage from the University of Quebec. Copyright 2005.

[Mr-Snickers]

Summarized it means.

Child labour is good because it gives children money for food, education and gives them work experience in areas that are too poor for 2 or one parent to support themselves and a family. It states bans against child labour are bad as they remove child labur jobs forcing children into bad situations such s child labour or other black market crimes. K?

[Boltrig]

At 4/19/07 06:53 PM, Mr-Snickers wrote: Summarized it means.

Child labour is good because it gives children money for food, education and gives them work experience in areas that are too poor for 2 or one parent to support themselves and a family. It states bans against child labour are bad as they remove child labur jobs forcing children into bad situations such s child labour or other black market crimes. K?

You say that chilb labour is needed, but taking it away forces the kids into child labour. Chasing your tail man.

The thing is, if you condone it and say it is needed, things are unlikely to change. As I said in my last post, you want a state of affairs where the parents are breadwinners and the kids are learning for their future.

[GoodOrEvil]

I can see how it's useful in a third-world country, but it would be unnecessary in a first-world one where families are smaller and only a small minority of families cannot afford to buy food, rent, etc. In a third-world country, it could be a families only chance and it is likely that the child will do the same work as their parents when they are adults.

[fli]

At 4/19/07 06:53 PM, Mr-Snickers wrote: Summarized it means.

Child labour is good because it gives children money for food, education and gives them work experience in areas that are too poor for 2 or one parent to support themselves and a family. It states bans against child labour are bad as they remove child labur jobs forcing children into bad situations such s child labour or other black market crimes. K?

I'm going with this summary...

I'm against it. Yes, child labor provides food and a living.
But it doesn't provide an education, neither vocationally nor scholarly. A child in India could from ages 3 to 10 work silk all day because they have the tiny fingers necessary for certain procedures to create the best silks. But once they get old, they're done with-- they neither take away pratical vocational training nor other means to sustain oneself.

And child labor is something that increases.
By creating a greater need for child labor such as buying those cheap silks that has, literally, children's blood all over on it, you increase the need to cheap silk and thus-- more children.

Children who don't learn and play anymore because they got adult responsibilities.

Summarized:
We don't need child labor.