Category: Child Labour

Introduction

Child labor can be defined as a set of inappropriate activities for the age of a child. This labor negatively influences children’s health, harms their physical and mental development, and distracts them from school learning and regular children’s spare time activities. International Labor Organization defines this term as a work that subtracts children from their childhood and their dignity and normal growth (International Labor Organization, 2020). However, not all work that children produce can be named child labor and is harmful to their health and emotional stability. It is essential to examine the border between safe and dangerous labor and compare arguments for and against the prohibition of all forms of child labor in manufacturing.

Safe Labor

Several types of labor refer to children’s activities. For example, children may participate in work that does not harm their development and wellness and does not affect their schooling (International Labor Organization, 2020). These can be such activities as helping parents and relatives to clean the house, helping in maintaining a family business, and other activities. In addition, the child can earn their own pocket money outside the house during his weekends or holidays. These activities facilitate the child’s mental and physical development as well as contribute to his well-being. They might give essential life skills and prepare children for their future. Therefore, this type of child labor is safe and facilitates development, as well as provides experience. The boundary is very obscure because the usage of the term “child labor” depends on the child’s age, type of work, durability, and the conditions where the work is performed.

The Worst Forms of Child Labor

These forms suggest a harmful influence of work on a child’s organism, physical appearance, and mental health. These sorts of work include children’s enslavement, separation from their parents, and is subject to serious illnesses up to death. Children that participate in this labor are often abandoned and left in the streets of cities and countries in which they were taken (International Labor Organization, 2020). Moreover, kids who managed to escape have no opportunity to return home without money, and they have to become vagabonds.

The worst forms of child labor include slavery practices and all sorts of slavery, for example, sale and trafficking (International Labor Organization, 2020). Children may be taken for various purposes, including forced labor and participation in armed conflicts and wars. Next, these forms involve children in producing pornographic activities and prostitution. Little girls and boys are forced to execute things that expose their physical and mental stability to hazard harm. Moreover, children may be involved in working with drugs and other substances. All this work affects the child’s morals and lefts an irrecoverable imprint.

Hazardous child labor can also be included in the list of worst forms of child work. This work exposes children to work under the water and ground and suggests that they take heavy weights and work with dangerous equipment and machinery in crop production, fishing manufacturing, and other types of agriculture (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2020). Besides, this work can last for long hours and supposes children to work in a dangerous atmosphere. The conditions might be inappropriate even for adults, for instance, extremely high or low temperatures, levels of noise, and a harmful environment. Hazardous types of work make children subject to physical and psychological abuse.

Children in the Supply Chain

Poverty is the heaviest reason for child labor to exist even in contemporary society. Household poverty forces employers to exploit children’s resources, as manufacturing producers have no money to pay salaries to adult people (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2020). Child labor can also be a result of underemployment and unemployment and the consequence of overpopulation in the country. For instance, in Pakistan, children comprise 52 percent of all population (Javed, 2010). In this country, families often might not give proper education to their children according to the abovementioned reasons, and their children have to go to work to earn money. Pakistani children start working at the age of seven years (Javed, 2010). Many employers hire children to lower the costs of the company.

One more reason for this is fast fashion; this definition refers to the quicker update of clothes collections several times per fashion season. Companies have to produce more clothes at lower costs, so they are pushed to find cheaper sources. The supply chain needs lower-cost and fast-completed labor; the demand increases, and consumers require new production (Moulds, n.d.). In India and Bangladesh, where clothing manufacturing is concentrated, many children are exploited to produce apparel. What is more thrilling, companies give false promises to children and their parents; employers convince them to send their children to a job with a decent salary and good conditions (Moulds, n.d.). However, children are exploited there for free, working under harsh and dangerous conditions during extended hours.

Measures and Recommendations

Poverty in countries is the main reason that exposes children to work. These problems should be decided within governmental responsibilities; for example, creating new policies might improve the situation. Government should help low-income families and distribute the budget equally because insufficient funding for families forces children to work (Madslien, 2004). Families must be able to handle money difficulties without exploiting their children’s resources.

Some employers argue that children can work better than adults because children’s fingers are small and neat (Moulds, n.d.). They are seen as compliant workers who will not object to their responsibilities. However, child labor should become illegal because it makes children traumatized by their experience; therefore, companies should prohibit it. There are many reasons to ban this activity because it is seen that child labor is safe only when appropriate to their age and physical capacity. In other cases, children are exploited and acquire severe health and mental issues. Many companies prohibited child labor in their supply chains and manufacturing. The Fair Wear Foundation presented 120 brands that supported the idea of banning child labor (Moulds, n.d.). Some sources also state that companies’ owners should visit their manufacturers to prevent child exploitation cases.

There are more arguments for banning child labor in supply chains, and many countries became to support this idea. Children should not suffer because of governmental issues; they should be provided with their legal childhood. Dangerous work violates children’s rights, and governments should not forget about the importance of these rights within the country. The community and environment also must be safe for children for them to grow in safe and appropriate conditions.

Conclusion

Children are small creatures who must have childhoods with funny children’s games, schooling, friends, and parents. Children should enjoy their years without work and hazardous activities that make them physically and psychologically abused. Besides child labor being prohibited in many countries, this process should be controlled at the governmental level. Constantly growing consumer demand and required mechanisms of supply chains should not take away the childhood from those who must be in it.

Reference List

​Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2020) FAO framework on ending child labour in agriculture. Web.

International Labor Organization (2020). What is child labour. Web.

Javed, T. (2010)Connection between child labour & minimum wage. Web.

Madslien, J. (2004) ‘ILO: ‘Child labour prevents development’BBC News: Business. Web.

Moulds, J. (no date) ‘Child labour in the fashion supply chain: Where, why and what can be done’. The Guardian & UNICEF. Web.

Introduction

Child labor has always been a significant and challenging curse in America. During 1800 to 1900, in USA, one can see the dreadful growth of child labor. Children, less than six years have been working in coal mines, factories, as seafood workers, in steel industries and in textile mills. “Labor participation of children peaked in 1900 when one every four children was reported to be engaged in some “gainful occupation.” (Puerta). A large number of children have been working in unhealthy circumstances. They were the victims of modernization, industrialization and the American Civil War also had affected them too much. Most of the factory owners of 18th and 19th century America never considered them as the wealth of their nation and treated them as cruelly as they can.

History

The availability of row materials, new inventions and geographical explorations increased child labour in America in between 1800 and 1900. Many children were drawn in to the labour force during this period and a large number of children under the age of 15 had been worked in industrial fields to support their families. The words of Lewis Hine make it clear when he says: “Entire families were hired, the men for heavy labor and the women and children for lighter work. Work days typically ran from dawn to sunset, with longer hours in winter, resulting in a 68-72 hour workweek. Many families also lived in company owned houses in company owned villages and were often paid with overpriced goods from the company store. Thus they lived a life entirely dominated by their employers.” (Child Labor in America 1908-1912: Photographs of Lewis W Hine).

The above quotation throws light on the poorest state of the American village people. The employers had complete control over their workers and it often lead to financial and physical exploitation. The ability of the children to handle small parts and tools also attracted the employers and they exploited this ability in their business well. Immigrants from various countries, such as Africa, and many rural migrants worked in industrial fields, included their children in their work.

The skilled workers of that time wanted his child to follow his way. They wished to make them as their assistants. The other reason is that the lower class workers had lost their sentiments of parenthood and motherhood because of their hard work. The poorest state of the families is another reason for child labor. The children of the poor families were forced to find out the livelihood for their families and were deprived of education, his sweet adolescence and other necessities of the world. The continuous work, physical and mental torture led them to some bad practices.

The child workers of industrial revolution had to face severe torture from the industrial owners and were forced to work in insecure and dangerous circumstances. The owners forced them to work like machines without rest and even the provisions were denied to them. They were not allowed to protest and sometimes these owners implemented some cruel punishments, such as hanging heavy weights to worker’s neck and walk up and down the factory to see the other children and “learn lessons” from it. It often would cause many injuries on the back of their neck. Sometimes they would be dragged naked to the factories, if they had reached the factory late. Above all they forced the children to work continuously for hours for little or no pay. 12-14 hours work was common at that time and sometimes it would extent to approximately 19 hours a day with only one hour rest. The industrial owners sometimes appointed the child laborers as assistants in handling heavy and dangerous equipments that would often take away the lives of these children. If the children were orphans, they would be treated as slaves. In the case of these orphans, the authority had enough justifications and they claimed that they provide food shelter and clothing etc. During 1800s the children in huge factories were treated more cruel and unusual. The protection of children absolutely neglected. Severe punishments and scolding were very common in these work places.

But the factory law of the 1833 was to an extent helpful in controlling these injustices.

Though there have been appeared many laws to control the number of children from entering child labor, their number is growing day by day. “The statistics from the number of children working in industrial jobs from 1890 to 1910 is monumental. Children working for industrial wages, under the age of 15, went from 1.5 million to 2 million in twenty years.” (Geiger). This statistics points to the fearful future of our children who are forced to lead a pathetic life even in the 21st century. The mushrooming of industries was in need of many workers and they aimed at maximum profit. If they want to achieve such a gain, they have to appoint workers with a cheap salary. They find a fertile in children who can be paid with a meagre salary and sometimes nothing to be paid off. Moreover they shall work as slaves and their fear of cruel punishment will prevent them from protesting.

The Americans called the child laborers of the 1900s as “child slavery” because the children did not have the opportunity for a proper education and were treated as mere slaves. This child labor ultimately leads the child laborers to poverty, illiteracy and continuing misery. Above all, the working in mines caused many serious health problems in these children. The vibration and sounds of the machines, excessive heat and cold, high humidity levels, untidy working atmosphere etc caused to lose their youthful vigor permanently.

During the time of Industrial revolution, a large number of families moved to the populated cities so that their work condition became worst. As a result of hard work and unhealthy situations they reward diseases and injury. Children are an asset to the employees because of their nominal wages. The child workers suffered from many health problems like bronchitis, tuberculosis due to poor ventilation and the problem of nutrition. Not only these physical drawback nesses but also they faced loneliness and become gloomy. If they overcome, they may be crippled, confused before they reach their maturity.

Conclusion

Child labor is a real curse to manhood as children are the wealth of a civilized nation. Most nations of the world have implemented different laws to control child labor and rehabilitate the child laborers. They have also passed laws supporting their education, and cultural wellbeing. Children should be saved and protected from all harm otherwise we cannot dream of a bright future. But it thought provoking that “59,600 of the workers in the U.S. are under 14 and many other countries have huge child labor troubles. Child labor came from the Industrial Revolution and is still around to day.” (Child Labor in Factories).

It makes clear that even now, in most of the developed countries exist child labor and America itself is not an exception. The modern world itself is motivated to money and it does not give any consideration to humanity. But it always forgets that next generation is the wealth of the world.

Works Cited

Child Labor in America 1908-1912: Photographs of Lewis W Hine. The History Place. 1998. 2008. Web.

Child Labor in Factories. 2002. 2008. Web.

Geiger, Annie. The History of Child Slave Labor in Coal Mines from The Early 1800s. 2005. Web.

Puerta, Juan Manuel. Child Labor Laws and the End of Child Labor in the U.S.: Evidence from American Manufacturing Censuses (1900-1920). 2007.

According to Webley and Le Jeune (2005), a code of conduct is simply a formal policy document which has been established by a corporation, with the aim of defining its responsibilities towards its key stakeholders and the nature of conduct which the organisation would expect of its work force. In other words, these are the set standards governing the behavior of stakeholders and employees within an organisation.

Codes of conduct have always proved to be essential in the modern business environment, where they are employed in guiding the behavior of key operational units within organisations (Kolk 2002). Effective implementation and enforcement of such codes is a crucial part of the global supply chain, since they contribute to efficient and effective performance and productivity of firms.

In this regard, global supply chain managers should always observe serious compliance of the codes, so as to create fair environmental and social conditions for their employees. Despite the dominance which these ethical standards tend to have on modern businesses, there is more than enough evidence that there is still low compliance of the codes by many global supply chain firms across the world. As it will be observed in the following case, the issue of child labour is among the many challenges that have continued to affect the management of modern global supply chains.

While it is the role of managers to oversee the enforcement of ethical requirements and standards in their respective organisations, there is ample evidence that these people are faced by endless ethical dilemmas in their leadership roles. Global supply chain managers constantly come across serious challenges in matters that would require them to deal ethically with their business stakeholders.

As it would be observed, child labour, commonly practiced in most industrialised countries, is arguably among the emerging issues that have continued to affect the management of the global supply chains today. Child labour is a practice whereby underaged children are engaged in economical activities, thus ending up being deprived of their childhood rights and privileges.

In most cases, 14 and below is the age level that specifies someone as a child or a minor in business codes. Many firms in industrialised countries have fully adopted the idea of child labour as a form of competitive advantage, considering the incessant pressures of heightening market competition and economical globalisation (Egels-Zanden 2007).

Even though the practice is likely to generate immense benefits to firms and the working families, it brings serious effects on children. One of the many implications associated with the practice is that it denies the kids an opportunity to attain important requirements of life, such as education.

Other possible effects of child labour is that, children are under the threat of getting exposed to bad working conditions, and this could sometimes result to unbearable psychological and emotional pressure. It is for these reasons why many countries across the world have come up with child protection programmes and initiatives that would help in keeping children free from serious potential harm posed by child labour.

There is arguably no doubt that the supplier of toy products in Thailand offers the most favourable business conditions that no firm would dare to reject. For instance, the products from the firm are offered at a fair price, and their quality is equivalent to that of any other highly regarded product in the market.

The most disturbing issue here however is that, the supplier lacks a real work production sector of its own and it relies on an organised external production, where child labour is highly applied in the assembling of the toy products. As it is evident from the episode where a group of six children, aged between 5 and 14, are observed to work cheerfully along their parents in assembling the products, there is no doubt that the same case also applies to minors in all the other homes where the exercise takes place.

The assurance by the sales manager that this was common practice in the region is a clear manifestation that child labour was at rife here, regardless of the existing labour laws intended to protect the children. This engagement is quite significant, since it enables the company to meet the heightening global demands of toy products. This way, it is very obvious that the firm is non-compliant to the labour laws advocating against child labour, which have been set by the government.

It has been observed that the idea of child labour is not only common in the industrialised countries, but also in some developing countries where low-cost suppliers have to deal with the unbearable pressure of selling their products at a low cost to the Western countries (Preuss 2009).

In that case, the low-cost suppliers are left with no other option, but to engage children in child labour, in order to meet the desired market price levels. It is estimated that there are more than 200 million underaged labourers around the world, and this is a clear indication that the practice is still a global phenomenon that needs to be eradicated.

It is time modern business organisations engaged in positive corporate initiatives and standards, as they are expressed through focused code of conducts that fully enforce the fundamentals of labour laws relevant to child labour (Hindman and Smith 1999). This appears to be the biggest problem that can be associated with the potential manufacturer of Thai.

The manufacturing process of the firm is well guaranteed, since there is an effective source of labour from both grown ups and children. This could be more satisfying to those people who’d be seeking fast delivery services. Moreover, doing business with the Thai supplier may also be a promising deal in terms of cost savings, among other long-term benefits.

Nonetheless, there is no decent global chain supplier manager who would like to be a perpetrator of child abuse in this manner, considering the many implications this would impose on the future generation. It would not be morally right for any decent firm to work with business partners who engage in child labour practices.

In this regard, managers should implement initiatives that are aimed at eradicating child labour practices, instead of encouraging them. The people in managerial positions should also condemn the practice by wishing to see other children grow and develop in the same way like their own children.

Among other key tasks, product managers are faced with the responsibility of ensuring that their firms do acquire high quality products at a reasonable cost (Sobczak 2003). However, they should not just see the quality of products or even the price at which the products are offered, but also the grounds under which the products are processed.

It is always wise for product managers to take a broader perspective on the issue of ethical codes as it is applied at the supplier level, and try being compliant to the fundamentals of the labour laws, as they are enforced by different countries.

It has been argued that, some industrialised and developing countries have constantly engaged in unrealistic forms of developments through the engagement of underage children in key economic sectors. As a result of the surging influence of the global market, children under the age of fourteen in developed and developing countries have massively been drawn to industrial economical activities, where they are expected to play a predominant role in various systems of production.

Presently, many countries are against the economics and practices of child labour, and have fully come out to condemn the practice by advocating for fundamental children rights, through effective labour laws. Even though it would be a good idea to actively involve children in innovative and creativity matters, this privilege should not be used to compromise their freedom in any way.

Currently, the practice of child labour is associated with many problems. For instance, there are serious concerns about the issue all over the globe, and this sends a warning signal to any organisation which continues to employ the unethical practice in its productivity missions. This unethical practice could pose serious legal problems to managers and their firms once discovered, and this could mean a tarnished business reputation for the involved organisations.

It is for these reasons why business organisations allover the world are constantly advised to consider adopting codes of conduct that would not only enable them achieve their business objectives in an effective way, but ones that would also protect their image and reputation among their external stakeholders (Radin 2004).

Those labour laws which have been effectively expressed through the codes of an organisation are certain to play a crucial role in guiding the firm through its business objectives. Children have the right to be protected from any form of activity that deprives them of their rights, and it is therefore every child’s right to acquire education as a compulsory requirement, among other basic requirements. Honestly, it would not be a good idea for the firm to get involved with business partners who are still practicing child labour.

Reference List

Egels-Zanden, N 2007, ‘Suppliers Compliance with MNCs Codes of Conduct: Behind the Scenes at Chinese Toy Suppliers’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 75 no. 10, pp. 45-62.

Hindman, H & Smith, C 1999, ‘Cross-Cultural Ethics and the Child Labor Problem’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 19 no 15, pp. 21-33.

Kolk, A 2002, ‘Child Labor and Multinational Conduct: A Comparison of International Business and Stakeholder Codes’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 36 no 7, pp. 291-301.

Preuss, L 2009, ‘Ethical Sourcing Codes of Large UK-Based Corporations: Prevalence, Content, Limitations’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 88 no. 10, pp. 735-747.

Radin, T 2004, ‘The effectiveness of global codes of conduct: Role models that make sense’, Business and Society Review, vol. 109 no. 4, pp. 415–447.

Sobczak, A 2003, ‘Codes of Conduct in Subcontracting Networks: A Labour Law Perspective’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 44 no. 7, pp. 225-234.

Webley, S & Le Jeune, M 2005, Company Use of Codes of Ethics, Institute of Business Ethics, London.

Introduction

There are millions of children currently involved in subsistence-level kinds of labour with little economic output within various countries of the world such as India. The case study focuses on child labour within textile and other related industries in India. Further interventions are required to ensure implementation of sustainable solution capable of keeping children out of such exploitive working conditions. Such conditions expose children to health and safety threats especially those between ages 5 to 14 years. However, it is necessary to understand various factors leading children indulging in such activities. This is necessary for the purposes of ensuring that families within India have meaningful and sustainable alternatives capable of preventing these children from returning to such exploitive labour situations (Bhalotra and Zafiris, 2003).

Intervention Measures

Pre-empting and ultimately curbing Child labour and other social injustices meted on vulnerable and less fortunate Gender in the Indian society calls for a concerted, multi-pronged strategy by the union government, civil society organizations, Bollywood celebrities, cricket stars and the vibrant and growing corporate players. Given the stratified nature of the Indian society, characterized by caste system, investigating extent to which the menace has pervaded the Indian society; designing ,monitoring and evaluating the already in place strategies is a complicated affair. This calls for dovetailed approach by the aforementioned stakeholders, in order to achieve expected effectiveness (Bhalotra and Zafiris, 2003).

The Union government of India need to earnestly take the initiative of conducting civic education, particularly for the Indian scheduled castes and Tribes as these categories provide wellspring for the vulnerable and susceptible Gender. This pool provides cheap labour that the unscrupulously empowered business and corporate leaders take advantage of by way of undue influence, coercion, disinformation or misrepresentation of facts. This is done for the purposes of attaining commercial goals. The existence of such social evil within subcontinent is certainly a disgraceful phenomenon, but unfortunately the government remains indifferent, and sometime show laxity in its endeavour to design an effective strategy providing lasting solution thereof. The existence of institution of modern slavery in India is merely the sign and symptom of the real malady-Ignorance (Betcherman et al., 2004).

The first approach to controlling child labour in India is for the Government to demonstrate that its working on making use of focus groups and other government sponsored and supported institutions. Use of schools to assist in capacity building and empowerment of vulnerable groups. This ensures that the less fortunate are aware of their rights as enshrined within constitution, thereby enabling them to resist attempts by the unscrupulous business people in taking undue advantage of their ignorance. It is essential to point out how sensitive and touchy some of the citizens of India are to the issue of caste. But this can be traced to profound ignorance that engulfs the social issue in question; stemming from inadequate or misleading information that cloud it. It is therefore fit for the government to take a leading role to sensitize her citizenry about the limiting effects of such social order, as any of individual’s or lobbyists’ efforts would be countered by the fierce anger of the conservatives and the Indian societies’ orthodox. Most of these custodians of caste system incidentally are the ones who support and perpetrate such social evil, owing to their enormous socio-economic power brought about by the status quo. Given their status no voice of reason would dare control them; but the union in collaboration with the state governments could crack their whip to their submission (International Labour Organization, 2003).

These governments can easily collaborate with civil society organization to harness their expertise and resource to aid in designing and implementing a model of affirmative action capable of bolstering already existing but far less effective system. Liberalization of Indian economy brought about significant opportunity for entrepreneurs in India to form networks with foreign investors to exploit the comparative advantage-cheap labour- readily available in the country. It is no doubt that this move has worked to bring good income and helped improve the welfare but the governments need to provide a structured and streamlined institutions that ensure the vulnerable are protected from abuse by the wealthy.

There is a serious need to regulate the financial and commodities sector by bringing them to the mainstream. This will make it easy for the government to streamline the operations in the bullish sector.It would be relatively easy for the government to put in place stringent regulations that govern recruitment and employment of people in these lucrative business. The governments should also, in addition to all these efforts put in place legislations that provide checks and balances to the way businesses incentivize the workforce. Any Business that attempt to entice parents by any means to offer a minor to go work for them should have its license or mandate revoked ,and to face legal charges

Organized banking sector plays a vital role in financing businesses in India. A larger percentage of banking sector is under the control of the Union and the state governments through the Reserve Bank of India. By taking a leaf from the way Rural Regional Banks and Lead Bank schemes have effectively worked to advance the economic empowerment of the rural folks, governments can use the same strategy to guide the wind of social change. First and foremost, the governments can put in place conditions under which the State bank and its subsidiaries issue loans and advances to the business community. The Banks in turn need to enforce these conditions and requirements by putting thrust on social responsibility criteria before sanctioning funds. Social responsibility entails making certain that businesses work in pursuit of their economic goals, but put into consideration the positive endeavours to mitigate social vices such as Child labour. Once the state and nationalized Banks take the initiative the other banks in the private sector would follow the suit (Bhalotra and Zafiris, 2003). In order for this strategy to work effectively, it is important that these stakeholders use a bit of incentives to reward the investors who help towards this cause. To supplement these efforts, there is the need to use moral suasion to exhort the business community to be considerate and mindful of the society they intend to bequeath to the future generation.

There is need for provision of education initiative grants capable of promoting education as one of the major intervention measures, capable of combating child labour. As revealed from the case study, India seem to be one of the most populated countries of the world hence difficulties in providing basic education to all children. The quality and relevance of education should be promoted amongst children since there are possibilities of resource constraint and education inaccessibility in many regions. Education initiative grants support improvements in educational programs, access, teacher training and provision of training materials (International Labour Organization, 2003).

Besides education, there is need for rehabilitative services to cater for children’s social and mental health accompanying their removal from oppressive labour situations. Such services can be provided through family visits as well as establishment of residential centres. The common cause of child labour as revealed from the case can be attributed to need for additional family income. This means that families should be provided with other financial alternatives capable of meeting their sustainable needs. Such alternative income generation activities include training skills for family members as well as micro-finance opportunities. Additionally, there is need of changing hazardous production methods within textile industry where employees are provided with sewing tasks or other project tasks within poor communities. Hazardous conditions would involve use of chemicals and explosive substances of which are dangerous to children (International Labour Organization, 2003).

Besides loans and advances to the Business community, the Bankers need to support efforts by the parents to send their children to school by providing a wide range of educational loans-along the line of differential and zero interest rates schemes, to the scheduled castes and tribes. This will go a long way in ensuring that the parents appreciate the importance of education as a way of aiding growth and welfare improvement. Foreign investors, like GAP should be asked to do a background check on the local business they outsource work to; through the government’s department of labour, Registrar of companies and such other charters that regulate business operations in India. Businesses whose operations do not conform to the legislations that protect and support child and the less fortunate’ wellbeing are left out of the business loop (International Labour Organization, 2003).

India is a cricket crazy nation hence the sport can effectively be used to sensitize the citizenry on the harmful impact that the child labour has on the socio-economic wellbeing. This strategy has been used, with positive and encouraging effects in curbing the spread of HIV and AIDS in the nation. Talks bordering on sex-in the public domain-was once considered a taboo in India, but once the government engaged cricket celebrities in endorsing condoms; and persuading people to abstain, the response was very encouraging. The same concerted efforts can be replicated in an attempt to curb child labour in India. The cricket players are engaged in the media commercials to endorse products, the same can be employed to spread awareness among the public. Players of the calibre of Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dhoni command iconic tag and charismatic following that can be leveraged to help towards convincing the public to affect paradigm shift in attitude.

Conclusion

Indians love and cherish their movie stars to the extent that almost all their movies released have never registered any flop. The same attitude can be harnessed to spread message about the dangers of child labour. The Government needs to incentivize these stakeholders and, streamline the labour market- placing stringent rules and regulations, and enforcing the same. There is also the need to double the efforts to increase the Grants to educational institutions to ease the school fees burden to both parents and school administrators. Education will help enlighten people about their Rights and entitlements

References

Betcherman, G., Jean, F., Amy L., & Prouty, R. (2004). Child Labour, Education, and Children’s Rights. Washington, DC: Social Protection Unit, Human Development Network, World Bank

Bhalotra, R., & Zafiris, T. (2003). Child Labour: What Have We Learnt? Washington, DC: Social Protection Unit World Bank,

International Labour Organization. (2003). International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour. Wounded Childhood, Switzerland, Geneva: International Labour Organization

Introduction

Child labour is an illegal practise that has been in existence for a significant period. Many companies, including renowned multinational corporations, still practise child labour, despite the negative connotation associated with this practise (International Labour Organization, 2010).

The practise is rife in the developing world where regulatory frameworks are feeble and poverty levels are high. The practise of child labour is too common in these countries that it is considered as normality. This paper seeks to elaborate the reasons behind the use of child labour in some corporations and the general ways child labour affects the conditions of the children involved.

Literature Review

The assumption in many quarters is that child labour is a past practice that has been contained. However, many countries still practice the menace almost unabated. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 215 million children continued working as labourers across the world by the year 2010.

An overwhelming number amongst these children, about 115 million, performs potentially hazardous work (International Labour Organization, 2010, p. 4). In terms of regions, Africa has made the least progress in as far as efforts employed to address the practise are concerned. High poverty levels in Africa usually play a critical role in aggravating the situation (International Labour Organization, 2010, p. 4).

Companies consider the option of child labour as a measure of cutting down costs in the contemporary highly competitive global business perspective where companies compete with each other in search for markets. Most multinational corporations (MNCs) are relocating from their traditional homelands to establish operations in countries where labour costs are low (Rahman & Khanam, 2012, p. 63).

This, in turn, helps them to build some competitive advantage over their rivals because it lowers the overall operational costs. Developing countries offer a perfect alternative for the MNC’s to establish their production operations because there are fewer employment opportunities, despite the large populations.

High poverty levels in these countries further give the MNCs greater bargaining power when it comes to determining the wages of their workers (Wahba, 2006, p. 823).

Child labour in the least developed countries, by extension, allows the corporations to pay even lesser rates in wages. Children are willing to accept the lowest amounts of wages because of the harsh conditions in these countries. Some multinational corporations take full advantage of this situation and exploit children as labourers.

Children are also less concerned about other rights that adult workers would, otherwise, demand. The likelihood of child workers downing their tools and organising strikes, for instance, is minimal compared to adult workers (Wahba, 2006, p. 84). In other words, corporations are assured of minimal or zero interruptions in their operations when they employ child labour than when they employ adult workers.

One of the greatest impacts of child labour is its influence on school attendance. For instance, 38.9% of children between 10 and 14 years are economically active in Bangladesh, which is among the countries worst affected by child labour in the world.

This translates to 6.77 million children out of the country’s 17.43 million children (Khanam, 2008, p. 77). In total, 11% of the country’s overall labour force is made up of children between the ages of 10 and 14 years (Khanam, 2008, p. 77). It is critical to point out that children are supposed to be at school pursuing their education at this prime age.

Most households in the country use children as sources of earning livelihoods because of the high levels of poverty. Thus, the labour demands that the children are expected to fulfil denies them the opportunity to go about their schooling as usual.

Most parts of Bangladesh register low school attendance and poor grades in school (Khanam, 2008, p. 77). Most garment factories have established operations in the country and they seek to benefit from the cheap child labour that is available readily in most parts of the country (Heal, 2008, p. 166).

Research findings also indicate damaged physical, social, or mental development for children who engage in labour. The children who are employed as workers often suffer from malnutrition because of high poverty levels. Participating in physically strenuous activities for children already suffering from malnutrition increases their chances of experiencing stunted growth.

It is notable that child labourers are often shorter and lighter in weight compared to other children who do not participate in child labour. According to Rahman and Khanam (2012, p. 59), children working as labourers are at a higher risk of losing some critical body organs, thus ending up handicapped in the long run.

In Bangladesh, close to 0.6 million of the country’s 7.4-million child labour force gets injured or sick when performing their employment duties (Rahman & Khanam, 2012, p. 59).

This translates to 7.6% of the entire child labour force in the country suffering from injuries and handicap. Death incidents involving child workers are also reported. In 2000, for instance, up to ten children working for about $11 a month each died in a garment factory following a fire incident (Rahman & Khanam, 2012, p. 59).

The children also suffer emotionally because of consistent abuse that they are subjected to. The children lack sufficient playtime with their peers. This denies them an opportunity to socialize with their colleagues (Rahman & Khanam, 2012, p. 59).

Most children grow up as semi-skilled, semi-illiterate, or illiterate adults faced with unemployment or underemployment because of the little or total lack of the opportunity to attain an education. The adults suffer from poverty and subject their children to the same vicious cycle of child labour and lack of education (Rahman & Khanam, 2012, p. 59).

Case Illustration

NIKE and Child Labour

Nike has been outsourcing labour services from Pakistan where mainly children and mothers have manufactured its branded balls. The production of the company’s branded balls was aided by child labour at some point through its local partner firm SAGA sports.

Nike strengthened its monitoring of international laws to ensure that its business partners in Pakistan did not forfeit the stringent labour rules and laws of the company to support child labour (Boje & Khan, 2009, p. 9). It set up a code of conduct that requires all the business agents and partners in Pakistan to sign and adhere to before winning contracts.

The Pakistan government has established anti-child labour laws that seek to prohibit the use of underage children in industries as workers. The Pakistani government has attempted to enhance the related regulatory framework since the highlight of the Nike-child labour case.

However, Pakistan is a developing nation that still grapples with high poverty rates. The existing anti child labour laws are not implemented fully because the government looks at child labour as an opportunity for making more money for its impoverished population (Locke et al., 2007, p. 21).

Concerted efforts by various groups against the child labour practise raised the alarm against Nike’s illegal practice. These groups called for the boycott of Nike branded footballs as a way of expressing market displeasure towards the child labour practise that was being condoned by the firm. This pressure forced Nike to act with speed in eliminating the practise (Locke et al., 2007, p. 21).

Critical Review of the Case

Nike is a well established firm that originates from the USA, which is a first world country. The strict regulatory framework in the USA does not offer an opportunity for firms, such as Nike, to explore and exploit child labour.

As such, the company, together with other rival manufacturers such as Reebok, Adidas and Kmart, has established its football production activities in Pakistan (Montero, 2006, para 3). This is a strategic move by Nike to lower its operating costs as it seeks to optimise its overall revenues and profits.

The stringent labour policy and practice adopted by Nike forbidding practices such as child labour, however, pass as mere market gimmicks meant to hoodwink buyers. The corporate policies on child labour are formulated to align with the US national labour laws, but the firm does not necessarily intend to implement them.

It is clear that Nike does not enforce the application of its labour policies and practice, although its operations in Pakistan are overseen by a different entity. Nike’s poor supervision allows Saga Sports to flout the rules set out by both Nike and the international labour convention to enhance earnings (Miller, 2006, p. 14).

Nike only reacts after other concerned groups and societies raise an alarm over the unabated use of child labour. It is critical to point out that Nike cannot escape the blame, although it reacts by severing its contract links with Saga Sport. Nike usually accuses the contract firm for failure to observe the acknowledged labour practices (Montero, 2006, para 2).

Nike would have taken the lead in closely monitoring how Saga Sport conducted its operations if it had intended to follow its labour regulations and policy strictly. However, the focus on higher profits and business seem apparent in this case. Nike did not consider it as an illegal practise to employ children because Saga Sport gave it higher returns in its operations.

Nike’s concerns over Saga Sports’ actions only came to the fore after the societal groups threatened to initiate a market boycott for all Nike branded products (Miller, 2006, p. 15). The company’s business was facing a major threat that would have resulted in its exit from the market. This prompted Nike to save its face by taking drastic measures like ending its business contract with the local trade partner, Saga Sport, prematurely.

This position is highlighted further by the fact that other contracting firms working on the behalf of Nike in different countries have also been caught up in almost similar cases. In most instances, the contract firms do not observe the labour regulation laws and policies adopted by Nike, yet the firm does very little to monitor the situation.

The Pakistani government, on the other hand, is lenient in enforcing the internationally accepted labour regulations and practises. The economic challenges faced by the country, which have resulted in rising poverty cases, have seen the authorities condone such illegal practices.

In the eyes of the Pakistani government, Nike is looked at as a global firm that has a great potential of cushioning the local population from the biting poverty levels (Haan, 2011, p. 925). Thus, the main concern is on how to maintain the revenue earned as licensing fees and other taxation revenues, although the authorities may be aware of the illegal child labour practices involving Nike and Saga Sport.

The government is also satisfied that more of its population is engaged in employment by Nike, thus insisting on enforcing the labour regulations could trigger a backlash from the multinational. In other words, the child labour practise is a complex labour dilemma that might not be addressed effectively, even though efforts are put in place each year to address the practise (Haan, 2011, p. 925).

Child labour denies the children involved in it the opportunity to receive education. It also promotes unfair labour practices because children are remunerated less than the actual amount deserved (Rahman & Khanam, 2012, p. 60).

Conclusion

Child labour practise is still a thriving activity, despite the many counter efforts implemented to address the menace. Poor countries, mainly in Africa and Southern Asia, register higher instances of child labour. Multinational firms target these countries as the perfect destination to establish their operations because of the readily available and cheap labour.

Children workers are less likely to agitate for higher wages and involve themselves in strikes and go slows that would eventually interrupt performance in firms. The idea of maintaining low production costs is pushing firms into operating in poor countries as market competition intensifies amongst rival industry players. Multinationals enjoy a higher bargaining power in terms of wages and salary negotiations in poor countries.

Nike has exploited this trend by condoning child labour practise in Pakistani, although its labour policies and practices admonish child labour strictly. The multinational firms are interested in higher revenues and profits and they use available loopholes to condone the practise until such a time when concerns are raised by other industry players.

Strict international labour laws should be enforced by the ILO. Companies that do not abide by the laws should be fined heavily to address this global challenge. Consumer groups also need to take a leading supervisory role in initiating global boycott campaigns targeting companies that are found guilty of condoning the practise of child labour.

List of References

Boje, DM, & Khan, FR 2009, ‘Story-branding by empire entrepreneurs: Nike, child labour, and Pakistan’s soccer ball industry’, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 9-24.

Haan, SC 2011, ‘Federalizing the foreign corporate form’, St. John’s Law Review, vol. 85, no. 3, pp. 925-1008.

Heal, GM 2008, When principles pay: Corporate social responsibility and the bottom line, Columbia University Press, Ney York, NY.

Khanam, R 2008, ‘Child labour and school attendance: evidence from Bangladesh’, International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 77-98.

Locke, R, Kochan, T, Romis, M, & Qin, F 2007, ‘Beyond corporate codes of conduct: Work organization and labour standards at Nike’s suppliers’, International Labour Review, vol. 146, no. 1, pp. 21-40.

Miller, J 2006, Nike to the rescue? Economic Affairs Bureau, Somerville.

Montero, D 2006, ‘Nike’s dilemma: Is doing the right thing wrong? A child labor dispute could eliminate 4,000 Pakistani jobs’, The Christian Science Monitor. Web.

Rahman, MM, & Khanam, R 2012, ‘Child labour: the effects of globalisation’, The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 59-71.

International Labour Organization, 2010, The global challenge of child labour: Going for the goal. Web.

Wahba, J 2006, ‘The influence of market wages and parental history on child labour and schooling in Egypt’, Journal of Population Economics, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 823-852.