Essay on Poverty, Education and Labor - 3822 Words

Poverty, Education and Labor In 2002 the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 210 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 were working, nearly half full time. While this statistic is troubling in and of itself, perhaps even more troubling is that for most of these children work takes the place of school. As poverty forces children into labor throughout the developing world, Third World populations remain stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty that cannot be broken until education is the primary occupation of school-age children. Many politicians and mainstream media members advocate strict child labor protection laws or mandatory school attendance laws as a quick fix to the child labor problem. However,†¦show more content†¦The Progresa program in Mexico and a Food-For-Education program in Bangledesh provide evidence that school subsidization is an effective first step in fighting child labor. Before proposing a solution to the problem of child labor we must first examine the factors that force poverty-stricken parents to send their children to work. Without understanding the causes of child labor there is no way to come up with a solution that addresses these causes. The primary cause of child labor is poverty. Evidence clearly shows that child labor is overwhelmingly a problem experienced in poor, undeveloped, and largely rural economies. In Pakistan, for example, 70% of the child labor force works in agriculture. (Pakistan FBS, 1996). Numbers for other Asian countries and for Africa are similar. Currently the largest number of working children, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of the population, are found in sub-Saharan Africa and the developing regions of Asia. These regions are the worlds’ poorest. Because child labor today is overwhelmingly a problem of the Third World, one might suppose that it is cultural rather than economic factors that cause child labor. If that were the case then there would be no blanket solution for child labor, rather each country would need to confront its own cultural issues on an individual basis. The disappearance of child labor in America and Europe duringShow MoreRelatedChild Labor Is Not An Effective Way For India1533 Words   |  7 Pagesour goods. All around the world, child labor is one of the most widely social issues affecting the younger population, specifically, in India. For the children of India, work becomes a nightmare based on suffering and mistreatment. While children have no choice but to be independent and forced to work, it can be a big influence on the child’s education, life, health, and development. Where child labor is deeply rooted from tradition, the causes of child labor are difficult and complex belief s andRead MoreChild Labour And Child Labor1600 Words   |  7 PagesChild Labor Issues There are children that suffer through child labor daily. Child labor is the use of children in a business or industry, usually illegal. â€Å"3 billion people around the world survive on $2.50 a day or less. And 2 billion people do not hold a bank account or have access to essential financial services† (â€Å"Living in Poverty†1). Children that are normally in labor come from a poor family that’s in need of money so badly that it comes down to selling their own children or puttingRead Moreâ€Å"When People In The United States Think Of ChildrenS Rights1722 Words   |  7 Pageschildren in third world countries who are victims of abusive child labor practices or insurmountable poverty† (Wilson 1). However, in reality it is not just in third world countries, it is also in the United States. 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Although poverty may be overshadowed by such recent event such as the raise in minimum wages in California, it is still something that society should still be concern about because it can only get worse from hereRead MoreThe Issue Of Child Labor1196 Words   |  5 PagesThe issue of child labor has drawn significant attention since early 1990s as many labor union and special interest groups advocate banning import of goods produced by the child labor in developing countries and the international consensus in the form of Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC) which is widely ratified in 1989 by countries (Boyden, Ling and Myers, 1998). However, concern regarding child labor is not new and can be dated back to industrial revolution, especially late eighteenthRead MoreThe Nature Of Child Labor1626 Words   |  7 Pageshazardous work conditions† (ILO). Child labor is not a new phenomenon by any means; it has been going on for years and has become a social issue. This paper aims to portray the nature of child labor in India. It looks at the definition of child labor, the prevalence, and factors that lead children to work. Definition Often time people assume that the meaning of child labor is clear-cut. However, there is little consensus on who is a child, and what constitutes labor. Jha (2009) states, â€Å"there is no universalRead MoreThe Effects Of Child Labor On The Chocolate Industry1669 Words   |  7 PagesThe Effects of Child Labor in the Chocolate Industry: December 6, 2015, was an important day for many Americans, as it marked the 150th year since the abolishment of slavery when the U.S. authorized the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to end what can be described as the darkest chapter of American history. Many in Western Society seem to be unaware of the contemporary slavery still plaguing many developing countries, particularly involving children. The 2010 documentary film called The Dark SideRead MorePoverty Is The State Of Being Extremely Poor1618 Words   |  7 PagesPoverty is generally regarded as the state of being extremely poor. While this is true, this state can only be judged as a rel ation to a given social or economic state. In light of this, a better way to define poverty would be; the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions (Merriam-Webster). Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways. Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty