Child Labor issues, solutions

Essay by kandiaisaA+, November 2002

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Where does it occur and why?

Children in almost all societies do one kind of work or another. But the extent and nature of their work are influenced mainly by the structure of the economy and the level and pace of development.

Children work on the land and in the village; in and around the home; on the streets; in the crafts and trading; in plantations, in mines and factories. They are found almost everywhere under varying forms and terms of employment. Many work as unpaid family labor, but a growing number are also found working as wage laborer, casually hired, just as casually fired.

They are mostly found nearly everywhere. No one is sure how many children work because of child laborers are largely hidden from the world. This is what the International Labor Office (ILO) said in a survey made in 1993:

oAsia has the highest numbers of child workers- forty-four million in India alone.

oLatin America countries have up to twenty-six percent of children at work.

oAfrican countries as many as twenty per cent of the children are reported to be working, and child workers make up as much as seventeen per cent of the workforce.

oIn Europe, high concentrations of children work in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

oIn the USA hundreds of thousands of children work in agriculture and garment factories.

There are several reasons on why children work. Poverty is widely considered the top reason why children work at inappropriate jobs for their ages. Most children that are forced to work are economically disadvantaged. Either their country as a whole is disadvantaged, or just their family. A child goes out to work to contribute to the family or personal income. Also, they often they work by choice to make extra pocket money for...