“CHILD LABOR”
ABOUT THE ISSUE
"Child labor" is, generally
speaking, work for children that harms them or exploits them in some ways (physically, mentally,
morally, or by blocking access to education). There is no universally accepted
definition of "child labor". Varying definitions of the term are used
by international organizations, non-governmental organizations, trade unions
and other interest groups.
International conventions also define
"child labor" as activities such as soldiering and prostitution. Not
everyone agrees with this definition. Some child workers themselves think that
illegal work (such as prostitution) should not be considered in the definition
of "child labor." The reason: These child workers would like to be
respected for their legal work, because they feel they have no other choice but
to work.
Child labor is not an easy issue to
resolve; while it seems noble to immediately withdraw investments and
cooperation with firms and factories that employ child labor it may do more harm than good.
Many of these children are from very poor families and work to pay for their
family and/or their education. Depriving them of this income has led to some
children seeking different, lower paid work, and even prostitution in some
cases. Other ways with schemes to help children would likely be needed so that
this labor can be phased out. The same has been suggested by the International
Labor Organization (ILO), at a meeting in Mexico City in 1999, who also pointed
out that child
labor affects over 250 million children.
According
to UNICEF, USA is the country that have ratified the United Nation's
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
WHERE DO CHILD LABORERS LIVE?
61% in
Asia, 32% in Africa, and 7% in Latin America, 1% in US, Canada, Europe and
other wealthy nations In Asia, 22% of the workforce is children. In Latin
America, 17% of the workforce is children.
A large proportion of children whom the ILO
classifies as child laborers work in agriculture. More boys than girls work
outside their homes. But more girls work in some jobs: for instance, as
domestic maids, being a maid in someone’s house can be risky. Maids typically
are cut off from friends and family, and can easily be physically or sexually
abused by their employers.
CHILD LABORS IN USA
Forms of child labor, including indentured servitude and child
slavery, have existed throughout American history. As industrialization moved
workers from farms and home workshops into urban areas and factory work,
children were often preferred, because factory owners viewed them as more
manageable, cheaper, and less likely to strike. Growing opposition to child
labor in the North caused many factories to move to the South. By 1900, states
varied considerably in whether they had child labor standards and in their
content and degree of enforcement. By then, American children worked in large
numbers in mines, glass factories, textiles, agriculture, canneries, home
industries, and as newsboys, messengers, bootblacks, and peddlers.
In the early decades of the twentieth century, the numbers of
child laborers in the U.S. peaked. Child labor began to decline as the labor
and reform movements grew and labor standards in general began improving,
increasing the political power of working people and other social reformers to
demand legislation regulating child labor. Union organizing and child labor
reform were often intertwined, and common initiatives were conducted by
organizations led by working women and middle class consumers, such as state
Consumers’ Leagues and Working Women’s Societies. These organizations generated
the National Consumers’ League in 1899 and the National Child Labor Committee
in 1904, which shared goals of challenging child labor, including through
anti-sweatshop campaigns and labeling programs. The National Child Labor
Committee’s work to end child labor was combined with efforts to provide free,
compulsory education for all children, and culminated in the passage of the
Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, which set federal standards for child labor.
Is there Child Labor in America?
The following are the data compiled by or sponsored by the ILO's
Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC),
along with data from national statistical agencies and other sources. Regarding
the countries that employ children by age group (10-14).
Africa
|
Arab
States
|
Asia
and the Pacific
|
Europe and Central
Asia
|
Latin
America and Caarinbean
|
Lebanon
|
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|
Bolivia
|
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|
Estonia
Romania
|
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|
Pakistan
|
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Thailand
Vietnam
|
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|
Jamaica
|
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|
Zambia
|
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From the
data compiled by or sponsored by the ILO's Statistical Information and
Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC), along with data from national
statistical agencies and other sources. Regarding the countries That employ
children by age group (10-14). We can see that only countries like : Africa,
Arab States, Asia and The Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and
Carribean, that employ the children by age group 10-14. Whereas American countries not included in the list of
countries that employ children by age 10-14.
On the other
hand, that does not mean there are not
Child Labor in America. In wealthy country like America, there are still child
labor, but in a very small percentage. Here is data about the existence of
child labor in America: 61% in Asia, 32% in Africa, and 7% in Latin America, 1% in US,
Canada, Europe and other wealthy nations. In Asia, 22% of the workforce is
children. In Latin America, 17% of the workforce is children. The proportion of
child laborers varies a lot among countries and even regions inside those
countries. See Child Labour: Targeting the Intolerable, Geneva, 1998, and other
ILO publications. "In Africa, one child in three is at work, and in Latin
America, one child in five works. In both these continents, only a tiny
proportion of child workers are involved in the formal sector and the vast
majority of work is for their families, in homes, in the fields
or on the streets." --
Unicef’s 1997 State of the World’s Children Report
Is There Child
Labor in America?
Yes, if you are talking about "child labor" as defined
by the US law. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the minimum working age as 15,
with some exceptions.
In
the United States: An estimated 290,200 children were unlawfully employed in
1996. Some — it’s not clear how many — were "older teens working a few too
many hours in after-school jobs." About 59,600 were younger than age 14,
and some 13,100 worked in garment sweatshops, according to an Associated Press
series on child labor published in December 1997. Unicef’s 1997 State of the
World’s Children Report says "The growth of the service sector and the
quest for a more flexible workforce in industrialized countries, such as the
United Kingdom and the US, have contributed to an expansion of child
labour."
"Hundreds
of thousands" of children work in US agriculture, according to a report by
Human Rights Watch published in June 2000.
After made a comparison and did the research about child labor between America, China and Indonesia. The result is, the percentage of Child Labor in America is very small.
1. The number of children working in China. The 10 million children out of school, over 5 million working in factories. It has reported in Sichuan, China’s most populated province. 85% of children drop out of school, They working elsewhere. Even in some less populated rural provinces, over 20% of the work force is made up of children
2. Over the past years, the number of child laborers has been increasing in Indonesia. 6.5 million of children work as laborers, around 2.4 million work in the formal sector or in companies. ''More and more Indonesian children are forced to work because of the economic crisis,'' says Samidi Adi Martono, director of labor standards and supervision of the manpower ministry.
What lies
behind the small percentage of child labor in America?
Percentage child labor in America is very small, only 1%. Why did this happen? What is the reason?
It's because of economic issue. Economics is the main problem that can creating child working as laborers, especially in developing countries like Indonesia and China. Indonesia and China have the low income per capita . Parents get overwhelmed to cover their living cost. They can't fulfilling their obligation to give the good food and education. As a consequences children need to work to buy their food and another daily needs. In contrast, America is categorized as a country with high income per capita. Parents not only concerned about the food but education.
Another reason is because of the human rights regulations. America is a country that really respect the human rights. The right to life and the right to get a good education become a priority in this country. They believe that building a country is not only the responsibility of adults but the next generation, so it is necessary to prepare the children.
study
case :
Fair Labor
Standards Act: An Overview of Federal Child Labor Laws
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes child labor
standards (as well as minimum wage, overtime pay, equal pay, whistleblower, and
record keeping standards). These standards affect full-time and part-time
workers in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments. The
FLSA's child labor provisions are designed to protect the educational
opportunities of minors and prohibit their employment in jobs and under
conditions detrimental to their health or well-being. The FLSA regulates
child labor by:
(a)
setting minimum ages for jobs that have been determined to be particularly hazardous
(b)
setting minimum ages for all other jobs (that is, jobs that are not considered
particularly hazardous)
(c)
limiting the hours that children are permitted to work.
CHILD
LABORS IN CHINA
One of the major social problems in
China is child labor. Children in China are an abundant source of labor. In some areas of China children make
up ten to twenty percent of the work force. Many companies prefer child labor
because children are cheap, obedient and agile enough to maneuver in small
machine-cramped work areas.
The Compulsory Education Law of the
Chinese constitution states that all children under the age of 16 must go to
school and are not allowed to hold full-time jobs. However, the government does
little to prevent privately owned industrial or commercial firms from hiring
children. Up to ten percent of Chinese children hold full time jobs instead of
going to school each year.
Parents allow their children to work
because many Chinese feel school doesn't provide skills that have immediate or
realistic advantages. Many poor families cannot afford the expenses of school,
and the children go to work in order to support the family. Work is often seen
as more beneficial than school. The Chinese government sees child labor as one
way to combat poverty and does little to enforce the laws against it. The
companies are more interested in their economic investments than the status of
their workers. So far there have not been any convincing signs that the
situation will improve or that the issue has become a priority for the Chinese
government.
study case :
They
Bind their children use string or chain. It forced to be done by workers in China. they did this as
long as they were working as daily laborers in the factories.They tied a rope
to a window located at the plant in Jiaxing, China's Southeast section. The
workers were forced to bind their children because there are no ones to keep
the kids while they work.
Children
who have an average infant is the youngest child in the family. They come with
their parents who every day spend more time up to 10 hours worked in a factory
which is very dusty and it is not suitable for toddlers.That way was at very uncomfortable for the kids. But
that way is better than removing them
without supervision and may lead to child accidents. Indeed this is tragic
enough, because the children of factory workers were get the same treatment
from their parents.
Usually they try to pull the rope that bound
them just to be closer with other children (which are also being bound) so that
they can play together. Not infrequently they are crying because they do not
get attention from her parents whose work.
This
happens because in that location there is no daycare for the child. Unlike Chuanliu Chen, worked as a
rickshaw puller and his wife as a garbage collector in the province of
Zhejiang. They both had their children chained. So that their 2 years old boy do not playing on the highway without
supervision. But the children was so lucky because the head of child care freed
the fees for them. Factory workers had already become one of alternative
employment for persons aged 16-40 in China.
CHILD LABORS IN INDONESIA
Child
labour in Indonesia is a growing problem. This problem can grow quite
significantly because of thr economic factors, cultural factors, market demand
factors, and industrial relocation. Most people blame economic factors as the
cause of child labour in Indonesia. They claim that the parents’ economic
condition which is not able to support the need of the children become the main
reason why parents put the children in the working environment at early age.
However, market demands are another important reason for child labour in
Indonesia. Company owners tend to like child labour because they assume that
child labour is easier to handle. These children do not ask much from company.
They are also easier to be managed because they are more obedient. The company
owners will also spend less money because the wage for these labour is far less
than the normal labours. In certain conditions, the quality of the work of
these child labour is also better than adults. The next reason for child labour
in Indonesia is the cultural factors. In certain culture, sending children to
work at early age is something common because they think it will the children
and teach them about responsibility. However, in many cases these children are
send because of economic factors, so they still have to work hard. Finally,
industrial relocation is another factor contributing to the child labour.
Indonesia receives a lot of industrial relocation from East Asia as well as
South East Asia countries. Industries need workers. Due to that reason,
children are utilized as additional labour. In certain areas, children are
employed as sub contract workers. Their parents work and the children need to
help their parents finish the job.
Child labour in
Indonesia is divided into two big groups; those working at the formal sectors
and those working at the informal sectors. The children working in formal
sectors are those who work at factories and industries. They are preferable
because they have lower salary and demand. In the informal sectors, children
are also used especially to help out in house work. Young girls are employed in
houses to help take care of the children, assist in house chores and as play
mates for the house owner’s children. These child labours are also used in
service sectors. They are required to sell goods because they are more suitable
in promoting the products and they will also attract more sympathy from the
customers.
In Indonesia, child
labour is not banned as long as it justifies with the standards from the
government. In Permenaker No. 01/1967 about
children who are forced to work, it is stated that employing children above 14
years old, with the condition that the location is not dangerous, the working
hour is not more than 4 hours per day and the permission for education is not
banned should be allowed. Unfortunately, many employers do not obey this rule
and the number of child labour in Indonesia keeps increasing from year to year.
Study Case:
Many children work on jermals. Jermals are large fishing
boats. Most of the workers on the boats are children. Few are adults. Some of
the children work in the fish factories a few miles from the shore of
Indonesia. The tasks involved include catching, sorting, and boiling fish.
During the twelve hours a day that most of the workers work through, they haul
gigantic nets onto the boat. The work is torturous.
The working conditions are terrible. Not
only are their daytime hours tough, but also they sleep in rusty and dirty
shacks. The workplace is filthy, dangerous, and filled with the stench of fish.
Some people’s fingernails fall off. Some suffer from stings attained from
jellyfish or sea snakes caught in the nets. Many workers get injured, but the
only relief they get is from aspirin and bandages. Although the workers labor
for twelve hours a day, in one month, they may be paid a meager nine dollars.
Working on a jermals is difficult and often painful.
At
02.00 AM these children are awaken by the overseer and they must lift the nets
with hand pulley. This process is usually called grinding process. After this
grinding process, the workers have to sort catching result. They group the
fish, squid and prawn. After sorting, the next process is boiling so that the
fish will not be rotten. The boiled fish are then dried. Every 2 hours, these workers must do the
grinding process until the fish are dried. Sometimes they also have to jumping
to the sea to fix the torn nets. Because they work hard, these workers are
isolated and do not know any information. These jermals workers are usually
aged 14-16 years old, but there are some aged 12 years old
MEDIA ANALYSIS
In
Chinese Factory
Apple Admits Child Labor Used to Build
iPods and iPhones
Technology
giant Apple has admitted that child labour has been employed at some of the
factories that build its iPods, computers and mobile phones. An audit found
that at least eleven 15-year-old children were found to be working in three
factories that supply Apple in the last year.
Apple has factories which
supply parts in Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, the U.S., the Czech Republic,
Malaysia and the Philippines, but most of its products are assembled in China.
The audit also found one facility had attempted to conceal evidence of
employing underage labor, while two others had falsified records relating to
the number of working hours and days of rest employees were receiving. Apple
has been repeatedly criticized for using factories which abuse workers and
impose harsh conditions on workers.
It said: 'When Apple
investigated further, we uncovered additional records and conducted worker
interviews that revealed excessive working hours and seven days of continuous
work.
'Based on
the repeat core violation and inadequate actions, Apple is terminating all
business with this facility.' The report also found 35 per cent of staff were
paying incorrect wages, with 24 factories in China paying less than the
national minimum wage of £76 a month. Three facilities were stopped from
disposing of hazardous waste after they were found to have employed
non-certified disposal companies.
And 20
facilities were found to be conducting pregnancy tests on workers before
employing them. Apple has not stopped using those factories to make components.
Last year, the company found a total of 25 child workers had been employed to
make iPods and iPhones.
After the
auditors came to investigate child labor in factories apple and found a few
facts found one facility Had attempted to Conceal evidence of employing
underage labor, while two Others Had falsified records relating to the number
of working hours and days of rest receiving. Apple Were employees has been
repeatedly criticized for using Factories Which abuse workers and impose harsh
conditions on workers. This news is highlight from KOMPAS Newspaper in
Indonesia.
In
Indonesian Factory
Nike Accused of "Slave" Child
Labor
An Indonesian
labor advocate said that American shoe maker Nike Inc. is employing Indonesian children
under 16 years old to produce their athletic sneakers, confirming an earlier
report by an American lobbying group that the children work in sweatshops like
"slaves."
Indera Nababan of the
non-profit Yakoma PGI labor advocacy organization said on Monday that the
employees are paid the official minimum wage of 5,200 Indonesian rupiah (US
$2.17) per day, which is "just enough to survive to the following day to
work again."
"How can you live with
[$2.17] in an expensive metropolis like Jakarta," asked Nababan, adding
that Nike Inc. has more than a dozen subcontractors in Indonesia, one of which,
PT Nikomas Gemilang, based about 100 kilometers west of Jakarta in Serang,
employs child workers, he said.
American media
reported earlier this month that NBA star Michael Jordan and his club the
Chicago Bulls are indirectly involved in the child labor dispute on the grounds
that the basketball players promote Nike sneakers and in particular the Air
Jordan basketball shoes.
A Jakarta-based American
analyst also defended Nike, saying that
The Indonesian government
increased the minimum wage of blue collar workers from 4,600 to 5,200
Indonesian rupiah earlier this year. The increase, however, was heavily
criticized by businessmen, arguing that it is a financial burden.
Some executives of middle and
small companies even refused to obey the minimum wage regulation, creating
tension between labor activists, the government and the business community in
Indonesia, which hosts the largest Moslem population in the world.
After the
media highlighted the child labor in nike company located in Indonesia,
Indonesia raise wages for their workers' Nike does not employ the workers
directly.
This news is highlight from
Albion Monitor/News.
CULTURE REFERENCE
In US
Child
labor or slavery have been revealed early decades of the twentieth century, the
numbers of child laborers in the U.S. peaked. Today, child labor began to
decline; labor standards in general began improving, in case of increasing the
political power of working people and other social reformers to demand
legislation regulating child labor. There are so many organizations that refuse
child labor because it’s offensive to the human right. These organizations
generated the National Consumers’ League in 1899 and the National Child Labor
Committee in 1904, which shared goals of challenging child labor, including
through anti-sweatshop campaigns and labeling programs. In wealthy country like America, there are still child
labor, but in a very small percentage. We have 7% in Latin America, 1% in US and Canada. What can make
child labor so small in America? First, the economic growth in America is very
good, so that welfare can already be felt by almost all American society. The
second reason is because America is a country that really respects human
rights. Many regulations and laws that protecting the human rights, especially
for the rights of children and now America has The Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA) establishes child labor standards as well as minimum wage, overtime pay,
equal pay, whistleblower, and record keeping standards.
In China
In
China, some areas are making up 10% - 20% of the work force for children. The
Compulsory Education Law of the Chinese constitution states that all children
under the age of 16 must go to school and are not allowed to hold full-time
jobs. However, the government does little to prevent privately owned industrial
or commercial firms from hiring children. Up to 10% of Chinese children hold
full time jobs instead of going to school each year. Parents allow their
children to work because many Chinese feel school doesn't provide skills that
have immediate or realistic advantages. Many poor families cannot afford the
expenses of school, and the children go to work in order to support the family.
Work is often seen as more beneficial than school. The Chinese government sees
child labor as one way to combat poverty and does little to enforce the laws
against it.
In Indonesia
Child
labour in Indonesia grow quite significantly because there are economic
factors, cultural factors, market demand factors, and industrial relocation. market
demands is a reason
for child labour in Indonesia because company owners state that child labour is easier to handle, do not demand too much from the
company owners, easier to
be managed because they are more obedient, spend
less money because the wage is far less than the normal labours. In certain
conditions, the quality of the work of these child labour is also better than
adults. In certain culture, responsibility is common needed to educate children by
working in early age to get something. In many cases these children are sent because of economic factors, so
they still have to work hard. Last,
industrial relocation is another factor contributing to the child labour. Due
to that reason, children are utilized as additional labour. In certain areas,
children are employed as sub contract workers. Their parents work and the
children need to help their parents finish the job. There are 2
groups child labour
in Indonesia,
the formal sectors
and the informal sectors. The children working in formal sectors are those who
work at factories and industries, the
informal sectors, children are also used especially to help out in house work.
CONCLUSION
We have done the analysis and comparison of the three countries, America, Indonesia and
China. The number of children that working in China is about 10 million. Over 5 million children working in factories. Over the past years, the number of child laborers has been increasing in Indonesia. 6.5 million of children work as laborers, 2.4 million of children working in the formal sector. There are few under age children who work in America, 1% only.
References:
http://www.atimes.com/se-asia/BF24Ae01.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01908/800/chinarussia.htm#indonesia
http://homeport.tcs.tulane.edu/~rouxbee/kids99/china2.html
http://english.kompas.com/read/2010/02/28/13140863/Apple.Admits.Child.Labour.Used.to.Build.iPods.and.iPhones.
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