Cross-cultural ethics and the child labor problem

ABSTRACTThis article examines the ways in which the problem of child labour has been perceived and addressed, from the beginnings of social concern about these issues until the present, with illustrations from The Netherlands and Indonesia. National and international responses to the problem of child labour reflect a number of assumptions which are almost completely at odds with the views and the preferences of children themselves. Paradoxically, powerful lobbies in some of the world's wealthiest countries – which cannot enforce, and in some cases are beginning to relax, their own child labour laws – are trying to insist that the developing countries tighten and/or enforce their laws, under the threat of various forms of sanction or boycott. These increasingly active threats make it highly inadvisable for any exporting country to acknowledge the existence of children's employment at all, for example by protective legislation or other efforts to promote the improvement of children's working conditions.

Until a few decades ago, ethical issues were defined in terms of fraudulent behavior and workplace working conditions, but the concept itself has now expanded. Child labor, considered cheap and easily manageable labor in the globalizing world, is one of the chronic problems of many developing and developed countries, including Turkey. Recent studies show that child’s work areas are increasingly diversified, and child labor has become an important factor in the global cheap labor market. For whatever reason, it is a universal ethical issue that children work as young adults in many different sectors, from mining to textiles and agriculture to the automotive industry. In this context, the issue of child labor in Turkey has been discussed in the context of business ethics principles. In the study, three main factors were determined as demographic, educational life, and business life variables as the determinants of the reasons for the involvement of children in work life. The multinomial logit model was used to test the relationships between the variables. The research used data from 1128 children in employment obtained from the Child Labor Force Research Micro Data Set carried out by the Turkish Statistical Institute in 2019. According to the results of the research, it has been determined that the variables related to the education life (educational status of the child, family education status, apprenticeship education status) and the variables related to the business life (working sector, working time, income and family working status) affect the working reasons of children. As a result, in an environment of increasing cooperation and competition between countries with the effect of globalization, each country’s reflection of a common definition of child labor in its own national legislation is one of the most important steps to be taken in preventing child labor. In addition, in underdeveloped and developing countries, eliminating poverty, expanding school attendance conditions, and raising awareness about the existence of children’s rights as individuals will be important steps. It must be admitted that it will not be possible to end child labor in all its aspects without developing a society, and public and private sector management that acts with a sense of ethical responsibility.

The problem of child labour is pernicious which has not only affected the developing countries but has whipsawed the developed countries as well. India has introduced ample of legislations and policies but it has been lacking in its enforcements whereas America does not have enough laws to address the issues of child labour. Despite the fact, both the countries with their endeavour have seen reduction in cases of child labour but even then, the problem seems to persist involving children in hazardous work. Therefore, in order to obviate child labour both countries need a balanced combination of legislations and their implementation to remove this evil from our society.

Objectives: Child labor is a problem that needs attention especially in developing countries The pandemic of Covid-19 has given it a spurt. Previously conducted studies on child labor remained focused on existence, causes and magnitude of this universal dilemma. Several measures at national and international level have been taken to eradicate it but could not get succeed fully. There is a need to explore the experiences and problems of working children from which they use to pass through. The needs of working children should get highlighted so that some suitable measures can be taken to make the condition better. However, this research is aimed to exploring psychological, physical, social, workplace, familial needs and problems faced by child labor further to find out some feasible alternative solutions. Design of the Study: Qualitative design and thematic analysis was used to compile results. Place and Duration: Working children in field were interviewed from two cities of Punjab Pakistan Multan and Jhung respectively from May 2022 to July 2022. Sample and Method: Total 19 working children including two girls under the age limit of 16 have interviewed from different workplaces as workshops, hospital, hotel and tea stall. Purposive sampling technique was used to include participants. Semi structured interviews have conducted with participant’s consent. Results and Conclusion: Data has been analyzed through method of thematic analysis. Eight super themes have been derived namely “Covid closure, low income cause of work and children’s will”, “Personal needs, beating, and poverty creates sadness”, “Face familial health problems, family disputes and financial problems”, “Scolding and beating at workplace and from general people”, “We are okay as we are, have no other solutions except Allah or hard work”, “Like study but need financial support and teacher’s good behavior in school and awareness”, “Work adjustment with time, social examples and personal experiences forms concepts about education job and work”, “Earning, exposure, supportive behavior of family and work master creates happiness and develops a sense of responsibility” from the gathered data. The present study highlights the experiences, needs and problems of child labor.

Despite popular belief, the problem of illegal child labor has not been remedied. The practice persists in the United States and even appears to be increasing. Levine, an acknowledged expert in the field, reveals the nature and magnitude of this old problem in today's economy. Levine explains that since 1981, there has been a relaxation in enforcement of federal child labor law provisions. He presents the complicated elements and troubling implications of a problem that has come to be ignored or overlooked in American society, focusing especially on matters of occupational health and safety. This book is important reading for the general public, as well as for scholars and policymakers involved with children's and labor issues in the United States. The United States has more of its children in the workforce than any other developed country. They are found in textile, jewelry, and machine shops in New York and New Jersey, in Southeast supermarkets operating meat-cutting machines and paper-box bailers, in Washington state selling candy door-to-door, and in farming operations throughout the country.

The Third World cities have been reinvented by the forces of globalization as the destinations of new investments, causing the migration of a teeming million to the major urban centers without any corresponding increase in the creation of new jobs and other basic amenities required for decent living. The problem of child labor has also been exacerbated to an unprecedented level in the urban areas of the Third World countries during this period. Yet the dominant discourses on this problem have come from the Western observers or have some prior Western presence in its understanding of the problem, which defers the Third Worldly understanding of the situation. The author argues that a paradigm shift is needed to incorporate various local discourses in order to effectively address the problem of child labor. Based on a decade of fieldwork among the poor and marginalized population in the city of Kolkata, Child Labor and the Urban Third World will give readers an idea of how this problem has become inextricably bound with various other local conditions, such as the security of tenure in the houses.

The world has accomplished progress in human right and child education under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the goal that comprises end modern slavery and human trafficking and secures the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms, nevertheless, child labor issues are continuing to spread to many countries in the world. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to address the issue of child labor and factor that help to eliminate child labor issues in Malaysia. Data were collected through an online survey; the participants included twenty-nine (29) Malaysian civil services. The finding of this research indicated that, although the cost for hiring the children is low compare to the adult as highlighted in supply and demand side, few factors preventing community to use the child as a laborer like religion, awareness/knowledge, humanity, ethic, and culture, therefore, there must be a child labor policy that eliminates all forms of child labor in Malaysia. This research is carried values to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in enhancing the policy to end child labor, reduce poverty and hunger, and improves the quality of education; thus, this research carries values to the minister of labor and social affairs in enhancing the policy on human resources development.

Does child labour increase unemployment and reduce labour force participation? Empirical evidence from Jordan

Child labor may be linked to criminal activities. This is particularly the case with child pornography, prostitution and the use of children in the drug trade. The use of child labor in these activities involves the type of abuse that understandably led to the inclusion of sexual and criminal exploitation of children as one of the worst forms of child labor. In examining sexual and criminal exploitation and trafficking of children, one can see both the rationale for connecting child labor with the broader human rights agenda and the controversial nature of such a link. The inclusion of sexual and criminal exploitation in C 182 has been criticized on the grounds that these are not child labor issues, but rather issues of international criminal law. International standards on trafficking are an essential part of eliminating the sexual and criminal exploitation of children.Keywords: child labor; criminal exploitation; international criminal law; sexual exploitation; trafficking

Undoubtedly, the issue of child labor constitutes a form of severe violation of human rights due to its detrimental effects on the mental, physical, and social development of children, as well as the restriction of their freedoms and the deprivation of their right to education. It also contributes to supporting and encouraging school dropout. Despite the fact that all constitutions and international agreements emphasize the protection of human rights in general, and the right to education in particular, as a fundamental pillar for societal growth and development, studies and reports indicate that a large number of children have been forced to leave school and work under exploitative conditions, where they have been subjected to various human rights violations, without receiving the legal protection needed to safeguard their rights or to deter and punish those responsible for these serious violations. Thus, the research problem arises from the legislative deficiencies in addressing the issue of child labor and its contribution to the phenomenon of school dropout, in addition to the lack of effective monitoring mechanisms to control this phenomenon. Moreover, there is a failure to impose strict penalties on those involved in it. Therefore, the research is divided into two sections: the first section discusses the legal framework for child labor and its consequences, while the second section addresses the implications of child labor on school dropout. The conclusion will include several findings and recommendations, including ignorance, backwardness, and the lack of intellectual awareness among parents regarding the importance of education and its role in preventing the exploitation of children and shaping their personalities, which in turn impacts the growth and development of society. Furthermore, the laws fail to address the seriousness of the consequences of child labor and school dropout, including the inadequacy of legal provisions and the lack of regulatory mechanisms that ensure the right to education for all children, while also preventing their exploitation in any form and protecting them from human rights violations.

ABSTRACTThe problem of child labor is worse in Myanmar than nearly anywhere else in the world. Moreover, unlike in many other countries where this practice occurs, in Myanmar, child labor is conducted openly and is widely socially accepted. While one of the driving factors behind the practice is, unsurprisingly, poverty, here I will demonstrate that other reasons contribute as well. Drawing on my own field research interviews conducted in December 2017, as well as philosophical analysis, I show that these reasons include, in addition to poverty, poor quality of public education, deeply rooted, strategic injustice in the form of an unfair matriculation exam, and gender inequity in the job market. By wedding theoretical inquiry with empirical investigation, I aim to both explicate the problem and to propose potential solutions.

Currently in Indonesia child labor is not a new issue because in almost all regions in Indonesia there are still many underage children working. but not in accordance with the regulations that have been made by the government, labor issues and child labor are problems that need serious attention, regulation and supervision from the government. This study aims to analyze the considerations that must be made by the government in overcoming the problem of child labor. The problems studied in this study are about how the form of government supervision of child labor and government supervision procedures for child labor. so that how the function of government supervision of child labor and how the government's responsibility for this and has the aim of examining and analyzing how government policies in protecting child labor are in accordance with the supervisory function, what factors influence the government's responsibility to increase efforts to protect child labor.The method used in analyzing and discussing the problem of Government Supervision of Child Labor is Normative Juridical. This type of research is descriptive-analytical, the sources of legal materials used are primary legal materials and secondary legal materials. research techniques are carried out through literature review followed by descriptive analysis using qualitative methods.The results show that the government has an important responsibility to protect child labor. What the government must consider is ensuring that there is effective supervision to protect child labor. The government also needs to implement clear policies and regulations to protect child labor. This includes developing regulations that provide protection and limit child laborers' access to hazardous industries, as well as providing protection and access to education and health..

Child Labour has become devilishly ubiquitous with negative implications on Nigerian child’s development. Unfortunately, most researches concentrated on child labour issues at national level while little exists in literature at state level particularly Katsina. The study investigated effect of child labour on children’s education in Katsina State using descriptive survey design. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 216 child labourers from three senatorial districts of Katsina States. Structured interview schedule was used to collect data on respondents’ socio-economic characteristics, involvement in child labour, causes and effect. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analysing data. Level of child labour in the State was high. Poverty, lack of uniform, books and problem of transportation fare were push factors. Majority perceived effect of child labour on education to be unfavourable. Being too fatigued for school work and to read, constrained enrolment in school, inability to recall learned experience and dropped out, lack of appraisal ability and disruption of school attendance were major effects. Significant correlation existed between level of involvement in child labour, causes and perceived effects on education. Family type and mother’s occupation showed significant relationship with effect. Causes of child labour involvement were major determinants of effect. Result provided support to show that level of child labour involvement was worrisomely high. Total free and compulsory primary and secondary education in the state should be taken serious and sanctions mated to parents who may attempt to deny their children schooling opportunity.

This paper focuses on the role that inequality plays in shaping political support for child labour regulation policies. We provide a model of the evolution of child labour, fertility and human capital where the heterogeneity between low- and high-skilled workers allows for an endogenous analysis of inequality generated by child labour. Depending on the initial level of inequality, child labour regulation policies can affect the welfare of low- and high-skilled workers in different ways and therefore can have an impact on political support for their introduction. The possible conflicts of interest that may arise between the two groups can help explain the difficulties that many governments have when dealing with the issue of child labour.

20 | International Union Rights | 24/1 FOCUS | WORLD BANK AND IMF The World Bank in Uzbekistan: Labour Standards Take a Back Seat After two decades of financing Uzbekistan’s agriculture sector, the World Bank received a complaint to its independent accountability mechanism in September 2013 filed by victims of forced and child labour in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry. The complaint filed to the Bank’s Inspection Panel alleged that one of its agriculture investments was contributing to forced and child labour1. The complainants argued that the Bank had failed to put in place adequate measures to prevent Bank funding from being used on agricultural lands on which forced and child labour is practiced. The Panel noted that ‘a plausible link does exist between the project and the alleged harms’ and identified significant issues of policy compliance2. In response, World Bank management promised to implement measures to mitigate risks of perpetuating child and forced labour in its projects. Viewing the proposed mitigation measures as adequate, the Panel did not undertake a full investigation3. The complainants strongly disagreed4. Since then, the Bank has drastically increased its funding to the Uzbek agriculture industry, claiming that it has mitigated the risks linked to its projects. But a forthcoming report from Human Rights Watch and Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights (UGF), Forced and Child Labor Linked to the World Bank Group Investments in Uzbekistan in 2015 and 2016, reveals that these measures are insufficient. The ILO recently determined from unpublished survey data that approximately two thirds of the 2.8 million people who participated in the 2015 harvest were recruited voluntarily, a ‘minority recruited involuntarily’, and the remaining were ‘to some degree reluctant’, due to poor working conditions and wages5. If many of those classed by the ILO as ‘reluctant’ workers were in fact coerced into working, up to one-third of workers (924,000 people) could be considered victims of forced labour in 2015. Human Rights Watch believes that the proportion of involuntary labour is much greater. The ILO has conceded that ‘many interviewees appeared to have been briefed in advance’.6 This corroborates our research: numerous people told Human Rights Watch and UGF that government officials or their supervisors told people to say they were picking cotton voluntarily. With few exceptions, when interviewed in a confidential setting, people told researchers that they undertook cotton work, not voluntarily, but because the government required them to, and they had been explicitly told or reasonably believed they would be punished if they refused.7 This combination of involuntariness and the menace of penalty is the very definition of forced labour under international law8. Forced, Child Labour in the 2016 Harvest Research and evidence compiled by Human Rights Watch and UGF for our forthcoming report – due to be published in May 2017 – illustrates that in 2016 (as in previous years), senior government officials ordered officials ‘to involve all employees in the cotton harvest’9. Regional and district officials implemented the central government’s orders by imposing labour mobilisation quotas on public institutions for cotton picking during the harvest, as well as planting and weeding in the spring. Officials imposed harvest quotas on institutions, which lead to financial and other penalties if not met. District and law enforcement officials monitored how many workers each institution contributed and how much cotton each institution delivered at daily cotton meetings. Officials threatened and punished heads of institutions that did not meet their quota with public humiliation, beating, disciplinary action, and dismissal. Heads of institutions, in turn, threatened employees and students with dismissal, expulsion, or disciplinary consequences to induce them to work. Heads of neighbourhood committees (mahallas) threatened residents with loss of welfare payments. Despite a significant reduction in child labour over the last five years, officials continue to force schools to send children as young as 10-11 years old to work in the cotton fields in some rural areas. In 2016, UGF and Human Rights Watch documented government-organised child labour in three regions of the country. Education workers emphasised that they were under pressure from ‘higher authorities’ to mobilise students. One education worker said that he and his colleagues had to ‘run after’ most of students. Some teachers...