Is Child Labour Advantageous in Developing Countries?

 

Child labor is defined as the employment of children under an age determined by law or custom. It is considered exploitative by many countries and international organizations. It has been a common practice through most of history, but with the start of universal schooling and emergence of children’s rights it came under much public dispute. According to the International Labour Organisation, there is an estimated 218 million children aged 5 to 17 in child labor worldwide. However, I believe that child labour is advantageous in developing countries because it helps in the economic growth of a country and keeps the children friutfully occupied; away from street violence and abuse and it helps supplement the income of poverty- stricken families.

According to the economist Milton Friedman's theory, to prohibit child labour is to prevent the overall economic growth necessary to eventually relieve a society of the need for child labor.

It is often said ‘’poverty is the seed-bed of child labour’’. A study conducted by the ILO Bureau of Statistics found that "Children’s work was considered essential to maintaining the economic level of households, either in the form of work for wages, of help in household enterprises or of household chores in order to free adult household members for economic activity elsewhere". In some cases, the study found that a child’s income accounted for between 34 and 37 percent of the total household income. Therefore the study indicates that a child labourer’s income is important to the livelihood of a poor family. William James, M.P. for Carlisle, expressed this fear in the parliamentary debates on factory reform:

"Undoubtedly the system which is pursued in these manufactories relating to the working of young children is a great evil; but it appears to me that the remedy which the honourable gentleman proposes to apply is worse than the disease. There appears to me to be only a choice of evils - the children must either work or starve."

The concept of a kid doing “labour” may come across as inhuman to most of you but what needs to be understood is that the child is not faced with an option or opportunity of choosing to attend school instead. Child labour eradication is not solely about removing children from the workplace and placing them immediately into schools. It is easier said than done. We criticize and protest against children working, but we fail to realize that these children are actually being productive.  I agree that it is not the place of a child to be contributing to the household income, but simply stating that does not dismiss the fact that if they don’t work the household will be stuck in a poverty trap.   Therefore, child labour should not be ban in developing nations because it helps in raising the economy of a country, keeps children away from bad things and helps improve poverty rates. Indeed, the absolute eradication of child labour can be viewed as a luxury that poor nations cannot yet a support or avail.