Child Labor and the Benefits It Can Provide

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Child Labor and the Benefits It Can Provide

States like Pennsylvania want to expand child labor for a reason. “The work environment for minors has changed dramatically since child labor laws were originally written in Pennsylvania,” State Representative Sheryl Delozier wrote in 2011 (Delozier). So too in the rest of the country, labor for children in the United States looks very different from the previous era of sweatshops, with today’s teenagers working in malls, restaurants, and places of recreation. As the article “At Issue: Child Labor” states, “child labor can be defined as work performed by a child under age 18” (“At Issue: Child Labor”). Mostly found in less wealthy countries like those in Africa and Asia, having young people in the workforce can help a family to make ends meet. Even though some people believe child labor is a violation of human rights, there should be exceptions for child labor because it is an income option for families in economic need, a high poverty rate makes it necessary, and being employed can keep kids away from trouble.

Child labor can be a tremendous and necessary benefit for families in low-income situations. Many families are struggling to make ends meet, and the additional revenue that can come from a child’s job can help ameliorate their financial difficulties. According to World Bank economist George Pscacharopoulos, working children contribute on average about 27% of their household income in Venezuela (Clement). In Bolivia, he discovered that the income earned by the average 13-year-old represents 13% of the child’s total household income. This can be the difference between poverty and survival (Clement). If a family in the United States were to bring in $30,000 a year, a 27% increase on that amount, like in Bolivia, would mean the family would make a more comfortable $38,100. The increase in money could provide for healthier food, needed car and home repair, and other important but often-neglected expenses when faced with poverty.

The state of Pennsylvania has recognized these trends, and it is looking out for families in economic need by attempting to pass House Bill 927. According to State Representative Sheryl Delozier, “House Bill 927 simply seeks to modernize the (child labor) law to simplify compliance with guidelines set forth at both the state and federal level, for both employers and minors” (Delozier). The bill would increase the number of possible working hours from 44 to 48 for teenagers ages 16 and 17. As Representative Delozier writes, “The reason behind this change was to allow the option for 16- and 17-year-olds who are saving for school or a car, or are helping their families make ends meet” (Delozier). The increase in the limit on hours worked gives teens the option of controlling their own destiny, when borrowing money for college from their parents might not be an option.

Outside the United States, families’ needs for child labor is often even greater. For many families in third world countries, child labor and other inexpensive labor options are the only choice for survival. In his article “The Road from Serfdom,” Radley Balko explains a story about factories in Pakistan that were closed in 1995 due to child labor concerns. The factories owned by Nike and Reebok stitched soccer balls. The factories’ closing led to other factories closing, which left many thousands of people unemployed. One result was the average income in Pakistan falling by about 20% (Balko). Not only did this factory closing for the sake of preventing child labor have a negative effect on individual families, but it reduced the average income of an entire country by almost one-fifth. Children working in those factories not only benefited their families who needed that money, but it benefited the country of Pakistan too by getting large companies to invest. Both in the United States and abroad, having children working is a viable alternative for families who need extra income.

Allowing child labor is also necessary because of the high poverty rate in the United States. According to Sally Driscoll and Richard Grant, the minimum wage raised to $7.25 in 2009. Yet even with this increase, one person working full time earning minimum wage would only earn $13,624. The poverty rate for a family of three is $17,600 (Driscoll). This means that if a single mother works full time, she is still much below the threshold means she’s even breaking the surface. As Figure 1 shows, this is even more concerning for black and Hispanic families. Over 20% of children in the United States live in poverty, and of that group, over 65% were black or Hispanic in 2009 (“US Children Statistics”).

It is unfortunate that the American Government sets a minimum wage that still does not get its citizens out of poverty. As Driscoll and Grant write, “Most Americans believe that a 40-hour workweek should be sufficient to pay basic expenses, and that a fulltime worker should not have to supplement income with federal assistance, such as food stamps our housing aid” (Driscoll). One solution to combat this problem would be raising the minimum wage, however another option would be to allow children to work. If a child could work at minimum wage for just 20 hours a week for 50 weeks out of the year, he or she could make $7,250. That difference is more than enough to push the family above the poverty line and closer to a livable income.

The United States is fortunate that it has a poverty rate much lower than other countries. However, this is not an excuse to give up on the portion of the population that does experience this dire problem. In his article “The Road from Serfdom,” author RadleyBalko quotes from another article written by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, who wrote a book on Asian sweatshops. When describing one encounter they had with an Asian sweatshop worker, they wrote, “Mongkol looked up, puzzled. ‘It’s good pay,’ he said. ‘I hope she can keep that job. There’s all this talk about factories closing now, and she said there are rumors her factory might close. I hope that doesn’t happen. I don’t know what we would do then’” (Balko). For families in countries with very high poverty rates, like some developing nations in Asia, child labor is not just an option—it is a desperate need that would be irresponsible and immoral to take away.

Additionally, child labor should be permitted in the United States because children would be motivated by the potential of making money, which would in turn keep them away from trouble. Author Bill Nemitz offered an example in an article he wrote for the Portland Press Herald in Maine. He wrote, “Junior gets a summer job just after Memorial Day washing dishes at a local seafood restaurant. He works until labor day—a period of, give or take, 100 days.” Nemitz goes on to explain, “If Junior works 40 hours a week for those 14 weeks, his minimum-wage translates into a hard-earned $4,200” (Nemitz). Summer is a time when many teens have additional time on their hands, which can easily be spent on activities that parents or the law might not approve of. Working for money, however, could motivate children to stay away from those troubling paths.

Under a new proposed bill in Maine, L.D. 1346 sponsored by Representative David Burns, the number of hours a young person under the age of 16 could work would increase to four hours (Nemitz). If a student wakes up in the morning and goes directly to school, then works for four hours after school is over, he or she has little time to cause trouble. For example, if the school day ends at 2:15 PM and a student goes to bed at 10:30 PM, that leaves over eight hours for a child, whose parents may be working at that time, to get into mischief. If the child is working, however, he or she will be both earning an income and have less time and energy to waste on harmful behaviors. More states should look into increasing the number of hours kids can work after school.

Former US Speaker of the House of Representatives and 2012 Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich also argued strongly in favor of child labor. The article “From Gingrich, an Unconventional View on Education” explained that Gingrich felt that a student who is poor should have the ability to work right in his or her own school as a custodian, which would both help underfunded school districts save money and give kids a chance at a job (Gabriel). As Gingrich himself stated, “The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising” (Gabriel). There are many other creative options like the one Gingrich proposed that would allow children to earn money for their families without sacrificing their educations, and there are few options in which the potential to earn money would not motivate children.

Many sources, however, argue that child labor is a violation of human rights. Writer Richard Bloomingdale argues, “Let's create jobs that parents and adults can fill and perform, and create jobs that pay enough money so that parents need not rely on their child's income to help pay the mortgage. What we should not be doing is expanding the amount of hours our children work. Let kids be kids and parents be parents” (Bloomingdale). What this argument fails to consider is the wellbeing of the actual families who experience the need for their children to earn money. Bloomingdale argues that parents should take care of the mortgage themselves, but has

Bloomingdale ever been in this position himself? Has he ever felt the desperation that some parents feel, those who need the small amount of extra income a child can provide? Some families need that child's income because the adult jobs don't pay enough.

Other people go as far as calling child labor exploitation. Author Bill Nemitz encourages his readers to view a Labor Department mural, which shows children, one wrapped in bandages, standing outside early 20th-century sweatshops. He claims that the backers of the proposed Maine child labor bill are not promoting economic development. He argues, "Then and now, it's exploitation" (Nemitz). Although the core of this claim is valid, workplaces for teenagers today are far from the sweatshops of past centuries. Children today in Maine and the other states in the United States are not working in sweatshops; they are generally working in restaurants and stores.

Globally, some people also feel that child labor should be eliminated, and that countries like the United States should help in that effort. UNICEF claims that one in three sub-Saharan African children is a child laborer. Many people argue that the United States and other wealthier countries should give more aid to these countries to help eliminate child labor. The International Labor Organization has predicted that it would only cost $760 million to accomplish this, while the benefits would be over $4 trillion ("Child Labor: Guide to Critical Analysis"). While this point may make sense at first, the ILO is off base because they do not consider the families that would be negative impacted. What about the families who needed that income? What would happen to them if child labor is eliminated? While there may be an overall increase in economic development, the families who needed that income are real, and they deserve real consideration. Their hardships are real, and an external organization shouldn't make those difficulties worse.

Because it is an income option for families in economic need, a high poverty rate makes it necessary, and being employed can keep kids away from trouble, there should be exceptions for child labor, even though some people believe child labor is a violation of human rights. In the past, child labor has been looked down upon because of the dirty images of sweatshops, factories, and the emaciated children in them. But today, many teenagers are working jobs that have the same working conditions as adults, and they are viable members of the workforce. In the future, we cannot let families in economic need to continue struggling simply because of archaic laws that prohibit their children from working. Families deserve a chance to compete in society’s future.

Works Cited

Balko, Radley. "The Road from Serfdom." Tech Central Station. 29 Apr 2003: N.P. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Apr 2012.

Bloomingdale, Richard W. "Should State Legislature Revise Child Labor Laws?." Morning Call. 21 Aug 2011: A.27. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Apr 2012.

"Child Labor: Guide to Critical Analysis." Points of View Reference Center. EBSCO, 2011. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.

Clement, Douglas. "Why Johnny Can't Work." Region Vol. 19, No. 2. June 2005: 32-40. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Apr 2012.

Gabriel, Trip. "From Gingrich, an Unconventional View of Education." New York Times. N.p., 19 Nov. 2011. Web. 06 Nov. 2012.

Nemitz, Bill. "GOP Bills Exploit Kids in Workplace." Portland Press Herald. 30 Mar 2011: B.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Apr 2012.

ProQuest Staff. "At Issue: Child Labor." ProQuest LLC. 2012: N.pag. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 Nov 2012.

Sheryl Delozier, State Rep. "Should State Legislature Revise Child Labor Laws?." Morning Call. 21 Aug 2011: A.27. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Apr 2012.

"US Children Statistics." Statistic Brain. N.p., 06 Sept. 2012. Web. 06 Nov. 2012.