Child Labour in Supply Chain

This document discusses the conditions in which child labour can be beneficial, how it helps children and their families escape poverty, the long-term effects of child labour on poverty, the challenges of tracing child labour in global supply chains, factors responsible for child labour in supply chains, and potential solutions to resolve the issue. It also includes references to books and journals on the topic.

Child Labour in Supply
Chain

Table of Contents
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
In what conditions child labour can be beneficial to children................................................1
Discuss how child labour help children and their families escape poverty............................1
Discuss the long term effects of child labour in keeping the child and their families in poverty
................................................................................................................................................1
How might increasing trade openness make it harder to trace and monitor the use of child
labour in complex global supply chains?...............................................................................2
Discuss the factors responsible for child labour in supply chains..........................................2
Recommend potential solutions to resolve the issue of child labour in supply chains..........3
References:.......................................................................................................................................4
Books and Journals.................................................................................................................4

MAIN BODY
In what conditions child labour can be beneficial to children
Many children's grow up by contributing their daily hours in working. Working for children in a
healthy and safe environment is a normal and a beneficial part for a life as this increase the
participation of the children's as they grow up to become a responsible citizen of the economy
(Sadler Lawrence, 2020). There are circumstances in which working for the children are the
beneficial and appropriate thing in order to become responsible and independent in their life.
During the circumstances when their families are not that much financially strong it is very
beneficial for the children to work in order to acquire some amount of finance for their families
and for themselves which can be used to pay their school fees thereby not comprising their
studies. As per the social benefits when the children work in a well-established environment
where the health and mental health of the children is maintain it gives the children to gain pride
and foster it's self esteem.
Discuss how child labour help children and their families escape poverty
Poverty is considered as the main force for the child labour. It is very significant that the
families that are in poverty and doesn't have money for shelter and food are tend to use their
children to earn money so that they can have a minimal amount for shed and food to eat. Child
labour definitely helps children and their families to escape from poverty (Yunus, 2020). For
example in UK it is legal law for the children's over the age 13 to work for which there is a
particular law for the minimum wage that must be provided to the children's for the restrictions
of hours which helps many poverty based families to earn significant income to run their
families household.
Discuss the long term effects of child labour in keeping the child and their families in poverty
Child labour has a social, economic, mental and physical log term effect on the child and
their families which keep in the poverty for life. The child labour expose the child and their
families into the tremendous hazard situation where to become the victim of psychological
torture which creates the long-term effect on their mental health making them mentally unstable
and unfit thereby hindering there growth and development. The long term effect of child labour
is keeping the child away from the education which is the major barrier in eliminating the
poverty as lack of education does not allowed the child accomplish well financed job an
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opportunity in future which leads to poverty. Child labour make the child suffer from the long-
term physical health problems like malnutrition, exposure to the chemicals, injuries, abuse and
bullying (Antonini, Beck and Larrinaga, 2020). Agriculture and construction sites where the
child work with dangerous equipment blades heavy loads give the risk of injury which can be a
long term physical disability for the child. Child labour is cheap as society never allows the
backward and poverty class people to grow and develop.
How might increasing trade openness make it harder to trace and monitor the use of child labour
in complex global supply chains?
Child labour in the global supply chain is affecting millions of children worldwide. The business
which are likely to have the child labour in their supply chain range from agricultural to
manufacturing, construction to mining and other services. Due to size and complexity in the open
trade that is the transportation of the products and services across the national border by the
global supply chain has made very hard to protect the vulnerability with children's and adults
from the risk of exploitation from the child labour (Zaharatos and Acuff, 2020). This issue is
very hard to recognise because of presence of network trafficking that awfully prey on the
vulnerability of the small children. Child trafficking across the national border as the slaves they
are expected to work for the longer hours in dangerous working circumstances. Corruption
between the buyers and sellers over the cross-border for the supply chain of the goods and the
state officials this internal conflict between the government bodies and the organisations that are
selling globally to their global supply chain are the major reasons behind lack of monitoring and
examining of child labour in the global supply chain
Discuss the factors responsible for child labour in supply chains
The many factors were responsible for the child labour in the supply chain such as the families
that are in poverty sell their children's for some amount of money to the big dealers or big
farmers and miners for the raw materials. The developing countries where there is a trend of a
global supply chain in the open trade business the government and the business and international
community exploit the business practices for the economic benefit of themselves by using the
child labour (Lotfi and Chen, 2021). Government and business those who do not regularly check
and enforce international norms and standards regarding the child labour law in their supply
chain are also the contributor in the child labour in the supply chain. The consumer's those who
buy low cost goods from the developing countries like China, USA are also the responsible for
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the child labour in the supply chain as they are not directly responsible indirectly they extract the
raw materials or the manufacturing of the production process which is done by the child labour.
Recommend potential solutions to resolve the issue of child labour in supply chains
The use of child labour in the global supply chain is really deemed dangerous for the
physical, social, economical, emotional and moral well being of the children as they abide from
the schooling and education (Sadler Lawrence, 2020). There should be an immediate elimination
of the child labour from the supply chain as children's are been enslaved, separated from their
families, exposed to the chemicals, physical harms and many other illness that is left to them for
the lifelong keeping them and their family in poverty. It is recommended to the international
labour organisation to improve the laws that distinguish the hazardous and non hazardous forms
of child labour and also consider the various laws that protects the children from been exploited
for someone else economic benefits. The government should impose a strict guideline and rules
regarding the child's age, type of work, hours for the work and the conditions in which the child
is going to perform in order to restrict the child labour in the global supply chain. The
government should totally enforce the existing laws of banning the use of child labour in the
countries global supply chain by the various business months in to gain the economical benefit
from the use of child labour.
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References:
Books and Journals
Antonini, C., Beck, C. and Larrinaga, C., 2020. Subpolitics and sustainability reporting
boundaries. The case of working conditions in global supply chains. Accounting, Auditing
& Accountability Journal.
Lotfi, M. and Chen, J., 2021. Child slavery in the supply chains: the actors of the dirty scene.
Sadler Lawrence, L., 2020. The Spoiled Supply Chain of Child Labor. The Palgrave
International Handbook of Human Trafficking, pp.371-382.
Yunus, R.M., 2020. Addressing Informal Labour Intermediaries in the Context of Child Labour:
Evidence Review Across Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar..
Zaharatos, G. and Acuff, O., 2020. Eradicating Forced Labour in Global Supply Chains. Global
Trade and Customs Journal, 15(8).
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