Case Study: Individual Report on Child Labour in Supply Chains

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of child labor within supply chains, exploring arguments both for and against its complete ban. It defines child labor, contrasting perspectives on its potential benefits (such as providing income for families) with the significant harms it inflicts, including health risks, hindered education, and exploitation. The report highlights the prevalence of child labor in lower tiers of global supply chains, particularly in sectors like agriculture and raw material extraction. It emphasizes the legal, ethical, and reputational reasons for banning child labor, referencing national laws, buyer expectations, and the hazardous nature of many child labor roles. The report concludes that while child labor should be banned, exceptions and careful monitoring are necessary in situations where children are essential family income providers, focusing on ensuring safe working conditions and limited hours to allow for education. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments for students.

Case Study Individual Report

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Meaning of child labour...............................................................................................................3
Comparison between for and against the favour of child labour.................................................3
Child labour in supply chain........................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Child labour is defined as the exploitation of the children through any form of work
which can deprive them of their childhood. It affects their ability to attend schools, mentally,
physically, socially and morally harmful to the children. In this project the importance of topic of
child labour and comparison of for and against banning of child labour in the supply chains will
also be explained.
MAIN BODY
Meaning of child labour
Child labour is the exploitation of the children through any form of work which has the
potential of depriving them of their childhood. Child labour effects the ability of the children
towards attending regular school, mentally, physically, socially and as result can be morally
harmful. Such exploitation to the children are prohibited by the worldwide legislation (Smit and
et.al., 2020). These laws do not consider the all the work done by the children some exceptions
are there in the field of child artists, family duties, supervised training and some other work
which are practised by the Amish and indigenous children.
Comparison in the favour and against of child labour in supply chain
The child labour has some arguments which are in the favour of the child labour and its
application in the supply chain.
Health issues:
The conditions of the children which are working is mentally and physically can be
vulnerable and be effective in general. This happens because of the lack of resources they might
have which can effect short and long term interests of the child labour. For such children who
lack the support they need have is considered to be the way in which the business.
Disturbing the supply chain :
For some children who have been working for some institutions are considered very
important for their role in the supply chain as the part of their daily job. It is hard to replace them
as they can be experts in their field and the business may have to incur higher expenses for
finding a replacement of these working children (Nayak and Manning, 2021).
Only support :

For some parents specially in the third world countries it has been noticed that many
families are dependent on their children for working and providing the support in monetary
terms. In many places finding an alternative for such problems have not yet been found by the
individual.
Some important factors against the child labour are,
Harm Argument :
The working conditions of the children are threatened when they work in conditions
which are severe and are hazardous in nature (Yawar and Seuring, 2019). This is considered to
be complex in threatening the children well -being as it can cause all sorts of negative effects to
their health in both short and long term of the children health physically and mentally.
Fail to benefit argument :
Working conditions of the children that are harmful have the potential of effecting their
development. Spending more time in the working environment which should be at schools can
limit the opportunities they have in the school. It is also considered to banned all the work which
conflicts with the school.
Exploitation argument :
Children which are considered as the weak agents have the potential of making the
vulnerability of the exploitation in the labour market. The children which lack the understanding
of this are then exploited by their employers by working (extra) than their limited capacity (Bala,
2017). The consequences of such decisions are limited to social and economical skills which
have the ability of putting them inevitably in the asymmetric power position in front of the
employer.
Child labour in supply chain
Supply chain is the network between the company and its suppliers for the production
and distribution of a specific product for buying the products. Supply chain also suggests the
steps take by company for the products and services for towards its customers. According to
certain studies it has been found that there is a link between the child labour and the global
supply chains indirectly. A significant share of child labour is in the global supply chain
specially in the lower tiers, activities and raw materials for the extraction and agricultural
diligence for the traceability and challenges. Children in the lowest tiers of the supply chain are
found working because their families livelihood depends on it. The reason due to which these

operations are still happening in countries like China, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and
Bangladesh is because it is believed that these operations bring economic benefits to the
participating countries.
Child labour should be banned from the supply chain for the following reasons,
National laws :
As per many laws which define that child labour is against the law of the company as it
break the rules concerning minimum age and hazardous work.
Buyers expectancy :
Most buyers in the market expect the company's to have strict policies towards the child
labour. In order to meet the demands and the price some international companies use child labour
for their operations this can result in bad publicity and potential brand image.
Hazardous work :
In certain scenarios the children work for the support of their families (Delaney,
Burchielli and Tate, 2017). Thus, it becomes important for the authorities to measure whether the
work is hazardous in conditions or not. Children cannot be allowed to be working in hazardous
environment which can effect their health both mentally and physically.
Reduction of Hours :
For the individuals which do work for a certain period there should be a time limit to the
amount of work done by them. This is important for them fulfil their necessary requirements of
schooling.
CONCLUSION
With the help of this project it can be concluded that child labour should be banned,
however in places were the children are the support of their families there should be certain
inspection and evaluation of the working environment and hours. In this project the importance
of the child labour in the supply chain has been explained. This project also has argued on the
favour and against of banning of the child labour in the supply chain.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bala, R., 2017. Situation of Child Labour in India: Constitutional and Legal
Safeguards. International Journal of Reviews and Research in Social Sciences. 5(3).
pp.155-160.
Delaney, A., Burchielli, R. and Tate, J., 2017. Corporate CSR responses to homework and child
labour in the Indian and Pakistan leather sector. In Gender equality and responsible
business (pp. 170-184). Routledge.
Nayak, R. and Manning, L., 2021. Forgotten children: A socio-technical systems analysis of the
2004 and 2015 forced child labour reports from Indian cottonseed farms. Trends in
Organized Crime.
Smit, L., and et.al., 2020. Study on due diligence requirements through the supply chain.
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Yawar, S.A. and Seuring, S., 2019. A framework for managing social issues in supply chains.
In Handbook on the Sustainable Supply Chain. Edward Elgar Publishing.