Academic Performance Case Study Report: Child Labor Debate

This report delves into the multifaceted issue of child labor, examining the arguments both for and against its prohibition. It highlights the detrimental effects of child labor, including the denial of education, health risks, and the perpetuation of poverty. The report explores the link between child labor and poverty, emphasizing how financial constraints often force children into work. It presents arguments supporting a ban on child labor, such as the right to education and protection from hazardous conditions, while also acknowledging arguments against a ban, such as the potential for increased criminal activity and the need for families to earn income. The report identifies key stakeholders responsible for child labor, including families, governments, and businesses, and discusses challenges in enforcing bans, such as economic pressures and inadequate laws. Finally, it proposes solutions like ensuring access to education and promoting ethical business practices within supply chains to address the issue of child labor effectively. The report concludes that a comprehensive approach is needed to protect children's rights and improve their future prospects.

Child labor

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..............................................................................................................................................3
Issue relating to child labor and poverty..................................................................................................3
Argument for banning child labor............................................................................................................3
Argument against banning child labor.....................................................................................................4
Who is responsible for child labor in the supply chain?..........................................................................4
Challenges for enforcing partial or complete child labor ban..................................................................5
Solution for the issue of child labor in supply chains..............................................................................5
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The child labor is the term used for the children who are exploited by any form of the
work which may deprive them of their childhood, their ability to attend schools and is harmful to
them mentally, socially, morally an physically. When a child is forced to work like an adult, it is
the child labor. There are many reforms came in this field such as laws for child labor but
nothing much changed. When the children are employed in any work which deprives of their
basic right to education or lead a nourishing life, it is child labor (Boris, 2019). This report shall
cover the arguments for and against the banning of child labor, challenges to ban it and relevant
solutions to solve this issue.
MAIN BODY
Issue relating to child labor and poverty
It is often the scenario that the child who suffers poverty or is born in the low income
family is forced to do work in order to earn the livelihood for the family. It is the poverty which
pressurizes the child to prevent the ability to take education and get engage in the work activities.
Poverty is considered as the foremost reason for child labor as the financial difficulties takes the
ability of parents to send their children to schools and sometimes deprive them of adequate
nutrition thereby resulting in working from a very young age.
Argument for banning child labor
There are many reasons for which the child labor must be banned in the country of which
the first argument is that it denials the right to education of the children. The child who is forced
to work from a little age is deprived of education due to financial difficulties which results in
non- acquisition of human skills and schooling. In order to make every child of the country
educated, it is important to take first step of banning child labor.
Second argument for banning child labor is to protect them from diseases. Working from
age and that too in any hazardous activity may affect the health conditions and make them
vulnerable to the disease. It reduces the physical condition of the child and makes them

physically and mentally weak. So in order to safeguard their health it is important to ban child
labor as they are not ready for the long monotonous work as they become exhausted more fastly.
Another argument for banning the child labor is to safeguard the future of the children.
Education can help in developing the employability skills in children which can help to take
secure employment in their adulthood so that they can have a better would to live in. but child
labor deprive them to acquiring such skills which may affect their future development (Becker,
2017).
Argument against banning child labor
It is argued that the child labor must not be banned as poverty forces the children to work
in such a young age. They have the pressure to fulfill the basic needs of the family by earning
money. So to eradicate poverty, the children must be allowed to work at young age but they must
not be involved in the hazardous activity that can affect their health.
Another argument for not banning child labor is to eliminate the criminal behavior in the
children. The kids who do not have enough access to education or does not want to take
education are often engaged in criminal activity so if they are busy in working from young age, it
is less likelihood that they will get engage in criminal activity (Pulliam, 2019).
Who is responsible for child labor in the supply chain?
There are many people who are responsible for the increased number of child labor. The
foremost person responsible for this is the family of the child who forces them to get engage in
the work related activities in factories, mines and even agriculture. The poverty forces the
families to push their child towards work.
Then the government is responsible for child labor as they have afield to take adequate
measures to properly ban child labor. The inability of government to promote education and
healthy lifestyle for the child who is economically backward which forces it to deploy itself in
work which ultimately affects their whole future. The government may have enacted the law to
ban child labor but they have failed to check its enforceability.

The businesses are also responsible for the child labor if they do not employ the children,
there are less possibility of them to get engage in the work. They must adhere to the international
and national laws and ban the children from working in their supply chains (Wolf, 2020).
Challenges for enforcing partial or complete child labor ban
There are many challenges such as economic which cannot enforce the ban of child labor.
As the children are often considered as hard worker and they can work in less wages, so
businesses tend to employ them so that they can incur less cost in manufacturing in order to
increase their profitability. And on other side the children are in need of money to earn
livelihood for their family which is a biggest challenge when banning child labor.
Another challenge is less strict law which does not make the ban of child labor
successful. There is different minimum age of the employment in every country which makes it a
challenge to completely ban child labor (Basu and Chau, 2017).
Solution for the issue of child labor in supply chains
This challenge may be overcome by the employing such children in the supply chain who
have access to education. The businesses must have the arrangement of education for the
children so that they can get education also and can work in non-hazardous activity also. This
will help the children to support their families in the financial difficulties also and their right to
get education is also not deprived.

CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that child labor is when a young person is forced to
work just like adult. It is important to ban child labor so that children can get access to the
education and the children can be protected from the vulnerable diseases. But on other side, it is
also important to not ban the child labor as the children who are unable to get education are often
engage in the criminal activity so this can help in eliminating the criminal behavior and also help
in earning the livelihood of the family to fulfill their basic needs.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Basu, A.K. and Chau, N.H. eds., 2017. Contributions to the Economics of International Labor
Standards (Vol. 59). World Scientific.
Becker, J., 2017. Campaigning for children: Strategies for advancing children's rights. Stanford
University Press.
Boris, E., 2019. Making the woman worker: Precarious labor and the fight for global standards,
1919-2019. Oxford University Press, USA.
Pulliam, M.S., 2019. The exploitation of labor and other union myths. The Independent
Review. 24(3). pp.409-431.
Wolf, A.B., 2020. The Fight to Globalize Labor: Understanding the Role of Activists in the
Spread of International Norms. Law & Society Review. 54(3). pp.607-642.