Case Study Analysis: Child Labour in International Supply Chains

This case study delves into the pervasive issue of child labour within global supply chains, examining its multifaceted dimensions. The study begins by considering situations where child labour might be perceived as beneficial, then explores how it helps children and families escape poverty. However, it quickly pivots to the long-term negative impacts, highlighting how child labour perpetuates poverty and endangers children's well-being. The analysis extends to the challenges that increased trade openness poses to monitoring and tracing child labour, particularly in complex global supply chains. The case study identifies key factors contributing to child labour, such as poverty, exploitation, and lack of regulatory enforcement. Finally, it proposes potential solutions, including stronger international regulations and government enforcement, to combat child labour and protect vulnerable children. The case study draws upon several academic sources to support its arguments and recommendations.

Child Labour in
Supply Chain

Table of Contents
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

In what conditions child labour can be beneficial to children
Many children grow up by serving for a portion of their working hours. Working for
children in a stable and secure atmosphere is a natural and positive aspect of life because it
increases children's interest as they grow up to become economically responsible citizens.
Working with children may be a positive and appropriate thing to do in order for them to become
more mature and independent in their lives (Bakkar, 2019). When their homes are not financially
stable, it is very helpful for the children to work in order to earn more money for their families
and themselves, which can then be used to cover their school fees, allowing them to continue
their studies. According to the social gains, as children live in a well-established community
where their physical and mental wellbeing is maintained, they gain pride and develop self-
esteem.
Discuss how child labour help children and their families escape poverty
Poverty is thought to be the driving force behind child labour. It is very important because
poor families who do not have enough income for shelter and food want to use their children to
raise money so that they can have a small sum of money for shelter and food (Argaw, Sera and
Berecha, 2019). Child labour unquestionably assists girls and their families in escaping hardship.
For instance, in the United Kingdom, it is legal for children above the age of 13 to work, and
there is a specific rule for the minimum wage that must be paid to children for the restrictions of
hours, which lets many low-income people raise a considerable amount of money to support
their families.
Discuss the long-term effects of child labour in keeping the child and their
families in poverty
Child labour has a long-term social, economic, emotional, and physical impact on the child
and their families, trapping them in poverty for the rest of their lives. Child labour puts children
and their families in grave danger of becoming victims of psychological torture, which has a
long-term impact on their mental health, causing them to become emotionally ill and unfit,
obstructing their growth and development (Holzscheiter, Josefsson and Sandin, 2019). Child
labour has a long-term impact in keeping children out of school, and is a huge deterrent to
eradicating poverty because a lack of schooling prevents children from obtaining a well-paid
career in the future, which adds to poverty. Child labour exposes children to long-term physical
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health risks such as starvation, pesticide contamination, burns, violence, and bullying.
Agriculture and building sites where children deal with hazardous machine blades and heavy
loads expose them to the possibility of injuries, which may result in a long-term physical
disability. Child labour is cheap and society never encourages the poor and backward to flourish
and prosper.
How might increasing trade openness make it harder to trace and monitor the
use of child labour in complex global supply chains?
Millions of children are affected by child labour in the global supply chain. Agricultural,
retail, construction, mining, and other utilities are among the industries that are expected to use
child labour in their supply chains. The scale and scope of free trade, which is the movement of
goods and resources across national borders by the global supply chain, has made it very difficult
to shield vulnerable children and adults from the possibility of child labour trafficking. Because
of the presence of network trafficking, which preys on the insecurity of small children, this
problem is difficult to detect (Asadpour and Azam Azadeh, 2021). Children are trafficked
through national borders as labourers, where they are forced to work more hours in unsafe
working conditions. The lack of control and examination of child labour in the global supply
chain is due to corruption between buyers and sellers over the cross-border for the supply chain
of products and state authorities, as well as internal rivalry between political agencies and
organisations that export domestically to their global supply chain.
Discuss the factors responsible for child labour in supply chains
Many factors contributed to child labour in the supply chain, including impoverished
families selling their children for a small sum of money to large traders, producers, and miners
for raw materials. The government, industry, and foreign community manipulate business
activities for their own economic advantage in developed countries where there is a pattern of a
multinational supply chain of free trade business by using child labour. Many factors contributed
to child labour in the supply chain, including impoverished families selling their children for a
small sum of money to large traders, producers, and miners for raw materials (Ahlerup, Baskaran
and Bigsten, 2020). The government, industry, and foreign community manipulate business
activities for their own economic advantage in developed countries where there is a pattern of a
multinational supply chain of free trade business by using child labour.
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Recommend potential solutions to resolve the issue of child labour in supply
chains
The use of child labour in the global supply chain is considered to be extremely hazardous to
the children's physical, social, economic, mental, and spiritual well-being when they are deprived
of schooling and education (Rajab and Mohamed, 2020). Child labour should be eliminated from
the supply chain immediately, when children are enslaved, isolated from their mothers, subjected
to toxins, bodily damages, and numerous other illnesses that are left to them for the rest of their
lives, leaving them and their families in poverty. It is suggested that the International Labour
Organization improve regulations that differentiate between dangerous and non-hazardous types
of child labour, as well as recognise the different laws that prevent children from being abused
for financial gain. To limit child labour in the global supply chain, the government should
enforce stringent guidelines and regulations based on the child's age, nature of job, working
hours, and working conditions (Kamphuis and van Nederveen Meerkerk, 2020). To reap the
economic advantage from the use of child labour, the government should fully enact current
legislation prohibiting its use in the country's global supply chain by different business months.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahlerup, P., Baskaran, T. and Bigsten, A., 2020. Gold mining and education: a long-run resource
curse in Africa?. The Journal of Development Studies, 56(9), pp.1745-1762.
Argaw, D., Sera, L. and Berecha, A., 2019. Determinants of Child Labour and Schooling in
Rural Households of Ethiopia (Doctoral dissertation).
Asadpour, A. and Azam Azadeh, M., 2021. Meta-Analysis of Studies on the Factors Affecting
the Emergence of Child Labour and Street Children. Sociology of Social
Institutions, 7(16), pp.187-215.
Bakkar, A., 2019. Situation of Rural Child Labour in Bangladesh: A Study in Two
Upazillas (Doctoral dissertation, University of Dhaka).
Holzscheiter, A., Josefsson, J. and Sandin, B., 2019. Child rights governance: An
introduction. Childhood, 26(3), pp.271-288.
Kamphuis, K. and van Nederveen Meerkerk, E., 2020. Education, Labour, and Discipline: New
Perspectives on Imperial Practices and Indigenous Children in Colonial
Asia. International Review of Social History, 65(1), pp.1-14.
Rajab, E.H. and Mohamed, R.A., 2020. Community responsibility for child labour from the
standpoint of working children Field study in Mosul. Adab AL Rafidayn, 50(81.1).
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