The Pros And Cons Of Child Labor

Child labor is one of the world’s biggest problems, especially in emerging economies. The term describes tiring or hard work carried out by children below the age of fifteen, which interferes or harms them spiritually, morally, physically, psychologically, and socially. Most child laborers miss the childhood experience by facing different forms of abuse. Some children have to drop out of school or combine studies with paid or unpaid work. Contrary to popular belief, child labor is not necessarily forced labor. Some underage children join the workforce because of poverty. Such children work either voluntarily or at their parent's bidding to supplement the family income. Moreover, orphaned children look for work to meet their basic needs although
They assert that any work given to children does not quantify to child labor. As they note, some types of work impart important skills and instill responsibilities in children. These kinds of work are critical for healthy development teenagers and later adults. However, work that poses harmful effects and result to negative consequences to children is child labor. In addition, work that violates the laws on the minimum wage and threatens the emotional, physical, and mental well-being of the children is child labor. Further, work that involves slavery and trafficking of children, as well as forced work depicts child labor (3).
The history of child labor dates back to the pre-industrial period as Clark-Bennett and Sherer (2004) reveals. During that time, children participated in simple household activities such as bringing up siblings and farming, when their families thought they were of age. From a general standpoint, this kind of work is not harmful. As their study confirms, children aged thirteen years and above were adults and could do work similar to adults. Noteworthy also is that education was of little or no importance during the pre-industrial