Hall 1

Candice Hall
English 1
7 December 2015
Child Labor in China
Child labor is a big issue thats needs to be solved, it is a major issue in China
even though they try to hide it as best as they can. In China many children have
health problems and are underpaid when they have to work in the factories or
stores. It is illegal to hire a child that is under the age of 16 in China but many get
away with it because they work them in small companies like shoe manufacturing
etc.
Most of the child workers are also denied an education which decreases their
chance of escaping poverty. In most places they keep the children hidden and only
let them work in the small factories because they know they wont be checked.
Even the government says thats where most of the children are because they dont
check the smaller companies. This shows that the government knows that there are
children working in horrible condition and/or working at all that rent supposed to out
there but dont want to check because its a smaller company. In the article At
Issues: Sweatshops, proponents of sweatshops argue that these type of workplace
help raise overall living standards in developing countries. That is not the case with
the way the kids are payed, treated and are living when they go home.
Most companies are saying that the child labor law is being broken because
of the pressure of the economy. Some say that they hire kids who they can pay less
and work longer to be able to do what is needed. The main area where child labor

Hall 2
laws are being broken is in the Southern Coastal area of China. The necessities that
are needed to please the people of China and other countries are hard to create and
put on the market and not enough money. The document CHILD LABOR LAWS,
reports this statement from an unknown person, Chinese labor laws is believed to
have been cancelled out by the pressure imposed by the economic necessity. This
statement alone gives people the opportunity to think it is okay to use children as
working machines to make everything easier for them. This work is very
dangerous for the children and has caused damage to the children of China.
When these children are forced to work they are risking physical, mental, and
emotional health and all just to bring money home to their families or themselves.
Dario Berrebi, reports that child labor doesnt just ruin the childhood of millions, it
takes away their chances to ever go to school at a key moment in their life. Working
excessively long hours, operating machinery built for adults, bonded labor,
prostitution, sexual harassment and malnutrition are many plagues to millions of
children. Some say that child labor has decreased but it hasnt, more than half of
the kids who working in hazardous work will affect their physical/mental health.
Even some of the biggest companies have been found guilty of having child
workers.
Samsung a company known for its electronic devices was found buying
mechanical parts from another company that had child worker. Samsung denies
buying parts from anyone that used child workers. David Barboza, reported that
after allegedly inspecting hundreds of Chinese suppliers Samsung didnt find one
child worker. Later, The New York Times, reported that in one Samsung suppliers
factory C.L.W. has uncovered seven children employed without labor contracts,
working eleven hours per day and only being paid for ten hours. Samsung

Hall 3
apparently tries avoiding child labor but in China three teens said how they worked
for a company supplying Samsung. Per usual Samsung denied but others found
more underage children working in the factories used to make some our most
precious objects. Even some of the biggest companies in the world have child labor
involved but yet nothing has been done about it.
In China they have no idea how much child laboring is active in the country,
some dont care. The minimum age for working in China is 16. You can be fined
$660 per. Child per month. Basically saying that you can continue having child
workers for you but you will have to pay the government. Not the child, their
parents the government. The overall extent of child labor in China is unknown
because most work in low class business like shoe manufacturing and others. Laney
Zhang, says Labor law prohibits an employer to recruit minors under the age of
sixteen, unless approved by the government.
China is one of the most populated countries in the world and one of the
largest shipment in the world. It made me wonder how they do it because most
likely if you look at an object in your room itll say made in China. A little while ago a
story came out about Samsung buying from a company that had child workers. The
story was based in China but still was big news and damaged Samsungs reputation
a lot. This story made me think of all the pictures videos Ive seen of kids being
forced to work and I see a lot of those pictures from China. Which made me wonder
how big child laboring was in China.
I struggled to find stories because it was so well hidden only certain people
knew how big it was and decided to report it. I did however find a lot of information
on it, which led me to get some great things on it like statistics and the main causes

Hall 4
of what could happen if it continued. I found out that it was a two sided thing the
country looked so beautiful but what was making it happen (the underage children
and overworked adults) was very ugly.

Works Cited
"At Issue: Sweatshops." ProQuest LLC. 2015: n.pag. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 13
Nov. 2015.
Berrebi, Dario. "Child Labor in China, Factories & Child Trafficking."Poverties.org.
Dario Berrebi, n.d.
Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
CHILD LABOR LAWS IN CHINA." LAWS. RSS FEED, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. Nov.
2015.
"Despite a Pledge by Samsung, Child Labor Proves Resilient." The New York Times.
Ed. David Barboza.
The New York Times, 10 July 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Zhang, Laney. "Children's Rights: China." Children's Rights: China. Foreign Law
Specialist, JulyAug. 2007.
Web. 16

Hall 5