Child Labor and Its Morality

History

History of Child Labor can be traced in some dark realms of industrialization. But a more detailed study
of this heinous, shameful practice can reveal that child labor was present, much before industrialization
in various forms like child slavery.

SCHOLASTIC HISTORY

In the late 1700's and early 1800's, power-driven machines replaced hand labor for making most
manufactured items. Factories began to spring up everywhere, first in England and then in the United
States. The factory owners found a new source of labor to run their machines — children. Operating the
power-driven machines did not require adult strength, and children could be hired more cheaply than
adults. By the mid-1800's, child labor was a major problem.

Children had always worked, especially in farming. But factory work was hard. A child with a factory job
might work 12 to 18 hours a day, 6 days a week, to earn a dollar. Many children began working before
the age of 7, tending machines in spinning mills or hauling heavy loads. The factories were often damp,
dark, and dirty. Some children worked underground, in coal mines. The working children had no time to
play or go to school, and little time to rest. They often became ill.

By 1810, about 2 million school-age children were working 50- to 70-hour weeks. Most came from poor
families. When parents could not support their children, they sometimes turned them over to a mill or
factory owner. One glass factory in Massachusetts was fenced with barbed wire "to keep the young imps
inside." These were boys under 12 who carried loads of hot glass all night for a wage of 40 cents to
$1.10 per night.

Church and labor groups, teachers, and many other people were outraged by such cruelty. The English
writer Charles Dickens helped publicize the evils of child labor with his novel Oliver Twist.

Britain was the first to pass laws regulating child labor. From 1802 to 1878, a series of laws gradually
shortened the working hours, improved the conditions, and raised the age at which children could work.
Other European countries adopted similar laws.

In the United States it took many years to outlaw child labor. By 1899, 28 states had passed laws
regulating child labor. Many efforts were made to pass a national child labor law. The U.S. Congress
passed two laws, in 1918 and 1922, but the Supreme Court declared both unconstitutional. In 1924,
Congress proposed a constitutional amendment prohibiting child labor, but the states did not ratify it.
Then, in 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. It fixed minimum ages of 16 for work
during school hours, 14 for certain jobs after school, and 18 for dangerous work. Today all the states and
the U.S. government have laws regulating child labor. These laws have cured the worst evils of children
working in factories.

But some kinds of work are not regulated. Children of migrant workers, for example, have no legal
protection. Farmers may legally employ them outside of school hours. The children pick crops in the
fields and move from place to place, so they get little schooling.
The Canadian provinces today have child labor laws similar to those in the United States. Most other
countries have laws regulating child labor, too. But the laws are not always enforced. Starting in 1999,
over 160 countries approved an International Labor Organization (ILO) agreement to end the worst
forms of child labor. The ILO is a part of the United Nations and the agreement came into effect in the
year 2000. According to the ILO, the number of child laborers around the world has been falling.
However, as of 2006, there were still 218 million child laborers worldwide; 126 million of them were
engaged in hazardous work. The ILO also runs the world's largest program to help countries eliminate
child labor.

Child Labor

Historian Yohuru Williams gives a rundown of important facts on child labor in the time of the Industrial
Revolution.

Although children had been servants and apprentices throughout most of human history, child labor
reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution. Children often worked long hours in dangerous
factory conditions for very little money. Children were useful as laborers because their size allowed
them to move in small spaces in factories or mines where adults couldn’t fit, children were easier to
manage and control and perhaps most importantly, children could be paid less than adults. Child
laborers often worked to help support their families, but were forced to forgo an education. Nineteenth
century reformers and labor organizers sought to restrict child labor and improve working conditions,
but it took a market crash to finally sway public opinion. During the Great Depression, Americans
wanted all available jobs to go to adults rather than children.

The minimal role of child labor in the United States today is one of the more remarkable changes in the
social and economic life of the nation over the last two centuries. In colonial America, child labor was
not a subject of controversy. It was an integral part of the agricultural and handicraft economy. Children
not only worked on the family farm but were often hired out to other farmers. Boys customarily began
their apprenticeship in a trade between ages ten and fourteen. Both types of child labor declined in the
early nineteenth century, but factory employment provided a new opportunity for children. Ultimately,
young women and adult immigrants replaced these children in the textile industry, but child labor
continued in other businesses. They could be paid lower wages, were more tractable and easily
managed than adults, and were very difficult for unions to organize.

Did You Know?

In 1900, 18 percent of all American workers were under the age of 16.

The educational reformers of the mid-nineteenth century convinced many among the native-born
population that primary school education was a necessity for both personal fulfillment and the
advancement of the nation. This led several states to establish a minimum wage for labor and minimal
requirements for school attendance. These laws had many loopholes, however, and were in place in
only some states where they were laxly enforced. In addition, the influx of immigrants, beginning with
the Irish in the 1840s and continuing after 1880 with groups from southern and eastern Europe,
provided a new pool of child workers. Many of these immigrants came from a rural background, and
they had much the same attitude toward child labor as Americans had in the eighteenth century.
The new supply of child workers was matched by a tremendous expansion of American industry in the
last quarter of the nineteenth century that increased the jobs suitable for children. The two factors led
to a rise in the percentage of children ten to fifteen years of age who were gainfully employed. Although
the official figure of 1.75 million significantly understates the true number, it indicates that at least 18
percent of these children were employed in 1900. In southern cotton mills, 25 percent of the employees
were below the age of fifteen, with half of these children below age twelve. In addition, the horrendous
conditions of work for many child laborers brought the issue to public attention.

Determined efforts to regulate or eliminate child labor have been a feature of social reform in the
United States since 1900. The leaders in this effort were the National Child Labor Committee, organized
in 1904, and the many state child labor committees. These organizations, gradualist in philosophy and
thus prepared to accept what was achievable even if not theoretically sufficient, employed flexible
tactics and were able to withstand the frustration of defeats and slow progress. The committees
pioneered the techniques of mass political action, including investigations by experts, the widespread
use of photography to dramatize the poor conditions of children at work, pamphlets, leaflets, and mass
mailings to reach the public, and sophisticated lobbying. Despite these activities, success depended
heavily on the political climate in the nation as well as developments that reduced the need or
desirability of child labor.

During the period from 1902 to 1915, child labor committees emphasized reform through state
legislatures. Many laws restricting child labor were passed as part of the progressive reform movement
of this period. But the gaps that remained, particularly in the southern states, led to a decision to work
for a federal child labor law. Congress passed such laws in 1916 and 1918, but the Supreme
Court declared them unconstitutional.

The opponents of child labor then sought a constitutional amendment authorizing federal child labor
legislation. Congress passed such an amendment in 1924, but the conservative political climate of the
1920s, together with opposition from some church groups and farm organizations that feared a possible
increase of federal power in areas related to children, prevented many states from ratifying it.

The Great Depression changed political attitudes in the United States significantly, and child labor
reform benefited. Almost all of the codes developed under the National Industrial Recovery Act served
to reduce child labor. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which for the first time set national
minimum wage and maximum hour standards for workers in interstate commerce, also placed
limitations on child labor. In effect, the employment of children under sixteen years of age was
prohibited in manufacturing and mining.

This success arose not only from popular hostility to child labor, generated in no small measure by the
long-term work of the child labor committees and the climate of reform in the New Deal period, but also
from the desire of Americans in a period of high unemployment to open jobs held by children to adults.
Other factors also contributed in a major way to the decline of child labor. New types of machinery cut
into the use of children in two ways. Many simple tasks done by children were mechanized, and
semiskilled adults became necessary for the most efficient use of the equipment. In addition, jobs of all
sorts increasingly required higher educational levels. The states responded by increasing the number of
years of schooling required, lengthening the school year, and enforcing truancy laws more effectively.
The need for education was so clear that Congress in 1949 amended the child labor law to include
businesses not covered in 1938, principally commercial agriculture, transportation, communications,
and public utilities.
Although child labor has been substantially eliminated, it still poses a problem in a few areas of the
economy. Violations of the child labor laws continue among economically impoverished migrant
agricultural workers. Employers in the garment industry in New York City have turned to the children of
illegal immigrants in an effort to compete with imports from low-wage nations. The recent liberalization
of the federal government’s rules concerning work done at home also increases the likelihood of illegal
child labor. Finally, despite the existing laws limiting the number of hours of work for those still
attending school, some children continue to labor an excessive number of hours or hold prohibited jobs.
Effectiveness in enforcement varies from state to state. Clearly, the United States has not yet eliminated
all the abuses and violations, but it has met the objective of the child labor reformers and determined by
law and general practice that children shall not be full-time workers.

Walter Trattner, Crusade for the Children: A History of the National Child Labor Committee and Child
Labor Reform in America (1970).

IRWIN YELLOWITZ
The Reader’s Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Child labour in Victorian Britain (Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens)

The Industrial Revolution appeared at the end of the eighteenth century in Britain and later in the rest of
European countries. At that time, Britain witnessed an incredible economic progress thanks to the
development of industries amongst other things. However, this revolution also affected social classes,
intensifying the social inequalities. Therefore, families of Victorian England had to work harder to earn
more money, but sometimes it was not enough and they had to send their children at work.

I. The different kinds of child labour in Victorian Britain

There were two kinds of child labour. The first one included children who worked for their parents
needed them to do so. They were considered as free workers, since the factories owners could not force
them to do things they did not want to do. Those children were still under the protection of their
parents, and if they thought the working conditions of their children were unacceptable, parents could
protest in order to protect their children.

On the other hand, children of the poorest families or abandoned children had to live in workhouses and
were under the responsibility of the parish. Those children were the ones to be subject to mistreatment
and abuse. The Poor Law of 1834 was one of the principle factors of child labour in Victorian Britain. This
law stipulated that the poor were to live in workhouses and in exchange, they had to work every day, for
several hours. Many testimonies of that time showed that poor people living in workhouses received
bad treatments, especially the children. Most of the workhouses’ children were orphans or abandoned,
thus they did not have any protection from a relative. Those children were then under the custody of
the parish. Child labour was emotionally and physically unbearable, as they were working in atrocious
conditions. They worked for more than ten hours each day, and were paid a pittance. They were subject
of multiple injuries due to their work.

Children were employed in factories because they cost nothing, compared to adults. Moreover, they
were small and could reach areas grown men and women could not. In comparison to middle-class
children, working-class children did not have access to a proper education. They spent their time
working in factories. It was also frequent to see children die whilst working. In an interview, a young boy
named John Cawthorpe, fourteen, describes a day at work for him: “[I] work one week on days and
the other on nights. Sometimes start at 6 on Friday morning and do not give over till 2 p.m. on Saturday.
That is the only time that I work night and day together. Sometimes I work a quarter (of a day), i.e. three
hours over; sometimes a half. When I have been working three turns I get tired. Get some sleep in the
dinner hour, and sometimes in the breakfast half hour. When tired I fall asleep in working time, not
when standing up, but many a time when I am sitting down. When it (the hot steel) comes through it
wakens me.”[1]

II. Charles Dickens’ portrayal of child labour in Oliver Twist (1837-1839)

The main protagonist of the semi-biographical novel, Oliver Twist, was born in a workhouse. His mother
was unmarried when she gave birth to him, and being a single mother was considered as a shame,
especially when you were poor. The number of abandoned children during the Victorian era was high,
and that can be explained by the fact that having a child cost a lot of money and the poorest families
could not take care of them. Another reason was that many abandoned children were born out of
wedlock and purity and honour were two essential virtues in the Victorian society.

In Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens depicted well the terrible living conditions of those children. Through the
whole novel, the readers witness the violent behaviour of the workhouses’ officials. Mr Bumble and Mrs
Mann, both officials for the workhouses where the main protagonist of the story was raised, are the
perfect examples of the parish officials of Victorian Britain. Indeed, in the novel, they do not hesitate to
mistreat the children under their care, by abusing or half-starving them. In chapter two, Dickens
compares the fact of starving in the streets and starving in the workhouses, saying that whatever
happens, poor people were destined to starve[2]. This chapter also provides information about the
living conditions of children in workhouses. They are so hungry that one child says at some point that he
could eat one of the boys. The next days, Oliver is chosen by the other boys to ask for more food at
dinner. The officials are so shocked that they decide to get rid of Oliver by offering five pounds to
whoever is willing to take him. “Selling” children, instead of freeing him, was quite common during the
Victorian period, as it was a source of income.

In his novel, Dickens associates workhouses with slavery. For him, the way children were treated in
those workhouses was similar to slavery, as children did not have proper clothes, and were not well fed.
The nineteenth century saw life expectancy of working-class children falling at approximatively eighteen
years old, and that was due to their terrible working conditions. Between 1819 and 1946, numerous
laws were introduced in order to protect children and prohibit child labour, such as raising the cost of
employment of children for instance. The consequences of those laws were that children were
dismissed, but since they needed money to survive, they had to find other ways to earn money. They
ended up working in worse conditions, in dilapidated factories with bad sanitary system and a minimal
security; or they ended up as criminals, just like in Oliver Twist, where Oliver meets a group of children-
thieves, all under the control of Fagin.

Factories and mines were inspected by people called “Commissioners”, who witnessed the bad
conditions children were working in. In 1874, a Factory Act was established and prohibited the
employment of children under the age of ten in factories. Moreover, numerous laws about child
protection began to appear during the second half of the nineteenth century and nowadays, child labour
is prohibited in Europe.
Definition

A child is a young human being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority. In the
Philippine Context, Republic Act No. 7610 Section 3, he or she is a person under the age of 18 or those
over but are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty,
exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability/condition.

Labor is work, especially hard physical work. But with the Labor Code of the Philippines, a "Worker"
means any member of the labor force, whether employed or unemployed. Basically, everyone can work
as long as they are making good money for sustenance.

“Ang kabataan ay ang pagasa ng bayan,“ Jose Rizal wasn’t joking when he referred the youth as the
hope of the land yet people are mistaken of its context from that of the Child Labor. This might be
seemingly like a helping hand to the family but their work requires deprivation of their childhood, their
potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development, according to
International Labour Organization (2012). Children can work hard on certain things which help them
grow and develop accordingly.

But by the Law protecting children from labouring, the Philippine National Statistics Office and
International Labour Organization made two distinctions, naming them the hazardous and permissible.
The ILO Convention No 182 describes the worst forms of child labour (WFCL), which include work which,
by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals
of children. This includes work that interferes with schooling, is excessively difficult or performed over
long hours, or takes place in a hazardous environment. Hazardous child labour is work that is performed
by children in dangerous and unhealthy conditions, chemical, physical, and biological, that can lead to a
child being killed, injured or made ill as a result of poor safety and health standards or employment
conditions. This is referred to as hazardous child labour.

While there are works no intended for children, there are permissible ones which are allowed to
undertake work under certain conditions.

A child below 15 years old can be permitted to work if he/she is under supervision by family senior/
parents provided that the child works directly under the sole responsibility of his/her parents or legal
guardian and where only members of his/her family are employed.

The child’s employment does not endanger his/her life, safety, health, and morals, or impairs his/her
normal development.

The parent or legal guardian shall provide the said child with the prescribed primary and/or secondary
education.

The employer first secures a work permit for the child from the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE).
Children aged 15 to below 18 years of age are permitted to work in any economic activity not
considered child labor, but not more than eight (8) hours a day and in no case beyond forty (40) hours a
week. They shall not be allowed to work between 10:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. of the following day, and
employer should provide the child with access to at least elementary and secondary education.
There are lots of other situations that occur in the urban places and the rural as well. In the
International Labour Organization

Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for elimination.
Children’s or adolescents’ participation in work that does not affect their health and personal
development or interfere with their schooling, is generally regarded as being something positive. This
includes activities such as helping their parents around the home, assisting in a family business or
earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays. These kinds of activities
contribute to children’s development and to the welfare of their families; they provide them with skills
and experience, and help to prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life.

The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential
and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.
It refers to work that:
 is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and
 interferes with their schooling by:
 depriving them of the opportunity to attend school;
 obliging them to leave school prematurely; or
 requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.

In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families,
exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities
– often at a very early age. Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labour”
depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is
performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries. The answer varies from country to
country, as well as among sectors within countries.

The agriculture sector comprises activities in agriculture, hunting forestry, and fishing.

The industry sector includes mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities
(electricity, gas and water).

The services sector consists of wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels; transport, storage, and
communications; finance, insurance, real-estate, and business services; and community as well as social
personal services.

The worst forms of child labour

Whilst child labour takes many different forms, a priority is to eliminate without delay the worst forms
of child labour as defined by Article 3 of ILO Convention No. 182:

(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt
bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of
children for use in armed conflict;

(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for
pornographic performances;
(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and
trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;

(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health,
safety or morals of children.

Labour that jeopardises the physical, mental or moral well-being of a child, either because of its nature
or because of the conditions in which it is carried out, is known as “hazardous work”.

RA 7610

"For purposes of this Article, the term "child" shall apply to all persons under eighteen (18) years of
age."

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 603

THE CHILD AND YOUTH WELFARE CODE
TITLE I
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Article 1. Declaration of Policy. - The Child is one of the most important assets of the nation. Every effort
should be exerted to promote his welfare and enhance his opportunities for a useful and happy life.

The child is not a mere creature of the State. Hence, his individual traits and aptitudes should be
cultivated to the utmost insofar as they do not conflict with the general welfare.

The molding of the character of the child starts at the home. Consequently, every member of the family
should strive to make the home a wholesome and harmonious place as its atmosphere and conditions
will greatly influence the child's development.

Attachment to the home and strong family ties should be encouraged but not to the extent of making
the home isolated and exclusive and unconcerned with the interests of the community and the country.

The natural right and duty of parents in the rearing of the child for civic efficiency should receive the aid
and support of the government.

Other institutions, like the school, the church, the guild, and the community in general, should assist the
home and the State in the endeavor to prepare the child for the responsibilities of adulthood.

Article 4. Responsibilities of the Child. - Every child, regardless of the circumstances of his birth, sex,
religion, social status, political antecedents and other factors shall:

(1) Strive to lead an upright and virtuous life in accordance with the tenets of his religion, the teachings
of his elders and mentors, and the biddings of a clean conscience;

(2) Love, respect and obey his parents, and cooperate with them in the strengthening of the family;

(3) Extend to his brothers and sisters his love, thoughtfulness, and helpfulness, and endeavor with them
to keep the family harmonious and united;
(4) Exert his utmost to develop his potentialities for service, particularly by undergoing a formal
education suited to his abilities, in order that he may become an asset to himself and to society;

(5) Respect not only his elders but also the customs and traditions of our people, the memory of our
heroes, the duly constituted authorities, the laws of our country, and the principles and institutions of
democracy;

(6) Participate actively in civic affairs and in the promotion of the general welfare, always bearing in
mind that it is the youth who will eventually be called upon to discharge the responsibility of leadership
in shaping the nation's future; and

(7) Help in the observance of individual human rights, the strengthening of freedom everywhere, the
fostering of cooperation among nations in the pursuit of their common aspirations for programs and
prosperity, and the furtherance of world peace.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of
20 November 1989 entry into force 2 September 1990, in accordance with article 49

Article 1 For the purposes of the present Convention, a child means every human being below the age of
eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.

CHILD LABOUR- unicef defines child labour as- ages 5-11 working one hour or more for wages, or
twenty-eight hours at home; ages twelve to twenty-four working fourteen hours or more for wages, or
twenty-eight hours at home; ages fifteen to seventeen working forty-three hours or more for wages, or
at home.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS

And for the very reason that "the child belongs to the father" it is, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, "before it
attains the use of free will, under the power and the charge of its parents."

POPE LEO XIII

RERUM NOVARUM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON CAPITAL AND LABOR

In Leo’s time, “the main operative principle was that of free and unrestricted competition” (para. 11).

13 It is a most sacred law of nature that a father should provide food and all necessaries for those whom
he has begotten; and, similarly, it is natural that he should wish that his children, who carry on, so to
speak, and continue his personality, should be by him provided with all that is needful to enable them to
keep themselves decently from want and misery amid the uncertainties of this mortal life.

15. And in addition to injustice, it is only too evident what an upset and disturbance there would be in all
classes, and to how intolerable and hateful a slavery citizens would be subjected.
CAUSES

Children work because their survival and that of their families depend on it, and in many cases because
unscrupulous adults take advantage of their vulnerability. It is also due to inadequacies and weaknesses
in national educational systems. It is deeply ingrained in cultural and social attitudes and traditions.

Poverty is certainly the greatest single force driving children into the workplace. Income from a child's
work is felt to be crucial for his/her own survival or for that of the household.

Popular perceptions and local customs and traditions (even when they are well-intended) also play an
important part, such as:

The view that work is good for the character-building and skill development of children;

The tradition that children are expected to follow in their parents' footsteps in a particular trade, and to
learn and practice that trade at a very early age;

Traditions that push poor families into indebting themselves heavily for social occasions or religious
events, then relying on their children's work to pay off the debt. The phenomenon of bonded labour,
recognized as one of the worst forms of child labour, is still widespread largely because of the
vulnerability of poor families to such pressures;

The widely held view that girl children are less in need of education than boys, which leads to them
being taken out of school at an early age and placed in work at home, or sold into domestic employment
or sex work.

Child labour may be so deeply ingrained in local customs and habits that neither the parents nor the
children themselves realize that it is against the interests of children and illegal;

Children from large families are more likely to be at work than those from small families, simply because
the parents' income is quite insufficient to support a large family.

The availability and quality of schooling is among the most important factors: many communities do not
possess adequate school facilities;

even where schools exist the education provided is often not perceived by children or their parents to
be a viable alternative to work. For many families, schooling is simply unaffordable. Even when it is
"free" it involves a perceived opportunity cost of the income foregone when a child is at school rather
than at work; the education provided is frequently of poor quality, and/or perceived by the parents and
the children themselves to be irrelevant to local needs and conditions. It is hardly surprising therefore
that they see no point in attending school; traditional views prevail that girls are better prepared for
adult life by sending them to work than by investing in their education; as a result of the above factors,
vast numbers of children enter early into the unskilled labour market. They are frequently illiterate and
remain so throughout their lives, and they lack the basic educational grounding which would enable
them to acquire skills and to improve their prospects for a decent adult working life.
Families themselves are a major factor. Large numbers of children are unpaid workers in family
enterprises (farms, informal sector workshops, etc.), which depend on family labour in order to survive.
Many national laws and regulations, as well as international standards like Convention No. 138, allow
exceptions in such cases. However, even in family enterprises, children can be exposed to serious risks
to their health and safety.

According to the experts, the main reasons for the emergence of child labour in bigger cities are
unhealthy family life and economic deprivation. Families strained by financial difficulties cannot cope
with the increasing demands of their children and sometimes even fail to provide them with adequate
nutrition. This appears to be the main reason children look for their own sources of income. In socially
disadvantaged, alcoholic or morally bankrupt families, pecuniary challenges are often coupled with
destructive dynamics in the relationships. These factors combine to spur children into the street,
temporarily or permanently, leading them to a vagrant existence, required too early to make
independent decisions. Economic hardships and family dysfunction can therefore be named as the
main causes of child labour. Another important cause mentioned by the experts is the overall social
and economic situation in the country.

According to the experts, the main reasons for the emergence of child labour in bigger cities are
unhealthy family life and economic deprivation. Families strained by financial difficulties cannot cope
with the increasing demands of their children and sometimes even fail to provide them with adequate
nutrition. This appears to be the main reason children look for their own sources of income. In socially
disadvantaged, alcoholic or morally bankrupt families, pecuniary challenges are often coupled with
destructive dynamics in the relationships. These factors combine to spur children into the street,
temporarily or permanently, leading them to a vagrant existence, required too early to make
independent decisions. Economic hardships and family dysfunction can therefore be named as the main
causes of child labour. Another important cause mentioned by the experts is the overall social and
economic situation in the country.
Any diagnosis has to begin by recognizing the complexity of the problem. Legislators and policy-makers
have to beware of oversimplified explanations for the existence of child labour.

For instance:
there is a widely held belief that there is nothing much that can be done to combat child labour Р that it
is a result and a manifestation of poverty and can only be eliminated when poverty itself has been
eliminated; according to another school of thought, child labour only exists because unscrupulous adults
exploit children in order to make quick profits and to gain an unfair advantage over competitors. All that
needs to be done, according to this school of thought, is to bring the full force of the law against the
offenders and to send the children back to school where they belong.
The basis of the elimination of the worst forms of child labour within a relatively short time-frame must
be legislation, which keeps the total elimination of child labour as the ultimate goal of policy, but which
explicitly identifies and prohibits the worst forms of child labour to be eliminated as a matter of priority.
Such legislation must also provide adequate sanctions for violators and adequate compensation for
victims, and be rigorously and impartially enforced.

For all these reasons, even when it has been declared illegal, child labour continues to be tolerated and
accepted as the natural order of things Р and much of it is invisible. It is frequently surrounded by a wall
of silence, indifference and apathy. But that wall is beginning to crumble. The process of globalization
and the development of modern means of communication have made the plight of working children a
major issue on the agenda of the international community.
The growing international concern with the problem of child labour, reflected by these and other
events, has been the result of a number of developments, notably:

The trend towards greater liberalization of trade and capital movements. This has brought about
increasingly vocal demands that children should not be victims of the increased competition among
countries and firms struggling to obtain a comparative advantage in world markets through the cheap
and docile labour of children.

Greater transparency in the world economy and the abolition of blocs after the end of the Cold War.
The indignation of consumers at the thought that the goods they purchase may have been produced in
abusive conditions, including child labour; and the publicity given to the commercial sexual exploitation
of children, particularly children in prostitution and pornography and sex tourism.

At the same time it has resulted in a fuller understanding of the complex causes of child labour, and in
particular the fact that it is deeply rooted in poverty, in the lack or inadequacy of schooling and in social
and cultural traditions and structures. Its elimination cannot be achieved merely by a stroke of the
legislator's pen, but is recognized to be a very long-term goal. However, growing concern has emerged
that certain situations of child labour are so grave and inhumane that they can no longer be tolerated.

Thus a consensus emerged in the 1990s that the highest priority should be given to eliminating the
worst forms of child labour, that visible results should be achieved within a short time-frame rather than
in some indefinite future, and that a concerted programme of action should be launched at the national
and international levels in order to achieve rapid results.

Child labor persists even though laws and standards to eliminate it exist. Current causes of global child
labor are similar to its causes in the U.S. 100 years ago, including poverty, limited access to education,
repression of workers’ rights, and limited prohibitions on child labor.

Poverty and unemployment levels are high.

Poor children and their families may rely upon child labor in order to improve their chances of attaining
basic necessities. More than one-fourth of the world's people live in extreme poverty, according to 2005
U.N. statistics. The intensified poverty in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America causes many children
there to become child laborers.

Access to compulsory, free education is limited.

In 2006, approximately 75 million children were not in school, limiting future opportunities for the
children and their communities. A 2009 report by the United Nations estimated that achieving universal
education for the world's children would cost $10-30 billion -- about 0.7% - 2.0% of the annual cost of
global military spending.

Existing laws or codes of conduct are often violated.

Even when laws or codes of conduct exist, they are often violated. For example, the manufacture and
export of products often involves multiple layers of production and outsourcing, which can make it
difficult to monitor who is performing labor at each step of the process. Extensive subcontracting can
intentionally or unintentionally hide the use of child labor.

Laws and enforcement are often inadequate.

Child labor laws around the world are often not enforced or include exemptions that allow for child
labor to persist in certain sectors, such as agriculture or domestic work. Even in countries where strong
child labor laws exist, labor departments and labor inspection offices are often under-funded and under-
staffed, or courts may fail to enforce the laws. Similarly, many state governments allocate few resources
to enforcing child labor laws.
National Laws Often Include Exemptions
Examples

Nepal
Minimum age of 14 for most work...plantations and brick kilns are exempt.

Kenya
prohibits children under 16 from industrial work...but excludes agriculture.

Bangladesh
specifies a minimum age for work...but sets no regulations on domestic work or agricultural work
Workers’ rights are repressed.

Workers’ abilities to organize unions affect the international protection of core labor standards,
including child labor. Attacks on workers’ abilities to organize make it more difficult to improve labor
standards and living standards in order to eliminate child labor. For example, in 2010, 5,000 workers
were fired and 2,500 workers were arrested as a result of their union activity, according to the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

The global economy intensifies the effects of some factors.

As multinational corporations expand across borders, countries often compete for jobs, investment, and
industry. This competition sometimes slows child labor reform by encouraging corporations and
governments to seek low labor costs by resisting international standards. Some U.S. legislation has
begun to include labor standards and child labor as criteria for preferential trade and federal contracts.
However, international free trade rules may prohibit consideration of child labor or workers’ rights.
The effects of poverty in developing countries are often worsened by the large interest payments on
development loans. The structural adjustments associated with these loans often require governments
to cut education, health, and other public programs, further harming children and increasing pressure
on them to become child laborers.

Debt and Child Welfare

The example of Sub-Saharan Africa
Though the region receives $10 billion in aid per year, it loses more than $14 billion in debt payments
annually, according to MediaGlobal.

In Malawi, the country spends 40% of its GDP to repay foreign creditors, while only 15% of GDP is spent
on healthcare and education combined.

Unseen Workers: Child Labor in the Philippines

Millions of children in the Philippines are forced to work at young ages. Child labor is one of the
Philippines' most urgent problems and stems from a range of social factors. Unless something is done to
stop child labor, the issue will continue to affect the lives of many families across the country.

Dangerous Work: Child Labor Facts

Conditions that child laborers are forced to endure vary widely, but according to a 2011 report by the
International Labor Organization, as many as 3 million children work in environments that are
considered hazardous, and an additional 2.5 million children are forced to work in slightly better but still
substandard conditions.

The ABK3 LEAP project aims to stop child labor in the sugarcane industry.
Some children have jobs that place them in immediate physical danger. These risks include exposure to
potentially harmful chemicals or sharp tools, and other dangers that may be less obvious but no less
risky. Children are often forced to work long hours with few breaks, which takes a toll on their physical
development. Others are abused by their employers, both physically and psychologically. Although some
companies make use of both boys and girls in their operations, boys remain at higher risk of becoming
child laborers; almost 67 percent of child workers in the Philippines are boys. Hazardous work involving
children is most prevalent in the Central Luzon, Bicol, Northern Mindanao and Western Visayan Island
regions.

Children as young as 6 have been working in sugarcane fields in the Philippines, and gold mines also
employ forced child labor.

Root Causes of Child Labor

As with many threats to children's development and well-being, poverty is a root cause of child labor.
Families struggle to make ends meet and face hard decisions when it comes to sending their children to
work. Without immediate action, the problem will continue to grow.

"We have to get to the root of child labor which is linked with poverty and lack of decent and productive
work," said Lawrence Jeff Johnson, director of the International Labour Organization's country office for
the Philippines. "While we strive to keep children in school and away from child labor, we need to
ensure decent and productive work for parents and basic social protection for families."

Although regional financial struggles are a major cause of child labor in the Philippines, the global
economy is another factor. According to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the escalating price of
gold has driven mining operations in the Philippines to new levels, and many mining companies make
use of children. As many as 18,000 children are involved in regional gold mining operations across the
Philippines, and currently the country ranks 18th in terms of gold production. As the demand for gold
increases, along with its price, so too will the number of children forced to work.

Gold production in the Philippines is highly dangerous. Young boys and teenagers are often forced to
descend into watery pits in a process known as compression mining. With only a tube to allow them to
breathe underwater, they fill bags with ore before returning to the surface. Aside from the obvious
physical dangers of this type of work, children and teenagers face other risks when working in the
mining industry, such as exposure to mercury, which is used to leech gold from rock.

Stop Child Labor

ChildFund has operated in the Philippines since 1954 to stop child labor and address the problems that
lead to it. ChildFund Philippines is one of six implementing agencies of ABK3 LEAP: Livelihoods,
Education, Advocacy and Protection to Reduce Child Labor in Sugarcane, which reaches 52,000 children
and 25,000 households. Through this partnership, ChildFund aims to reduce the number of children
forced to work by improving access to education. Other projects are currently under way to raise
awareness of the dangers of child labor and the industries that support it, such as sugarcane farming
and deep-sea fishing.
To help us put a stop to child exploitation in the Philippines, please consider making a monthly donation
to become a Guardian Angel or to sponsor a child. Your support makes the difference in the fight against
child labor.

Table 3. Ratification of International Conventions on Child Labor

Convention Ratification
ILO C. 138, Minimum Age ✓
ILO C. 182, Worst Forms of Child Labor ✓
UN CRC ✓
UN CRC Optional Protocol on Armed Conflict ✓
UN CRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child ✓
Pornography
Palermo Protocol on Trafficking in Persons ✓
The Government has established laws and regulations related to child labor, including its worst forms
(Table 4). However, gaps exist in the Philippines’s legal framework to adequately protect children from
child labor.

Table 4. Laws and Regulations on Child Labor

Standard Meets Age Legislation

International
Standards:
Yes/No
Minimum Age for Work Yes 15 Article 139 of the Labor Code; Section 16 of the Act
Instituting Policies for the Protection and Welfare of
Domestic Workers (54, 55)
Minimum Age for Yes 18 Article 139 of the Labor Code (55)
Hazardous Work
Identification of Yes Department Order 149 on Guidelines in Assessing and
Hazardous Occupations Determining Hazardous Work in the Employment of
or Activities Prohibited Persons Below 18 Years of Age; Sections 12-D and 16
for Children of the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse,
Exploitation, and Discrimination Act (56, 57)
Prohibition of Forced Yes Sections 4-5 of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in
Labor Persons Act; Sections 12-D and 16 of the Special
Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and
Discrimination Act (56, 58)
Prohibition of Child Yes Sections 12-D and 16 of the Special Protection of
Trafficking Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and
Discrimination Act; Sections 4-5 of the Expanded Anti-
Trafficking in Persons Act; (56, 58)
Prohibition of Yes Sections 12-D and 16 of the Special Protection of
Commercial Sexual Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and
Exploitation of Children Discrimination Act; Section 4 of the Anti-Child
Pornography Act; Section 4 of the Cybercrime
Prevention Act (56, 59, 60)
Prohibition of Using Yes Sections 12-D and 16 of the Special Protection of
Children in Illicit Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and
Activities Discrimination Act;
Sections 5 and 8 of the Comprehensive Dangerous
Drugs Act (56, 61)
Minimum Age for
Military Recruitment
State Compulsory Yes* 18 Section 14 in the Providing for the Development,
Administration, Organization, Training and
Maintenance and Utilization of the Citizen Armed
Forces of the Philippines, and for Other Purposes Act
(62)
State Voluntary Yes 18 Section 12 in the Providing for the Development,
Administration, Organization, Training and
Maintenance and Utilization of the Citizen Armed
Forces of the Philippines, and for Other Purposes Act
(62)
Non-state Compulsory Yes 18 Sections 12-D and 16 in the Special Protection of
Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and
Discrimination Act (56)
Compulsory Education Yes 18‡ Section 4 of the Enhanced Basic Education Act (16, 63)
Age
Free Public Education Yes Section 2 of the Philippine Constitution (64)
* No conscription (65)
‡ Age calculated based on available information

In 2016, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) released a revised and expanded list of
hazardous occupations and activities prohibited for children and Guidelines for the Employment of
Migratory Sugarcane Workers, which prohibit the use of children on sugarcane fields.(37, 42, 57, 66) In
addition, the Government passed the Children’s Emergency Relief and Protection Act in May 2016, in
which the Philippine National Police, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the
Armed Forces of the Philippines will act as operating units and local councils in areas affected by
national disasters and calamities and monitor and prevent child trafficking and child labor, including its
worst forms.(37, 42, 67, 68)

In 2016, the Philippine Congress introduced House Bill No. 002 that seeks to lower the age of criminal
responsibility from 15 to nine years old. The bill does not outline the rights of the children who
encounter this law, including their right to access a lawyer and disadvantages children who are
socioeconomically challenged and would struggle to obtain legal assistance.(69)

In 2016, the Government funded and participated in programs that include the goal of eliminating or
preventing child labor, including its worst forms (Table 10).
Table 10. Key Social Programs to Address Child Labor‡
Program
Child Labor Prevention and
Elimination Program
(Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Program)
Campaign for Child-Labor
Free Barangays†
Livelihood for Parents of
Child Laborers (Kabuhayan
para sa Magulang ng Batang
Manggagawa)†
Recovery and Reintegration
Program for Trafficked
Persons†
USDOL-Funded Projects
Description
DSWD program that provides conditional grants to poor families with
children to improve their access to health care, adequate nutrition, and
education; implements local awareness-raising campaigns; institutes
child labor-monitoring mechanisms; and requires barangays to develop
child labor elimination plans. (91-93) Covers 1,627 cities and
municipalities in 79 provinces and all 17 regions.(70) As of November
2016, there were 4,389,863 active household beneficiaries who received
education and health services. Program will include a child labor module
that will impart information on the effects of child labor to project
participants and the family’s role to combat child labor.(37, 94)
DOLE program that aims to eliminate child labor in villages through
community awareness-raising on child labor and anti-human trafficking
laws, and through government livelihood programs and guidelines.(95)
In 2016, DOLE declared 79 barangays child labor free, bringing the total
number to 292 since 2014.(37) DOLE regional offices certified 28
establishments child labor free, bringing the total up to 210 since
2013.(37)
DOLE program that provides livelihood assistance to parents, guardians
or other family members of child laborers. (73, 96, 97) In 2016,
prevented or removed a total of 2,108 child laborers or children at risk
for child labor.(37)
DSWD and IACAT program that provides recovery and reintegration
services to victims of human trafficking and raises awareness in
vulnerable communities.(98) Includes the National Referral System,
which strengthens coordination among agencies providing services to
human trafficking victims through the use of standard referral and
reporting forms.(98) There are 149 referral networks established in 16
regions. In 2016, received a budget of $479,413.(37)
USDOL projects in the Philippines that aim to eliminate child labor in the
sugar-cane provinces, artisanal and small-scale gold mines, and its worst
forms, through improved capacity of the national government and
legislation, the implementation of a National Action Plan, research, data
collection, the development of strategic policies to address the
elimination of child labor and forced labor, and stronger legal
protections and social services delivery for child domestic workers.
 These projects include Country Level Engagement and Assistance to
Reduce Child Labor (CLEAR), implemented by the ILO in at least 11
countries; Global Action Program (GAP) on Child Labor Issues,
implemented by the ILO in approximately 40 countries; Building a
Generation of Safe and Healthy Workers: Safe and Healthy Youth,
implemented by the ILO with the Philippines as one of the three pilot
countries; Philippines ABK3 LEAP—Livelihoods, Education, Advocacy,
and Protection to Reduce Child Labor in Sugarcane (2011–2016), $16.5
million project implemented by World Vision; and “CARING Gold Mining
Project,” Convening Stakeholders to Develop and Implement Strategies
to Reduce Child Labor and Improve Working Conditions in Artisanal and
Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) (2015–2019), implemented by the ILO
with the Philippines as one of the two pilot countries. (99-102) For
additional information about USDOL’s work, please visit our Web site.
Alternative Learning System Department of Education program that offers non-formal education to
Program† out-of-school children, including child laborers, as well as opportunities
to attain a certificate of education equivalency. Has limited resources,
represents approximately 1 percent of the Department of Education’s
budget, and has only 1 teacher for every 24 communities, so it cannot
reach many out-of-school youth.(76, 77, 96)
† Program is funded by the Government of the Philippines.
‡ The Government had other social programs that may have included the goal of eliminating or
preventing child labor, including its worst forms.(25, 73, 96, 103, 104)