Child Labor
Activity 4
In some countries industrialization has created working conditions for children that rival the worst features of the 19th century factories and mines. In India, for example some 20,000 children work 16- hour days in match factories.
Child labor problems are not, of course, limited to developing nations. They occur wherever poverty exists in Europe and the United States. The most important efforts to eliminate child labor abuses throughout the world come from the International Labor Organization (ILO) founded in 1919 and now a special agency of the United Nations. The organizations argues for:
- A minimum age of 16 years for admission to all work.
- A higher minimum age for more dangerous jobs.
- Compulsory medical examinations
- Regulation of night work
- Elimination of slavery and debt bondage and forced military service
However, these are only voluntary measures. The organization does not have the power to enforce its regulations.