Children who Work
According to Unicef estimates, one in six children (158 million) aged 5-14 are engaged in child labor. These kids aren't working at the local shopping center. Rather, they sell goods on the street, clean houses, or work in small factories and stay away from the watchful eye of local law enforcement or inspectors.
Despite being considered exploitative by many organizations and countries, child labor is still common and occurs in countries like India and Guatemala, as well as the United States and the U.K.
The problem of child labor is complex and stems from adult poverty. For many poor families, working children contribute much needed income that prevents their family from falling deeper into poverty. Product boycotts and factory raids over child labor can sometimes prove more harmful as children turn to more dangerous jobs like mining and prostitution to earn money.
Slate Magazine's Today in Pictures captures images of working children dating back to 1942. What's most striking to me is how young and tiny some of the children are in the photos. I'm used to seeing adults performing the jobs that these small children are doing.
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The Street Children of Sierra Leone
Al Jazeera recently did an interesting segment on one man's work towards helping the poor and forgotten street children of Sierra Leone. Armed with only a camera, Paul Williams traveled across Sierra Leone documenting the lives of the country's impoverished children.
Many parents will often send
Many parents will often send their children to ask for money in trains or out on the street, since they figure people will be more likely to give to children because they are so young. In crowded cities like Athens and Rome, kids no older than four or five (rather aggressively) try to pawn off fresh roses to tourists while the children's parents stand off to the side waiting to pocket the money. I once witnessed a little boy playing an accordion as he made his way through the subway cars, taking coins mostly from guilty American tourists.
In addition to asking for money, children will often assist their parents in petty thievery. Younger children will act as distractions while their older siblings or parents reach hands into pockets or bags, all clearing out before the individual has had a chance to realize they've been robbed.
It's a troubling situation, combining wanting to help the families of these children by giving them money, at the same time as condoning sending unaccompanied toddlers out into the streets to beg for "their share" of the family income.
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