child labor

Children who Work

A young girl working in Guatemala. Photo: <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/noesunjoc/300356800/">noesnjoc (flickr)</a>
A young girl working in Guatemala. Photo: noesnjoc (flickr)

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.

Genuine Leather Made by...Children?

Topics: Trade, Health, Urbanization
Countries: Pakistan

Move over Italy. Developing countries are the up-and-coming leaders of the leather market, boasting cheaper production costs and fewer environmental regulations.

There is a good chance that your soccer ball, leather belt or aviator jacket was tanned in one of Pakistan’s 2,500 leather factories in the industrial centers of Karachi, Kasur, and Sialkot. The factories mostly employ poor people from neighboring areas, especially young children who will work for cheap wages. In one town alone, Kasur, more than 700 children worked in leather-tanning factories, according to the International Labor Organization.

NPR's Marketplace recently profiled a 17-year-old Pakistani boy, Mohmen, who's worked in the tanning industry since he was 13.

Like so many of Pakistan’s child workers, Mohmen has sacrificed his childhood to support his family. He has toiled in a hazardous leather tanning factory for four years. Six days a week Mohmen moves animal skins from a cart to a conveyor belt.

His heavy workload is not the only thing in the factory that will begin to take a toll on Mohmen. A 1996 Swedish study found that leather tannery workers experience an increased risk of cancer due to their exposure to toxic chemicals.

Mohmen would like to leave and go home to his family but he knows that he cannot. “How can I go home if I have to keep paying somebody? I keep paying what my family owes.” He is just a kid, but he is in an adult world where there is no rest from poverty's harsh realities.

From the Archives

Child Laborers in India - The Reality

Countries: India
Previously filed under: Asia, General Globalization
It is hard to make sense of the world after having witnessed child slavery first hand.

Breaking News

Economic Crisis May 'Re-Ignite AIDS Epidemic'

OneWorld Daily Headlines - Mon, 12/01/2008 - 09:16
There is rising concern on World AIDS Day this year that advances in fighting HIV/AIDS in countries like South Africa and Zambia may be reversed as financial woes push donors to rescind funding for the coming year.

Qatar Interested in Investing in Mozambique

All Africa - Mon, 12/01/2008 - 08:13
The Emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, has declared that his country is interested in investing in Mozambique, particularly in tourism, agro-processing, energy and infrastructures.

Drug Deaths, Violence Plague Border In Tijuana

NPR - Mon, 12/01/2008 - 09:17
Controlling immigration at the border between Mexico and the U.S. is proving challenging as drug cartels, money, gang violence and politics clash with a potentially idyllic and green city just south of San Diego. Tijuana is suffering as a result of the violence.

'Now Is the Time for a Green New Deal'

Spiegel Online - Tue, 12/02/2008 - 07:44
With the world gathered in Poznan, Poland to work out a successor deal to the Kyoto Protocol, UN Environment Program Director Achim Steiner discusses sustainable transportation and the failures of the auto industry.

Financial Crisis Hits Health-Care Companies

Business Week - Sun, 11/30/2008 - 15:16
The housing crisis is affecting the health care facilities in two ways: through declines in elective procedures and screening procedures, and an increase in the numbers of patients who can no longer meet medical co-pays or deductibles.

Recent comments

An initiative of Mercy Corps
“You must be the change
you wish to see in the world”
Mahatma Gandhi
Learn more about Mercy Corps >

Efficiency

Over the last five years, more than 89% of Mercy Corps' resources have been allocated directly to programs

Excellence

Mercy Corps is a Charity Navigator 4-star charity.

Click to view our rating from America's premier charity evaluator.

High Value

Every dollar you donate to Mercy Corps helps us secure $20.89 in donated food and other critical supplies.

Mercy Corps — Dept. W — 3015 SW First Ave — Portland, OR 97201
All original content Copyright © 2008 Mercy Corps. Quoted and linked content is property of the creator(s). Mercy Corps will not sell, rent or trade your personal information.