AP Seminar
2018
Word count: 1236
All over the world children and adults are used for unfair labor, more children than adults are used on farms and other places where they are in the unsuitable conditions to work. They are held in inhospitable working environments where they are treated inadequately. These children are used to do difficult work, and they are unpaid and overworked to a point that isn’t okay. Some of the working environments are more suitable than others; some children are forced to work for no money, with many other children, crowded, in old unpleasant places that are not workable in but they have no other option. Beyond defining work as a means of survival, however, defining what work is appropriate for children and what, if anything to do about inappropriate work involves more complex judgments, especially for firms doing business in the global economy (Bachman, 2000). S.L. Bachman is a visiting scholar at Stanford University's Asia/Pacific Research Center who has written for newspapers and magazines, including the San Jose Mercury News and taught at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.
The United States and all other places around the world trade with other places to obtain the things they need for survival and even for non-necessities. Let’s say the United States produces an excessive amount of rice or cotton, and another country needs rice because it is sparse in their country. It is more of a priority for countries to import than to export because they would like to obtain what they need instead of helping other places that lack what they have. Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s most valuable export commodity, generating US$933.7 million in 2016. (Wurth, 2018) Researcher, Wurth in Human Rights Watch researches in 2016 and 2017 into conditions on tobacco farms in Zimbabwe and the research revealed an industry tainted by child labor. Margaret Wurth is researcher in the Children’s Rights Division and Jane Buchanan, associate director in the Children’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.
It is an urgent and recurring problem that children are used for child labor in wrong and terrible places. Even though it is known to be wrong, countries that are known for child labor are still used in trading exchange. If the majority of countries in the world use little or any labor where they use all children or incorporate children into the unfair labors, are all countries going to abandon trade altogether?
The child laboring business is definitely a flawed one but there are certain laws in place. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., controls many aspects of employer-employee relations regarding common employment issues such as minimum wages, maximum work hours, and overtime pay rules (Labor Law, 2011). There are certain laws that children can be hired as tipped employees and then their minimum wage per hour is different and less. The FLSA does not have specific provisions that apply to children, but one of the wage provisions affects children more than other workers. Under the FLSA, an employer can pay an employee who is younger than the age of 20 at a rate less than other employees (Donna Batten, 2013). Donna Batten Is the author of books such as Encyclopedia Of Governmental Advisory Organizations.
When a country imports foreign goods and services into its markets for domestic consumers to purchase, it can benefit its economy in important ways (Imports, 2008). Trade between countries improves the economy and makes more job opportunities. Exports create jobs and boost economic growth (Amaedo, 2018). Kimberly Amadeo has 20 years experience in economic analysis and business strategy. She's the U.S. Economy Expert for The Balance. The Critics blame increased trade and financial flows for increased child labor, and those criticisms have undermined the legitimacy of further trade and financial liberalization. Workers who lose their jobs because of import competition can drive down the wages of unskilled workers throughout the economy (Krist, The Labor Dilema). William Krist is an author that wrote the book Globalization and America's Trade Agreements.
On one hand, child labor is bad for the child. Exploitative child labor makes children much more susceptible to chronic health problems, often prevents their ability to complete their education, and often limits their future economic opportunities (Nienstedt, 2013). Andrea Nienstedt is a recovering academic with multiple degrees in English.
As much as it is a problem that these children are being forced to work in disturbing conditions, without these workers, many things would not get done. If children on plants somehow went on strike and stopped doing the work they are needed to it would cause an extreme effect on the production of whatever they do. If those products aren’t being produced, they can not be traded and it would mess up the whole system. Manufacturers claimed that if child labor were eliminated, they would be bankrupted (Schuman, 2017). Michael Schuman is a supervisory contract specialist in the Office of Administration, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
If countries are willing to undergo the process of losing major imports and exports just to ban the labor of children then it could be done. But even if countries ban importations from places that do have child workers, would the actual working of these children even be discontinued? As well, if these children were not in these conditions would they even be in better ones? About 68 percent of child labour in case study is caused by poverty, 27 percent and 10 percent by illiteracy and parent unemployment respectively. Results showed that families having larger in size may also be responsible for child labour. The study further enlightens about several laws and enactments about child rights and their working conditions (Hussain & Ahmad, 2017). Mir, Muzaffar Hussain and Shah, Showkat Ahmad are authors that wrote this peer-reviewed source.
This topic is significant because child labor and the trading system, feed into each other, the children make or produce or do whatever job they are told to do and then it is traded between countries. Without child labor, the exportation and importation system would crash. Also, without the importation from country to country, the child labor plantations might not be necessary. The entire service industry affects tens of millions of people within the United States and hundreds of millions of people throughout the world (Krabbenhoft, 2014). Alan G. Krabbenhoft, is an author of business and finance.
In conclusion, the most reliable sources imply that child labor for countries is needed for the entire process of importing and exporting. Without these children, a good majority of the goods would not be produced, grown, or made. Children perform the tasks that yield most of what is needed in the country they are working in and everywhere that these goods are exported to. Although having these children working in the wrong habitat or eventually, circumstances is wrong and not fair for the children, btu it is required for this organization and the world in general. The conditions they are working in should be improved however without the work they do, they would otherwise be in worse conditions. They might not be fed or even have shelter at all. The places they do work in may not be ideal, but countries must still continue with the importation and exportation involving these child laboring countries because otherwise it would result in the decline of the economy and nothing good would result.