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Child Labour Laws

Child labour laws are statues regulating the work of minors. They are designed to prevent children from work that interferes with the children's ability to attend regular school or that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. Child labor helped fuel the Industrial Revolution by being able to access smaller work areas and cheaper labor. Prussia was the first country to enact laws restricting children from working in factories. After Prussia enacted its first laws, other countries followed such as France, England and the United States. The International Labour Organization, ILO, works to set global minimum standards of labor. Currently 135 nations has accepted these laws and joined the organization. The ILO with other organizations continue to promote child labor laws around the world.

History

Child labour has existed since before the start of civilized society. Early history showed children were used to pick berries and do small maintenance in nomadic tribes. Once people started setting areas, children were used to help on the farmlands. This is a practice that continues even to today. Child labour expanded during Industrial Revolution. Children were able to work in smaller places that adults could not access, such as chimney sweeps, behind cotton machines, and in small places in mining. This work was dangerous and children often lost their lives while working.

In 1839 Prussia was the first country to pass laws restricting child labor in factories and setting the number of hours a child could work. Though the reasons behind why these laws were passed, it did lead to laws being passed across Europe. In 1839 Britain enacted is Factory Act which restricted child labour and in 1841 France adopted its first child labour laws. After Britain, France and Germany adopted their laws, almost the entirety of Europe had child labour laws in place by 1890. Although individual states had adopted laws starting with Massachusetts in 1844, the United States did not enact federal laws until the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938.. This law set minimum wages to 40 cent an hour, restricted the child work week to 40 hours a week, and restricted children under 16 from working in manufacturing plants and mining. In 1941 the U.S. Supreme Court mandated that the law was constitutional.

Much of the labour laws enacted started either shortly before or after World War I.The International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF were created with the Treaty of Versailles after the end of World War I as a way to bring safer working conditions for adults, institute minimum ages labour limits, enhance working conditions for children, and eliminate child labour around the globe. In 1919 members of the ILO consisted of countries from the League of Nations. In total 41 countries brought together the ILO. In 1926, the United States joined the ILO. After World War II, the ILO was adopted, and then funded, by the United Nations. After World War II, the ILO set out to change the child labour standards not just with the countries in the United Nations, but also expanded around the globe. In 1992 the ILO created the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) which is an organization that works exclusively on the elimination of child labour and exploitation.

Current Global Laws

Since its induction, the International Labour Organization currently has 23 conventions, or laws, within its constitution that regulate the labor of adults and children. These laws include the minimum age restriction, protection against forced labor, holiday/vacation time granted, conditions of the workforce, safety standards, protection against pregnant women, and night time working conditions. Within these conditions are stricter standards set for the safety of children. Most of the conventions and recommendations for child labour fall under Article 3, The Elimination of child labour and the protection of children and young persons.

The first convention listed is the Minimum Age Convention, 1973. This convention states that a person under eighteen cannot work in a facility that may jeopardize there safety, health, or morals. This work includes mining, operation of heavy machinery, and heavy manual labor. Children ages 13-15 may perform light work as long as the work does not bring any harm or hinder their education. Children under thirteen are restricted from working. The worst forms of child labor conventions mandates that persons under 18 cannot be used in work as slaves, prostitution, pornography, drug trafficking, or any other labor that could harm a child's safety, health, or morals. The medical examination conventions hold that a child under eighteen cannot work in an industrialized or non-industrialized position without being deemed fit by medical professional. Person's under the age of eighteen are not permitted to work underground such as in a mine. Persons aged 18-21 are required to be supervised when working in an underground environment. Lastly, persons over the age of fourteen but younger than eighteen must have at least twelve hours off, fourteen if currently engaged in school, and these hours bust include the hours of ten o' clock at night through six o' clock in the morning. These conventions and recommendations are in pace to provide children with a safe working environment and promote their education. Since its start in 1919, 186 countries have become members of ILO. As a member of the ILO, countries vow to keep the minimum conventions held in the ILO constitution.

Changes Taking Place

Since the start of these organizations, there has been a decrease in the number of child laborers. Between 2008-2012 there was a reduction of 78 million child laborers. This was nearly one third of child laborers since 2008, with the highest number of reduction in Asian countries. Nearly forty percent of those were female. Even with the reduction, there is an estimated 168 million children ages 5-17 still in the labor force. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of child laborers. Sub-Saharan Africa are enslaving child workers and exploiting their labour in the production of cocoa and mining. The ILO and IPEC are concentrating their efforts in Sub-African in order to reduce and eliminate child labour in the regions.

One way to ensure that products bought were not produced by child labour or through unsafe labour practices is by purchasing items through the World Fair Trade Organization, WTFO. The WTFO set 10 core principles which includes that any products registered could not have been produced by forced child labour and if any child labour was provided it remained within the conventions of the ILO.

Global Organizations Promoting Change

The International Labour Organization, or ILO, is the leading organization advocating against child labour. The ILO mission is to promote the rights of workers, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and increase awareness of work-related issues. Founded in 1919 after World War One. Since its inception, the ILO has promoted safe working environments. In 1973, the ILO drafted its first conventions. Since then its had several modifications. Currently, the ILO contains 186 nations that have vowed to maintain the minimum labour requirements in these conventions. The ILO continues to push for global labour laws and restrictions on child labour.

The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is an organization established in 1992 by the International Labour Organization. Where the ILO is centered on reform in all forms of labour, both adult and child, the IPEC primarily focuses on the elimination of all forms of child labour. The IPEC uses programs to remove children from working environments and places the children in an educational setting. The IPEC provides job training for the parents to enhance their economic position to reduce the reliance of income from the child. The IPEC currently has operations in 88 countries and is the largest operation in the world working to reduce child labour.

UNICEF, or the United Nation Children's Fund, was founded in 1919 after World War I. UNICEF promotes the safety and well being of children and actively works to change harsh conditions that children live in. UNICEF promotes education for all children. UNICEF also works against to reduce and eliminate child labour and the exploitation of children. Currently UNICEF has programs in 190 countries and programs.

The International Initiative to End Child Labor (IIECL) is a not-for-profit organization based out of the United States that actively works around the world to end child labor. The IIECL uses education and training programs to enable children and adults to gain an education and promote adult based labor skills. The organization also monitors and evaluates public and private sector, non-government organizations, organizational research, and development institutions to eliminate child labor.

The Child Labor Coalition was founded in 1989. The Child Labor Coalition uses its Stop Child Labor campaign to promote the education and well-being of working minors as well as actively work to eliminate the exploitation of children.