Labeling programs child labor

Child labor has declined since , but that decline slowed between and Without increased efforts, million children will still be involved in child labor in , with 52 million of those in hazardous work. Strong programming requires strong funding. Strong funding for ILAB grants and programs means that more children will be in school, children will be healthier, and communities will be stronger.

You can raise your voice on behalf of these children. By contacting your members of Congress, you can let them know that you support the global effort to stop child labor. Together, we can help more children get an education, feel safe and protected, and enjoy life in all its fullness.

Top photo: Arafat Hossain, age 12, finished grade 5 before he had to quit school at the age of Arafat works in a lathe machine shop from 9 a. Your email address will not be published. Friend's Email Address. Historical documents revealed American children worked in large numbers in mines, glass factories, textiles, agriculture, canneries, home industries, and as newsboys, messengers, bootblacks, and peddlers.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, many labor unions and social reformers advocated aggressively for state and local legislation to prevent extreme child labor.

By , their efforts had resulted in state and local legislation designed to prevent extreme child labor; however, the condition in states varied considerably on whether they had child labor standards, their content and the degree of enforcement. The lucky ones swept the trash and filth from city streets or stood for hours on street corners hawking newspapers.

The less fortunate coughed constantly through hour shifts in dark, damp coal mines or sweated to the point of dehydration while tending fiery glass-factory furnaces — all to stoke the profit margins of industrialists whose own children sat comfortably at school desks gleaning moral principles from their McGuffey Readers.

But they were also the offspring of the rapid, unchecked industrialization that characterized large American cities as early as the s. In , the first U. By , more than two million American children under the age of 16 were working — many of them 12 hours or more, six days a week. Often they toiled in unhealthful and hazardous conditions; always for minuscule wages. Young girls continued to work in mills, still in danger of slipping and losing a finger or a foot while standing on top of machines to change bobbins; or of being scalped if their hair got caught.

And, as ever, after a day of bending over to pick bits of rock from coal, breaker boys were still stiff and in pain. If a breaker boy fell, he could still be smothered, or crushed, by huge piles of coal. And, when he turned 12, he would still be forced to go down into the mines and face the threat of cave-ins and explosions.

Child Labor Reform : In the early decades of the twentieth century, the numbers of child laborers in the U. Child labor began to decline as the labor and reform movements grew and labor standards in general began improving, increasing the political power of working people and other social reformers to demand legislation regulating child labor.

Since , there have been several efforts to regulate or eliminate child labor. One of the primary leaders in this effort was the National Child Labor Committee , which was organized in The National Child Labor Committee and various state child labor committees were gradualist in philosophy, preparing them to accept whatever was achievable even if it was not sufficient. They used flexible tactics and were resilient in the face of defeat and slow progress.

Most hand-knotted carpets sold today in Europe or North America carry a label assuring the consumer that they can buy the rug in good conscience, however, many of these labels are meaningless to such an extent that child labor activists often suggest that sewing on a social label could become just one more task for a tired six-year-old.

Without active government enforcement, labeling campaigns in single industries risk pushing child workers into other industries, or into those parts of the industry that are not headed to international markets, thereby displacing child workers into new activities, rather than removing children from work and getting them into school.

In addition to keeping children out of workplaces, NCPCR also recognizes the need to help poor children at home and at school. Such circularity of reasoning continues to imprison children in work. She can be reached at seidman ssc. All viewpoints, positions, and conclusions expressed in IiT are solely those of the author s and not specifically those of CASI. All rights reserved. Breaker Boys Hughestown Borough Pa.

Coal Co. Pittston, Pa. Photo: Lewis Hine. Forms of child labor, including indentured servitude and child slavery, have existed throughout American history.