Listen to thisCANADA
Child labour should be protected, not banned
Canadians, we tend to think that ending child labour in the Third World is the right thing to do. But those of us who are still connected to our countries of origin in the Third World know that this issue isn’t as black and white as it is often portrayed. Protecting, not banning, child labour might be the wiser policy to support.
Child labour is a sensitive issue, particularly for corporations that operate factories around the world.
Canadians wonder how a 5-year-old child can be working in a factory, day and night, for 30 cents a day. But most Canadians are unaware of the socio-economic circumstances in these countries, where those 30 cents make the difference between families making a living, or not.
The instinctive reaction is to support an end to child labour, but on a deeper level we need to ask ourselves whether a ban merely opens the door to other unintended consequences. If children are not hired in factories, they are very likely in many Third World countries to fall into other means of survival – earning a living through prostitution, theft, drug trafficking, etc. It is easy to say that a child should be in school. But the fact of the matter is that in India, Pakistan, Niger, Cambodia or any number of other Third World countries, families can’t survive without the factory wages of children. If families had the means to survive without young offspring at work, they would certainly prioritize the education of their children.
Responsible business leaders with operating units in Third World countries should be looking at educating children within the factory environment. Just helping them learn English, for example, would open up many more opportunities for them as they grow up.
By drafting policies and procedures that accept but protect child workers, factories could become places where children work to help support their families while simultaneously improving their own future outlook.
Third World countries that recognize the desire and need of children to work would be wise to look more closely at accommodating this reality and demonstrating value in doing so.
There are models to emulate. In Niger and some other countries in Africa, for instance, local heroes can be found who run foundations that arrange for the merger of work and education for children in the agricultural sector – with children being given the time to play, too. In India and Pakistan, children employed in homes as domestic help often get crucial help from their “workplace families.”
Our attitudes in Canada toward child labour inthe Third World should be founded on a clearer understanding of political and socio-economic realities in those countries. As the world is getting smaller with globalization, let’s be part of the solution and not the problem. Let’s protect child labour where it makes sense to do so. Outright bans are, unfortunately, not socially responsible.
Ismael Rhissa and Zara Jamal
14 May 2013
