Child labour is the act of employing young children to work whereby it interferes with their education and which is dangerous to them mentally, physically or socially. According to the law, it is prohibited for children under the age of 14 to work while those under 16 years were allowed to work under certain conditions with exact duration to work although people do not comply with these laws. Child labour has been a major problem in the world that keeps recurring. China is among those countries with a high rate of child labour. It is estimated that 61% out of 120 million child labourers work in China (Child Labour in China: History Repeating Itself).
China is a communist country located in Asia. Its capital city is Beijing. China has a total population of 1.357 billion people. 33.1 per cent of the population of China is poor. However, in the entire world, China has the highest population with a larger population of children. The government of China estimates that every year 10000 children are traded into child labour each year and about 11,575,000 children between the ages of 10 years and 14 years are put to work (Hobbs, McKechnie, & Lavalette ,39). As much as the Chinese government is concerned about its intense population, it has come up with a one-child policy which in turn resulted in creating awareness to the government regarding children’s rights and requirements leading to contribute to the massive campaign of child labour eradication. Child labour is an unpleasant practice across the world and China has struggles to minimize it in the country.
China has a rich history of child labour. Child labour is not a new thing; it started long ago and is still being practised currently. During the first industrial revolution, child labour was practised widely with young children being forced to work in factories under unfavourable conditions. In the 20th century, several immigrants move into the city to work and left their children behind. The children had to resort to strenuous and dangerous labour. In the 21st century, is still practised through child trafficking, sex trade which to date is still a major challenge in China (Washington State University)
The children under child labour are often between the age of 5 to 17 years old working under unfavourable and long working conditions. They come from humble backgrounds and therefore have to work to earn money (Washington State University). Some schools exploited the children to work by planting crops in the school’s garden to get an education in return. Some schools make the children in their classwork by planting crops and work in the garden for a little then after they get an education.
China has various categories of children which include: Rural children staying with their parents are those staying in rural areas with their parents. These areas have mainly casual workers in factories and those who work in health centres. Urban children are those staying in urban areas with their parents. Foreign children are those staying with either a single parent or both who went to work in other areas and lack local registration (Dinopoulos & Zhao,67). These children who do not have local registration do not benefit from social services such as health care and, free education. Left behind children are those staying with one parent only having local registrations. Some are left to live with caregivers and not their parents. These children have to provide for themselves through work.
Child labour is caused by poverty, limited financial resources, poor standards of education and also China’s birth control policy which limits couples to giving birth to only one child (Washington State University). Suppose they needed to get a second child, they had to traffic their first child to work in factories. Children went to work in factories while their parents and the government failed to follow up and monitor children if they are going to school or going to work. Children believed that they had to work in order to break the circle of poverty. Therefore they opted to go to work instead of going to school. China has faced a problem of labour shortage due to many manufacturing factories present and as well due to the one-child policy which led to the decrease in the labour supply. This mobilized industries to seek labour from minor children in order to keep up with the production with an aim of gaining a lot of profit to obtain power and wealth. Both the education system and beliefs have played a critical role in promoting child labour. Many children dropped out of school to go to work as they and their parents believe that being in school is a waste of time and it was better to work. This resulted in children finding themselves landing in child labour.
Compulsory education for children, as well as labour and child protection laws introduced in China, has helped to fight child labour. Majority of the Chinese parents appreciate the concept of education, therefore, supporting child labour laws. However, child trafficking and the sex trade are still a big problem in China which the government is battling. China incorporates a larger population of migrant labourers who leave children alone behind in the villages as they go to seek work in the cities (Dinopoulos & Zhao,201). This forces children to seek work. Majorly, retains a bigger population of immigrant workers who departed their rural areas to cities to seek jobs. Young has to work a lot and as well face the threat of being kidnapped.
Child labour bares a lot of consequences on both children and the country itself. Children working often suffered injuries in their line of duty which included cuts, fractures and burns, as well as they, developed a fear of it. Girls mostly were abused sexual by being raped and sexually exploited by being prostituted. Child labour further led to both physical and emotional neglect as children were neglected by their parents without monitoring and a follow up at all (Child Labor in China). Children were unable to learn as they had to work instead of going to school. Moreover, several children have died due to child labour. Some have developed serious illnesses due to exposure to toxic hazardous substances in factories. These children under child labour have been taken from their potential life and live a slavery life.
China has taken keen concern in taking by cooperating with the international community through participating in global affairs. The Chinese government is looking forward to signing the international treaties established by the United Nations about child labour. Today, China appreciates its children and has the most significant law “The PRC Law” which safeguards minors by guaranteeing protection to persons under 18 years old. This law delegates mandates to educational facilities, parents and the government to safeguard children from child labour. Apart from these laws, China has enforced compulsory education which has significantly minimized child labour. It as well as regulations against child trafficking. Ironically, these laws are ignored and violated. Children still use fake national identity cards to acquire jobs, and employers feel it is economical to employ children (Washington State University). These regulations are seldom enforced and usually ignored.
Some significant efforts have been put by China to solve the issue of child labour. China has taken a substantial step to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor as well as imposing sanctions and penalties in the effort to eliminate child labour. China has joined forces to cooperate with the international community in programs intended to eliminate all forms of child labour (Blanton & Blanton 33). Nonetheless, the reformation of China has to be keenly examined to ensure that the labour programs and educational policies succeed. In order to have a child labour free country in the future, corruption needs to be addressed at all levels.
I strongly believe that the best solution to end child labour is to establish strict laws against child labour and enforce them. This would be the most effective solution to solving the issue of child labour. Laws are the best weapon. Although they may not stop child labour entirely in China, at least it would drastically minimize the rate of child labour. With this being exercised, in the near future, child labour will be totally eradicated in China. The change us to begin with every individual, a serious campaign against child labour has to be established across the entire country.