Child Labour

7 Pages 1758 Words

Child Labor in the Philippines

Exploitation of child workers continues in the Philippines due to the inefficiency of the policies to protect child labor. All people were born with rights. Children are people too; so, children also have rights. These rights are violated through child labor. Child labor is defined as, “the employment of a child in a business or industry especially in violation of state or federal statutes prohibiting the employment of children under a specified age.” Obviously, it has become a rigid social problem the world over, specifically in third world countries such as the Philippines where child labor is widespread. I will be tackling the cases of child laborers, specifically in the city and in provinces of the Philippines. And as for it being one of the social problems existing in the country and worldwide. The essay focuses on this; it is a known fact that the disadvantages outnumber the advantages of child labor. The purpose of this study is to present the rapid growth or increase of child laborers in the Philippines. Another would be to discuss the effects of child labor to the family, and to the economy. Lastly, to cite ways on how to stop child labor.

Child labor first appeared with the development of the domestic system. In this type of production an entrepreneur “bought raw materials to be put out to the homes of workmen to be spun, woven, sewn, or handled in some other manner.” This permitted a division of labor and a degree of specialization among various families. Pay was by piece, and children were extensively used at whatever task they could perform. “This system was important in England and in North America from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century and it lingers up to the present in some industries and, in some countries” including the Philippines. The kid who is coerced to beg on streets and helps make money for professional beggars. The child prostitute who helps by the touri...