Child Labor in Bangladesh

Child Labor in Bangladesh

Introduction

The introduction of the Child Labor Deterrence Act in the U.S was a good start in the quest to discourage child labor and completely abolish the act in countries like Bangladesh. Unfortunately, while agencies like International Labor Organization have joined the fight against this fight, more than 1.2 million children aged below 14 years continue to be the subject of the worst forms of child labor in the region. Abject poverty, a culture of economically active minors and an influx of factories all contribute to the growth of this vice even though the government is doing all it can to see as many children out of it. Particularly, the garment industry is responsible for a significant portion of teen laborers, given that Bangladesh is second only to China, as the world’s largest textile exporter. In light of this, impoverished children are toiling for over 60 hours a week, under harsh working conditions for a minimum wage slightly above one dollar a day. These kids have no access to formal education and most of them get exposed to abuse, violence and situations that increase chances of being victims of human trafficking or sexual assault. It is unfortunate that authorities do not enforce labor laws while factory owners continue to take advantage of loopholes in the system. Thus, the government should raise the age limit of child workers in factories from 14 to 18, and limit the number of hours worked by those under the age of 18.

Indisputably, the employment of children below the legal age and subjecting them to long hours of hard work keeps most of them out of school. Since labor laws provide that children aged 10-14 can do light work, employers use this grey area into forcing kids to work under unacceptable terms. Most of these children forced in this path come from families suffering from abject poverty. Their parents would rather see them go fend for themselves and their siblings rather than see them sleeping hungry. Unfortunately, this short term escape plan is myopic and destroys any dreams for the future that these individuals may have. In a country such as Bangladesh that depends on one sector, textiles, as the backbone of the economy, child labor only worsens its agenda of nurturing more qualified individuals for the nation.

There is no better way a country can develop and improve the living standards of its people without investing on human resource development. However, this cannot happen, if children, the leaders of tomorrow, are busy making money for unconcerned individuals who pay them close to nothing (Bain, 2016). Child labor is a vice that robs families of a chance at social mobility. Without formal education, there is virtually no chance that a child would rise out of poverty, and there is an increased chance that the next generation will be exposed to similar conditions of impoverishment. In this regard, the government should illegalize the vice and impose fines and sentences, scary enough to deter it. It is also worth noting that close monitoring of child education would increase the chances of most of them staying in school and finishing their education. For this reason, employers would have no excuse to keep children at work more than is allowed by law.

In 2013, more than 1,100 people lost their lives in a factory in Bangladesh. It is impossible to say how many children died in this incident, given that employers keep the actual ages of their employees a secret. In this manner, children get exposed to dangerous conditions may impact them physically, socially, morally and psychologically. Raising the age limit to 18 years, would ensure that individuals cannot confuse children with adults, making employees more capable of handling the harsh conditions. An unregulated factory, containing close to fifteen workers would have no emergency safety plans and no disaster management procedures. The worst thing is that, here, employees, regardless of age, work for more than 12 hours a day all week, with just a half-day’s off (Hunter, 2015).

These crowded workplaces and demanding bosses and deadlines cultivate a culture of violence where children cannot only survive by submitting to the will of their elders. These situations increases their chances of being victims of sexual abuse and violence, and even human trafficking. Since most of them come under fake names and ages, it would almost be impossible to track them down (Wahhaj & Asadullah, 2017). Additionally, most of them rent houses close to the factories and live in crowds. A fire outbreak may easily kill hundreds, given the lack of appropriate training, safety plans and the shocking fact that a considerable fraction of this population are children. Increasing the age limit of these individuals to 18 will ensure that most of them are physically strong to handle the pressures of this life and reduce avoidable deaths. A survey suggests that over 60 percent of this population reports at least on type of abuse such as slapping, insults or sexual assault. In the same vein, these harsh work conditions have a close association with the probability of these minors getting injured or ill. Poor ventilation, prolonged working periods, and the absence of appropriate gear may put these underage workers at significant risk.

Increasing the age limit of individuals allowed to work will automatically improve the ability of workers to bargain for better pay. Currently, employers and factory owners use the presence of cheap labor available in children even below the age of 14, to exploit them and keep them hooked. Regulating these factories, even those employing as few as ten workers, will mean that no children get to be subjected under harsh work conditions, and physically fit individuals can get paid appropriate wages. Monitoring and prosecuting unregistered factories who break labor laws might be challenging. However, complementing this regulation with the monitoring of children in school will ensure that every one does their part and Bangladeshi local communities make progress (Bain, 2016). In this manner, factories will only have access to qualified personnel. Both education-wise and physically, and that child labor becomes a thing of the past.

Relevant authorities continue to voice the need to look at the benefits economically active children bring to their families. It is indisputable that these minors play a major role in ensuring that households can afford the basic necessities of life like food, clothing and shelter. In light of this counterarguments suggest that raising the age limit to 18 years would only work to worsen the poverty situation of these families (Powell, 2014). Unfortunately, keeping these children away from school and in textile industries only helps in the short term. In the long run, child laborers get robbed of the opportunity to access better opportunities in life that may help them climb the social ladder. Therefore, it is generally myopic to think that introducing these youngsters to fulltime work would have significant effect on the family’s financial health.

Another counterargument contends that raising the age limit and reducing work hours for under 18s would have no impact on the informal sector and factories will continue to fake documents and employ minors. Firstly, the situation in Bangladesh is dire and getting children as young as 10 or 13 out of the labor market would be a big win in itself. In the U.S and other countries who successfully implemented similar policies, millions of children have had an opportunity to balance between work and school. Although it is not a hundred percent effective, the move would help create a culture that prioritizes school more than causal work, which would then break the vicious cycle facilitated by child labor.

Conclusion

According to UNICEF, more than one million children aged between 10 and 14 are victims of child labor and the population grows as the bracket widens. These figures attest to the fact that the current labor laws only facilitate factory owners with a loophole to exploit the system. Allowing 42 hours of work to children under the age of 14 means that the government and all relevant authorities are prioritizing work more than school. In this manner, generations will continue to suffer in poverty, given that children do not access formal education that may propel them up the social ladder. Raising the age limit and limiting the hours underage minors can work will also ensure that the rate of avoidable child deaths go down. When employers can only access only qualified personnel who are physically strong, they are left with no choice but to offer better pay. Better payment, in turn, will ensure that parents can take care of their children in school and also at home. This policy has been effective in countries like the U.S in ensuring that children get enough time for school and also to regulate industries and moderate minimum wages.