Children in Sweatshops Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Children in Sweatshops - Essay Example International conventions mandates that anyone under the age of eighteen is a child. According to this standard, the ILO estimated that there were two hundred forty-six million children involved in labor in 2000. Also, there were an estimated eight and a half million children that were involved in forced or bonded labor, armed conflicts, and commercial sexual exploitation. The earliest child labor laws were enacted in 1836. In Massachusetts, children under fifteen were required to attend school for at least three months out of the year. In 1842, a maximum of ten hours per day could be worked by a child. Many other states began to follow suit after the Massachusetts laws and early trade unions formed to protect children in the work force. There were many steps that took place after this, and much opposition to child labor laws, but the Fair Labor Standards Act was finally passed in 1938. This was the time that child labor laws in the U.S. were federally regulated. The focus of many of these laws that were passed dealt with children that worked in factories. Laws requiring children to attend school in England were passed in 1881. There are many reasons that child labor is still able to be used today. For example, many countries have exceptions written into their laws which allow child labor to still be exploited. In Nepal, the minimum age for working is fourteen, but there is an exception to the law which allows them to work in plantations and brick kilns. Similarly in Kenya, there are laws that prohibit children under 16 from working, but that does not include the agricultural force. Bangladesh also does not set regulations regarding agricultural or domestic work. India and Bangladesh typically have the worst reputation internationally for child labor. There are laws in both countries prohibiting children under fourteen from working, but these