Proposal Essay: Issues and Solutions to Child Labor During the industrial revolution, child labor reached its highest peak. This happened because factories, mines and mills were opened and the owners wanted more money and more workers. However, they could not continue to pay the workers the same amount if they were going to employ more people. The families and children of the industrial revolution moved to cities to better their income. When they arrived they realised that it was not so easy to stay above the poverty line. The factory owners and capitalists believed that by making young children work instead of adults, it would be more cost efficient, helping them make more money and making it hard for the adult males to get jobs. The children's families would send their children to work to make income to support their families. When the children arrived at the factories, they put what felt like an endless amount of hours each day with someone treating them like objects instead of humans. Even though they spent over 16 hours daily, maximizing production and bringing in profit, they would get paid 1/10 of what adults would generally make; sometimes the factory owners would get away with paying them nothing. This is what made children so heavily employed in the first factories in history. Due to ignorant and barbaric factory owners being inconsiderate of the innocent and precious lives of children, they were blind to see how they were on a path that would leave a recurring mark on society.
Due to child labor many children had negative effects in their health. Their overall physique looked tired, small, ill-looking even. Factory owners overworked the children and had them work at a high pace in dangerous environments where fatalities could occur. The machinery ran too quick for their little fingers, arms and legs that they could easily get caught. Nerve strain and eye strain were also common among textile workers “My eyes hurt always from watching the threads at night. Sometimes the threads seem to be cutting into my eyes” (Saller 14). Lastly the toxic environment included dangerous fumes and toxins. When inhaled by children, it would most likely result in illness, chronic conditions or diseases. Another effect child labor had was the limited access to education. The children spent their whole days in the factories that when it was time to go home, it was too late to go to school. Some families would send their children to school weeks at a time and since families would rely on each member’s income, some did not allow them to go to school at all. Today, child labor isn't as present in the industrialized world. However, it still affects millions of kids worldwide in countries that haven’t fully gone through their industrial revolution. There are 73 million children between the ages of 10 and 14 that work in economic activities and 218 million between the ages of 5 and 17. Asia has the worst child labor problem with countries such as India, China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh with over 10% of children between the ages of 10 and 14 that are employed child laborers. The highest in Asia is Bangladesh with 31.1%; in Kenya it is 41.3%. These children shouldn't need to suffer or go through mental and physical abuse when all they want to do is help their families avoid poverty. In an ideal world, there would be no child labor in history. Factories would be employed by adults who are in need of income to support themselves and their families. However, child labor in the industrial revolution, should be kept in history, like many things, so that we can learn from it and not make the same mistake again. Instead, child labor should not be allowed and should the children should be expected to go someplace to lean. One solution is promote access to public education where the children would attend. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26). Promoting access to public education removes children from hazardous work environments and enrolls them in education and assistance programs much like what the Bangladesh Building did and Woodworkers’ Federation does. Although, maybe some children want to work at a young age to make their own money and not have to be so dependent on their families. A solution to this is what the UN has already agreed upon. There is a minimum age and type of work children can be doing, if they need or want to work.