Kathryn Summers
SOC 202-01
February 4, 2011
Take away child labor in favor of education.
This article in BBC News discusses the positive effects education could have on countries that rely on child labor. The article discusses that right now parents living in poverty depend heavily on their children’s income, however, the children would yield a far greater profit if they were to go to school, then work. According to the International Labor Organization, favoring education of children rather than work would bring “enormous economic benefits.” With the need of child income in a household, the government would have to subsidize the income of these families until their children were finished with school. Getting the government to intervene and hand out money is difficult, but the country itself would get back far more than what they put in. Asian countries for example would “get back more than $7 for every $1” they invested. The poorer the country, the more they stand to gain. Another dilemma is that once children are able to go to school, there are not teachers to provide the education they need. The government would have to first educate the educators, and then educate the students.
Child labor is a global social problem. Children in the workforce are common in many countries and affect us all worldwide. Children working may keep costs for our products down, but it causes a cycle of poor education, and therefore poorer countries. Educating the children of these underprivileged countries would increase their overall income. After an initial investment of funds, the country would not only gain back more money than they put in, but it would have educated individuals that would benefit the country in other ways. Child labor is a detrimental force on education that can be ratified with a small but lucrative investment.
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