Running Head: A CHILD’S WELL-BEING !

A Child’s Well-Being

Camryn Benbow

Arizona State University

Abstract

Children around the world who are involved in child labor should not be working. Child labor

has become the normal situation in many third-world countries such as many countries in Africa,

the Middle East, Asia, and South America. These children are enduring numerous hours of

hazardous work. This work is hazardous because many children are getting exposed to dangerous

chemicals which effects their physical health. Children working in the fields, mines, factories, etc

are getting exposed to these dangerous chemicals. Child labor also affects children’s mental

health. Many children die each year from their injuries due to child labor. However, there are

people who agree with child labor because child labor is a huge help to families who are living

below the poverty line. Child labor also helps the economy which makes many people for child

labor.

keywords: child labor, children, physical health, mental health, economy, poverty
A Child’s Well-Being !3

According to the International Labour Organization, child labor is defined as children

working that is depriving them from their childhood, stripping them from their dignity and

potential, and is corrupting their mental and physical health (International Labor Organization).

Child labor comes with poor working conditions that affect the children's physical health, long

working hours that affect their mental health, and dangerous situations where many children die.

Child labor is very prevalent in third-world countries because the money the children bring home

helps out families that are below the poverty line and child labor boosts the countries economy.

Children should not be working because it deteriorates the well-being of children.

There are millions of children working around the world. In many cases, children are

working in unsafe environments. These safe environments may include harsh chemicals,

dangerous machinery, unsafe working space, etc. According to the International Labor

Organization, hazardous child labor is defined as, “work which, by its nature or the

circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of

children.” (International Labor Organization). Also according to the organization, approximately

73 million children are working in hazardous conditions today. The most common fields that the

children are working in that are unsafe include fields, factories and mines. According to the

Humans Rights Watch, children are exposed to pesticides and nicotine working on tobacco

farms. These chemicals have toxins in them which can make the children very sick. The Humans

Rights Watch also stated children working in underground coal mines are exposed to mercury

which is also toxic and could cause brain damage (“Child Labor”). Children working on cocoa

farms in Africa work with hazardous chemicals including: insecticides, fire and fertilizer. These

also can cause major health problems among children (Berlan 2013). A study was done in
A Child’s Well-Being !4

Pakistan comparing school children to children who work in the manufacturing industry making

surgical instruments. Once the study was done, it was concluded that children who are working

in the manufacturing industry making surgical instruments had chromium in their urine which

was 35 times higher than the school children. They also had more nickel in their system than the

school children. Being exposed to these metals can cause different illnesses (Sughis, Nawrot,

Haufroid, & Nemery 2012). According to the World Counts, children working in nuclear power

plants are exposed to radiation, children in the leather industry are inhaling different solvent and

glues, children in the glasswork industry are exposed to lead poisoning, and lastly, children in the

mining industry are exposed to mercury (“Child Labor Working Conditions” 2014). These

studies and claims show that child laborers are surrounded everyday in poor working conditions

due to the different chemicals they are being exposed to everyday; which supports the argument

that child labor is unhealthy for children. However, children who are working help their families

because they are living below the poverty line.

Even though child labor comes with many negative outcomes, there are some positive

outcomes to child labor which many people side with. In third-world countries, child labor is

very common because many families living in third-world countries are below the poverty line.

When a family is living under the poverty lines, this means that they are making less than

minimum wage and in need of government assistance in same countries. A study shows that

82% of all child laborers in Pakistan are working because their families are living below the

poverty line (Naeem, Shaukat, and Ahmed 2011). In the Middle East, families that come from

extreme poverty, take the children out of school and force them to work on farms, private

companies, family businesses, family criminal business, and selling merchandise on the street
A Child’s Well-Being !5

(Bhat 2013). Many other countries with high child labor rates are also due to families being

below the poverty line. Some of the countries include: Somalia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, The

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan (Nag

2016). While it is true that child labor helps families out finically, it does not necessarily follow

that child labor is good for the well-being of the children. Another reason why children should

not be working because children who endure child labor can have very serious mental health

problems.

Child labor also plays a big role in children’s mental health. Mental health in children can

cause serious road bumps in their child development. Child laborers experience isolation and

depression because they are on the fields working alone. They also experience social

developmental issues because they do not experience interactions with other children

(International Labor Rights Forum 2011). Depression was slo common in child laborers from

Brazil (Aransiola and Justus 2019). Many children also experience effects such as ADHD,

demoralisation, anxiety and different behavioral issues (Sturrock & Hodes 2016). Another study

was conducted in the Middle East about the mental effects of child labor. The outcomes of the

study concluded that the child laborers suffered from depression, anxiety and separation anxiety

(Thabet, Matar, Carpintero, Bankart, & Vostanis 2011). Many of these are behavioral problems.

However, child labor also causes very serious mental health problems. According to

Ramchandani, children who are child laborers can suffer from psychopathology ( Ramchandani

2016). Based on these studies, this shows that child laborers not only experience the pain in

working on poor conditions, but also experiencing serious mental health problems due to the
A Child’s Well-Being !6

labor they are doing everyday. Despite the fact that child labor can have a negative impact on

children’s mental health, child labor does help the economy.

Many developing countries have child laborers which helps with the economy. The

higher the child labor rates were, India’s economy was doing well (Rammohan 2014). India has

one of the largest economies in the world, it also has the highest child labor rates in the world.

Many economists believe that child labor boosts long-term growth, by increasing wages which

creates a more advanced economy (Jacobs & Misra 2017). Also in Africa, child labor is very

prevalent because of its need in an economy boost (Abebe and Bessell 2011). While it is true that

the outcome of child labor does help out the economy in many third-world countries, such as

India, child labor has an even more outcome on the children’s mental health which it actually a

negative outcome.

Many children around the world who are victims of child labor are dying each year.

According to the International Labour Organization, there are 152 million child laborers around

the world. Within these 152 million children, there has been “2.78 million work-related deaths,

374 million injuries and illnesses” (Schlein 2018). Back in 2013, a boy in China who worked at

an electronic factory suddenly died. The young 14-year old boy went to sleep one night and

never woke up. The cause of his death is unknown. However, the young boy worked an extra 4-5

hours longer than his regular shift, and he would complain to his father about pain throughout his

body (Lau 2018). Many children who are child laborers do not get the proper nutrients they need

because they are living below the poverty line, or their employers are not feeding them.

Malnutrition long with different diseases are leading causes of death in child laborers (Haque,
A Child’s Well-Being !7

Mostofa, and Mondal 2015). These conclusions add weight to the argument that child labor is not

healthy for children. The conditions that children are working in are very lethal.

Child labor is a problem all over the world, but mostly in third-world countries. Children

should not be bonded to child labor because it deteriorates the well-being of children. Even

though child labor does help families that are living below the poverty line, and helping the

country’s economy, harsh child labor is not good for children because of the many unhealthy risk

factors to it. Child labor comes with poor working conditions that affect the children's physical

health, long working hours that affect their mental health, and dangerous situations where many

children die.
A Child’s Well-Being !8

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