In 1998, the FIFA World Cup in France said that it would not buy soccer balls made in child labor facilities. As well, Starbucks makes it possible for customers to buy "free trade coffee" which possibly came from child labor or "fair trade coffee" which is a little more expensive but came from a reliable source that doesn't enslave children.
Well, unfortunately both institutions have a grave misunderstanding as to the ramifications of their actions. So I ask you:
Is child labor bad?
Well, the answer, as often is, a matter of perspective. For Americans, we may say that is horrible child should not have to work in such environments etc. etc. But for those children, it is the lesser of evils. (I am, by the way, talking about children who are voluntarily working - slave labor is not something that fits in here nor is it an effective means of production altogether.) The children may have a choice of very bad options, but they still have a choice. In this case it is between working and going hungry.
Often, if a child labor institution is closed down - either by the government or a lack of profits, the next area of employment that increases is child prostitution. Unfortunate, but another choice between working and not eating. So the soccer balls that were not bought caused a loss of some child laborers in the child labor market.
Now, I am not saying that child labor is a great thing, it certainly has its negative aspects, but it does help put food on the table. It seems that Americans tend to forget the periods in our and British history where child labor was a necessary part of the development of our culture - we need to bear in mind the progress of other nations is not going to be founded on good intentions. You may want to remove child labor, but you better have some means for compensating for the wealth lost because of it.
I sort of agree. Apparently over 40% of "rescued" child prostitutes (I say "rescued" because they were taken by force from the brothels they worked in and put into institutions) return to their former street life. Stopping child labor is great only if you actually offer the kids realistic alternatives. If you stop a child from prostituting but don't give them a means to support themselves, a safe place to life, an education, etc... they're going to go right back to it, and resent you for trying to stop them.
Fair trade has nothing to do with child labor; it is an agreement between producers and buyers that ensures a fair price for goods--a living wage for farmers. The price of coffee was protected by an international trade agreement that collapsed in the 1980s, leading to a "race to the bottom" to sell coffee to buyers most cheaply. The price growers in places like Africa and South America get for coffee is so low that communities are impoverished and some farmers find it marginally more profitable to grow low-quality narcotics. Fair trade doesn't keep "inefficient" farmers in business, nor does it have any stipulations for child labor. Most coffee farmers are small, family operations, and if they're lucky they are organized into a co-op. If you have some evidence of child slavery in the coffee industry, I'd like to see it; otherwise, see the film "Black Gold" for a more in-depth explanation of what fair trade really means.
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