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Kelcey Miller

Dr. von Schlichten

HP 150 – Faith, Religion, and Society

5 May 2016

Child Labor Through the Lens of Catholic Social Teaching

When most people think back to their childhoods, they recall going to school, playing

outside, and spending time with friends and family. This is not the kind of childhood that

children in several countries experience. Children in many parts of the world are forced into

harsh labor that affects their well-being and education. While several principles of Catholic

social teaching conflict with child labor, some of the themes shed light on how the child labor

situation could be improved.

Child labor is a serious social justice issue that has been a problem for centuries. It is

defined by UNICEF as “work that exceeds a minimum number of hours, depending on the age of

the child and on the type of the work” (Shrivastava and Kumar 187). The ages and hours of work

that are deemed harmful are as follows: one hour of economic work or twenty-eight hours of

domestic work each week for children ages five to eleven, fourteen hours of economic work or

twenty-eight hours of domestic work each week for children ages twelve to fourteen, and forty-

three hours of economic or domestic work each week for children ages fifteen to seventeen

(187). Child labor is also a term that covers a variety of working circumstances. The first

category includes street children. These children work on the streets as shoe shiners, newspaper

deliverers, and beggars (188). Bonded child labor is yet another form. Children who perform this

type of labor are working to pay off the debts of their families (188). There is also a category of
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children who work on their families’ farms and in other home-based work; they are referred to as

working children (188). The last form of child labor consists of children who are used for sexual

exploitation. Children forced into this dangerous form of labor work on street corners and at bus

stops (188). Even though there are many different kinds of child labor, the causes of the issue are

common. Some main causes include poverty, parental illiteracy, and lack of education (189). It is

clear that child labor is a significant issue that encompasses an array of working situations.

Child labor is a problem in many parts of the world, including Asia. One place where it is

a serious issue is Bihar, India. Young girls are used for sexual exploitation each day in this state.

Of these girls, nearly eighty percent are forced against their will (Shrivastava and Kumar 189).

The root of this child labor can be traced back to the high levels of poverty. The Child Labor

(Protection and Regulation) Act of 1986 is another main cause. This legislation only addresses

hazardous work conditions to an extent since it covers solely the organized sectors of production.

This is a major problem for Bihar, where over ninety percent of the labor force falls under the

unorganized sectors of production (186). The severity of the issue has caused India to attempt to

improve the lives of child laborers. So far, the country has implemented the National Child

Labor Project (NCLP). This project, which affects two hundred and fifty districts, has helped put

over four hundred thousand working children into formal education (186). India’s child labor is a

major issue, but steps have been taken to improve the lives of these children.

Uzbekistan is another country on the Asian continent that forces its children into labor.

Most of this labor occurs in the cotton industry. During the peak cotton harvest in the spring,

schools close and the government forces children as young as seven into the fields. Each child

receives a quota of the amount of cotton they are expected to harvest during their twelve-hour

shift. Failure to meet the quota results in detention and a lowered report card grade (Bhat 69).
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Consequences for children who refuse to participate in the cotton harvesting are more severe.

Those who run away from the fields are expelled from school (69). In addition, children do not

receive a reasonable pay for their work. Since all aspects of cotton production are controlled by

the state, the production costs are very cheap. To keep these costs low, children are only paid

about three or four U.S. cents for each kilogram of cotton they harvest (73). On top of all these

factors, the working conditions are poor. Cotton is grown in the semi-desert areas where the

temperatures reach ninety-six degrees in the spring. These high temperatures and lack of shade

result in numerous heat strokes (71). Furthermore, the children do not have access to food during

the work hours. Farmers are not required to provide meals for their laborers. The children are left

to bring their own food, but this is often difficult because of limited family finances (72).

Obtaining clean water while on the job is an issue too. The only available drinking water is

contaminated with human and animal waste (72). It is evident that child labor in Uzbekistan is a

severe problem that has negative effects on the children.

Child labor is rampant in Turkey as well. Many eleven and twelve year olds are trafficked

to the cities and used for organized crime. This labor is very stressful and, oftentimes, the

children resort to substance abuse to deal with the responsibilities of the job (Degirmencioglu,

Acar, and Acar 195). Children in Turkey also work on the streets as beggars and bread sellers.

They do not get much sleep, resulting in illness and psychological problems (195). Another

common occupation is sorting and collecting recyclable materials from garbage receptacles on

the streets. This is an especially demanding form of labor because the recyclables are hauled in a

metal cart and once the cart becomes nearly full, it is difficult to transport (196). As one could

imagine, the mental and physical toll of this labor is detrimental to the health of the children.
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Child labor is not as prevalent in Bolivia, but it is still an issue. A report completed in

2008 revealed that more than twenty-eight percent of children between the ages of five and

seventeen participated in some form of labor. Fifty percent of the children worked in the

agricultural industry, twenty-one percent sold items on the streets, fourteen percent were

laborers, and fifteen percent acted as skilled workers (Fontana and Grugel 62). Most of the

children worked in dangerous jobs such as brickmaking, alcoholic beverage distribution, garbage

collection, and sexual exploitation. Indigenous children were exposed to some of the worst forms

of labor (62). It is no surprise that these jobs also have negative effects on the childrens’ well-

being.

The act of forcing children into labor is strongly opposed by the Catholic Church. In the

“Rerum Novarum,” Pope Leo XIII states that children should not perform any labor that is suited

for an adult. He says, “And, in regard to children, great care should be taken not to place them in

workshops and factories until their bodies and minds are sufficiently developed. For, just as very

rough weather destroys the buds of spring, so does too an early experience of life’s hard toil

blight the young promise of a child’s faculties, and render any true education impossible”

(“Rerum Novarum”). Child labor evidently conflicts with several key themes of Catholic social

teaching. The first theme, which relates to human dignity and rights, states that since all humans

are created in the image of God, they deserve to be treated with equal respect and dignity

(Massaro 81). In other words, “…God intends us to be immune from all slavery, manipulation,

or exploitation” (81). The fact that child laborers are taken advantage of and treated like slaves

clearly shows that their dignity is not taken into consideration.

Child labor also clashes with the Catholic social teaching theme regarding the dignity of

work and the rights of workers. This theme mentions the importance of establishing “…living
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wages and reasonable work hours, for the entire workforce” (Massaro 96). A living wage is

defined as an amount of money that is large enough to provide an individual with the basic

necessities of life (“Living Wage”). Child laborers certainly do not receive decent pay for their

work. In many cases, they do not earn any wages, and when they do receive a very small amount

of money, it is taken by their families to pay for food and medical bills (Shrivastava and Kumar

189). The children in the workforce do not labor for a reasonable number of hours either. Many

work long shifts each day of the week. As mentioned previously, the children who work in

Uzbekistan’s cotton industry labor for more than twelve hours each day. They head into the

fields at 6:30 in the morning and do not return until 10:00 in the evening. These children also

work for eleven or twelve hours on the weekends (Bhat 71). The poor wages and work hours

reflect that the childrens’ working rights are not respected.

Even though several of the Catholic social teaching themes conflict with the act of

forcing children into the workforce, a few of the themes illustrate how the child labor problem

could be improved. The theme regarding subsidiarity represents a call to action to solve the

issue. Subsidiarity, a term derived from the Latin word for assistance, “…refers to the way the

various levels of society should relate to each other and assist one another in brining about the

best outcomes for all people” (Massaro 89). This relates to the idea that there are some tasks that

should be accomplished locally while others would be best solved by the government. Child

labor is led by the government, but their control does not help the issue. In the case of child labor

in Uzbekistan, government officials force the children into the cotton fields. The government

also controls the cotton production, which makes the wages very low (Bhat 70). While it would

not be ideal for the government to completely stop supporting child labor since many families

depend on the income, they could improve some of the laws for these laborers. They could
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provide them with a detailed description of their rights and guarantee them safer working

conditions (“Child Labor: Finding Solutions”). Government reformation of child labor laws is

only one way to solve the problem.

The Catholic social teaching theme related to the poor and vulnerable is another call to

fight for an improvement of these childrens’ rights. The idea of putting the needs of the less-

fortunate and helpless before one’s own has always been present in Christian tradition (Massaro

113). Child laborers are considered helpless in the sense that they cannot stand up for

themselves. This is why other individuals need to advocate for improvements in their work

experiences. Understanding child labor, fighting for access to education, and donating to

programs that lessen child labor are some ways this can be done (Lu). While most people think

they cannot do anything to help the child labor that is occurring around the world, they can

actually assist in several ways.

My view of child labor is very similar to that of the Catholic Church: it is cruel and

unacceptable. I also agree with the Catholic social teaching theme that everyone deserves to be

treated with equal respect and dignity. No matter what the circumstance, no human deserves to

be treated in a degrading manner. The concept of the right to live a happy and rewarding life

dates back to the Declaration of Independence. The document mentions the phrase “…Life,

Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (“The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription”).

According to this declaration, these are the three rights granted to all humans by their Creator

and the government must protect these rights. I agree with the theme regarding the dignity of

work and the rights of workers as well. Working is how people make a living so the work

experience should be enjoyable and fair. Workers should make enough money to pay for

necessities, but they should not have to work an unhealthy amount of hours to achieve this.
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Laboring for numerous hours each day takes away from time that could be spent with family.

Additionally, the ways to improve child labor according to Catholic social teaching align with

my own views. Modifying government control should be the first step in improving the situation.

If the government would lessen their control or improve child labor laws, children’s work

experiences would greatly improve. They might make more money and experience better

working conditions. Standing up for the rights of the children is another effective way to help the

issue. It is not right for someone to stand by and watch another person suffer when they have the

means to assist that individual. Helping solve a problem that seems beyond one’s control begins

with gaining knowledge of the issue. Conducting this research on child labor has done exactly

that; it has increased my understanding of the severity of child labor. The knowledge I gained

has made me feel empowered to help improve the working conditions of children. I plan to do

my part by supporting organizations that fight for the rights of these children.

I also realized that the topic of child labor is actually relevant to my own life as an

elementary education major. My research clearly illustrates that child labor has a negative impact

on a child’s education. In Uzbekistan in particular, schools close for two months while the

children harvest cotton. When they do not receive instruction for two months, the children lose

about twenty percent of their education (Bhat 75). In addition to this, their teachers have to rush

to catch up on the missed curriculum. This results in the inability to fully comprehend the

content since the teacher is merely rushing through the material (74). Cotton harvesting also has

a detrimental effect on their dedication to school work outside of school. Children have limited

time to complete homework and prepare for the next school day since they are usually in the

cotton fields until late into the night (71). Hearing that children are being deprived of education

really upsets me. School is beneficial to all domains of a child: social, emotional, cognitive, and
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physical. If a child does not have experiences in each of these domains early in life, there is the

possibility that his or her development could be negatively impacted. Robbing children of school

when they are young also makes it difficult to identify delays. Speech impairments and learning

disabilities are usually recognized when children are very young. In a typical school system, a

child is referred to early intervention services if he or she displays characteristics of these

conditions. However, if a child is not attending school consistently when he or she is young, the

disability will not be recognized until later in life when it is difficult to reverse. At first glance, I

did not think child labor had anything to do with my life. However, after reading about its drastic

impact on a child’s education, I realized that the issue affects my life as a future teacher. I now

know that I will need to inform my students of the importance of education. Once they

understand how crucial it is to receive a proper education, they will hopefully pass that

knowledge onto future generations. An increase in education will eventually lead to less poverty,

and in turn, child labor will see a reduction as well.

In summary, child labor is a disturbing social justice issue that affects Asia, South

America, and numerous other locations world-wide. It is not surprising that this act of forcing

children into labor does not comply with the Catholic social teaching themes regarding human

dignity and rights of workers. However, the themes related to subsidiarity and the vulnerable

reflect ways the child labor situation could be reformed.

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Works Cited

Bhat, Bilal A. “Forced Labor Of Children In Uzbekistan's Cotton Industry.” International Journal

On World Peace 30.4 (2013): 61-85. Academic Search Elite. Web. 2 May 2016.

“Child Labor: Finding Solutions.” AIPECCI. Web. 2 May 2016.

Degirmencioglu, Serdar M., Hakan Acar, and Yuksel Baykara Acar. “Extreme Forms Of Child

Labour In Turkey.” Children & Society 22.3 (2008): 191-200. ERIC. Web. 2 May 2016.

Fontana, Lorenza B., and Jean Grugel. “To Eradicate Or To Legalize? Child Labor Debates And

ILO Convention 182 In Bolivia.” Global Governance 21.1 (2015): 61-78. Academic

Search Elite. Web. 2 May 2016.

“Living Wage.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 2 May 2016.

Lu, Chris. “3 Things You Can Do to Help End Child Labor.” U.S. Department of Labor Blog. 30

Sept. 2015. Web. 2 May 2016.

Massaro, Thomas. Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action. Franklin, WI: Sheed &

Ward, 2000. Print.

“Rerum Novarum.” The Holy See. Web. 2 May 2016.

Shrivastava, Sanjay, and Rishikesh Kumar. “The Hidden Factory: Child Labour In Bihar

(India).” International Journal Of Multidisciplinary Approach & Studies 2.2 (2015): 186-

191. Academic Search Elite. Web. 2 May 2016.

“The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription.” National Archives and Records

Administration. National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 2 May 2016.