Child Labour Policy Options

Child labor issues are a pervasive problem throughout the entire world, most notably in developing countries. Africa and Asia account for nearly 90 percent of the estimated 250,000,000 working children between the ages of 5 and 14. With no universal policies to protect these children, they are often subjected to long hours, dangerous working conditions, and poor compensation. In addition to exploitation at the workplace, most of these children are denied a proper education and are not even given the necessary mental and physical stimulation needed for healthy development and growth. Until a global agreement on child labor policies can be established, the abuse will only continue and the circle of poverty will remain. This book aims to fill an important gap in child labor literature by bringing together a selection of policy perspectives on child labor issues by authors who stand at the forefront of research and/or policy analysis in the field. Many of the contributors comment on the changing dynamics of discourse on childhood, child work, education and the relations between them. In academic circles, new perspectives view children not as passive recipients of experience and "socialization" but as more active participants and contributors to their own development and social worlds. These ideas have far-reaching implications for our understanding of children's competences, rights, responsibilities and needs, and their (potential) sources of resilience in the face of risk, adversity and abuse. There is much disagreement over both the nature and the scope of child labor problems throught the world. Apart from stimulating a more realistic debate on the issue of child labor worldwide,this volume contributes to the process of more empirically grounded research that will bring into the open the many social, economic and psychological aspects associated with children and the workplace.White, Ben is the author of 'Child Labour Policy Options' with ISBN 9789052600086 and ISBN 9052600082.