Child Labor Essay: Thesis, Examples, & Writing Guide [2024]

Children have always been apprentices and servants all over human history. However, the Industrial Revolution increased the use of child labor in the world. It became a global problem that is relevant even today when such employment is illegal.

The principal causes of child labor are as follows:

• Poverty, as kids have to work to support their families.
• Lack of access to education or its low quality.
• Culture, as some countries encourage kids to earn their pocket money.
• The growth of a low-paying informal economy.

The information you will find in this article can help you write a good child labor essay without any problems. Our professional writers gathered facts and tips that can help you with a paper on this topic. Nail your essay writing about child labor: thesis statement, introduction, and conclusion.

📜 Child Labor Argument Essay: How to Write & Example

Let’s start with tips on writing a child labor essay. Its structure depends on the type of your assignment: argumentative, persuasive, for and against child labor essay.

There’s nothing new in the essay structure: introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. However, you should pay close attention to your thesis statement about child labor as the subject is quite delicate.

Below you’ll find the essential information on what to write in your assignment:

1. The introduction may present the general meaning of the term “child labor.” In this part of your child labor essay, you may say that child labor means the work of children that aims at exploiting and harming them.
2. The thesis statement should reveal your position on the issue. It’s the central idea of the paper. It may sound like “Not every kind of child labor is supposed to be exploitive.” Think about the phrasing of your child labor thesis statement.
3. The main body aims to support your thesis with numerous examples and evidence. Each paragraph should present a specific argument. In general, these ideas serve to prove your child labor thesis. You have to exemplify them with real facts, so research beforehand.
   The following topics can be disclosed in the body of your child labor essay:

   • What are the reasons for the issue today? In this part of your essay, you have to present why child labor is widely-spread nowadays. Are there some positive factors for it?
   • What jobs can be done by children? Give a list of possible careers, and present short descriptions of the duties children have to fulfill. Explain your job choice.
   • How can we reduce child labor? Elaborate on why taking care of our young generation is crucial. What would you offer to reduce child labor?
4. The conclusion of child labor essays should summarize everything that was said in the body. It should present the final idea that you have come up with while conducting your research. Make a point by approving or disapproving your thesis statement about child labor. Don’t repeat the central idea, but rather restate it and develop. If you’re not sure about what to write, you can use a summary machine to help you out.

We hope that now you have some ideas on what to write about. Nevertheless, if you still need some help with writing, you can check the child labor essay example:

For more facts to use in your essay, see the following sections.

❓ Brief History of Child Labor

The involvement of child labor became increasingly popular during the Industrial revolution. The factories ensured the growth in the overall standard of living, a sharp drop in the mortality rate in cities, including children. It caused unprecedented population growth. And with the help of machines, even physically weak people could work.

Besides:

Operating power-driven machines did not require high qualification, but the child’s small height often was a better option. They could be installed quite closely to save the factory space. Some children worked in coal mines, where adults couldn’t fit.

Thus, child labor has become an indispensable and integral part of the economy.

Even special children’s professions were formed. For example, there were scavengers and scribes in the cotton factories:

• Scavengers had to be small and fast. They crawled all day under the spinning looms, collected the fallen pieces of cotton, inhaled cotton dust, and dodged the working mechanisms.
• Scribes walked around the shop and sorted the threads that ran along with the machine. It was estimated that the child was passing about 24 miles during the working day.

Needless to say, that child labor conditions were far from perfect. The situation began to change in the early 1900s during social reform in the United States. The restricting child labor laws were passed as part of the progressive movement.

During the Great Depression, child labor issues raised again because of lacking open jobs to adults. The National Industrial Recovery Act codes significantly reduced child labor in America.

What about today?

Child labor today in wealthy countries accounts for 1% of the workforce. At the same time, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the highest ranges of working children are in Africa (32%), Asia (22%), and Latin America (17%).

🧒 Causes of Child Labor

Speaking about child labor, you should understand the factors that lead to children employment:

• Poverty. According to ILO, it is one of the significant causes of child labor. Children have to work to support their families. Sometimes up to 40% of a household income is the child’s salary.
• Lack of access to education. An absence of school or its distant location and low quality of education affect children around the globe. Unaffordable tuition in local schools drives children to harmful labor.
• Culture. In some developing countries, it is common for children and adolescents to help their parents in a family business. They earn their pocket money because people believe such work allows children to develop skills and build character. Other cultures value girls’ education less than boys, so girls are pushed to provide domestic services.
• The growth of a low-paying informal economy. This macroeconomic factor explains acceptability and demand for child labor.

⚖️ Child Labor Laws Today

Don’t forget to mention current labor laws and regulations in your child labor assignment. You can mention slavery and human trafficking linked to the issue even today. You may refer to international laws or analyze legislative acts in different countries.

For example, the Fair Labor Standards Act determines age restrictions, jobs allowed for teenagers, and necessary paperwork.

Other acts, programs, and initiatives you should mention are:

1. Convention on the Rights of the Child
2. Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
3. Minimum Age Convention
4. Medical Examination of Young Persons (Industry) Convention
5. Australia’s and UK’s Modern Slavery Acts
6. National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020
7. International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor
8. Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1993

When writing about child laws against child labor, you may also explore the best and worst countries for children’s work conditions.

You may also mention child labor incidents:

• UNICEF’s report on using enslaved children in cocoa production.
• Child labor in Africa’s cobalt, copper, and gold mines.
• GAP, Zara, Primark, H&M’s products made with cotton, which may have been picked by children. You can also find extra information on companies that use child labor.
• Child labor in silk weaving factories.

Child Labor Essay Examples

• Child labor’s negative impact on human development. 
• Child labor and social worker interventions. 
• Child labor in the fashion industry. 
• Child labor, its forms, and disputable issues. 
• Child labor in Ghanaian and Bangladeshi industries. 
• Ethics in business: child labor in the chocolate industry. 
• Massive industrialization and modern child labor. 
• Child labor’s role in the global economy. 
• Samsung and child labor: business ethics case. 
• Child labor’s role in westernization and globalization. 

Child Labor Essay Topics

1. Analyze the connection between poverty and child labor. 
2. Discuss the reasons for the high trafficking of children rates.  
3. Explain why child labor is among topical issues in the modern world.  
4. What can be done to reduce child trafficking rates?  
5. Explore the ways labor unions help to fight child labor.   
6. Describe the child labor laws around the world and evaluate their effectiveness.  
7. Analyze the cases of child exploitation in sweatshops in developing countries. 
8. Discuss the social issues connected with child labor.   
9. Examine the impact of child labor on children’s physical and mental health.  
10. The role of UNICEF in the abolition of child labor and exploitation.  
11. Child trafficking as a primary human rights issue.  
12. The absence of adequate punishment is the reason for increased child slavery rates. 
13.  Analyze if current measures to prevent child exploitation are sufficient enough.  
14. Discuss how social media platforms facilitate child trafficking.   
15. Examine the social impact of child exploitation and trafficking.  
16. Describe how the attitude towards child labor depends on the specifics of the country’s culture.  
17. Explore how Zara’s use of child labor influenced its public image.  
18. What organizations deal with commercial child exploitation prevention?  
19. What can a healthcare professional do to help the victims of child exploitation?  
20. Analyze the urgency of creating an effective program for the recovery of child trafficking victims.  
21. Discuss the laws regulating child labor in different countries.  
22. Explain the connection between the level of education in the country and child labor rates.  
23. The role of parents in the success of child labor and exploitation prevention.  
24. Explore the history of child labor.  
25. Can labor be the way to teach children about basic life skills?  
26. The disastrous effect of child trafficking on the mental health of its victims.  
27. Discuss the problems connected with child trafficking and exploitation investigation. 
28. Examine the cases of using child soldiers in modern armed conflicts.  
29. Analyze the role of international organizations in saving child soldiers.  
30. The use of abducted children as frontline soldiers in Uganda.  
31. What can be done to overcome the issue of child soldiers in the near future?  
32. Discuss what fashion brands can do to prevent the use of child labor in overseas sweatshops.   
33. Explain why young workers are more vulnerable to exploitation compared to adult workers.  
34.  Explore the issue of child labor and exploitation in the Industrial Age.  
35. Analyze how child labor affects the education of children. 
36. Describe the business ethics of child labor.  
37. Who is responsible for the use of child labor at tea plantations?  
38. Examine the reasons for using child labor in mining in the 19^th century. 
39. Employing child labor as one of the most widespread violations of children’s rights.  
40. Discuss the motives that push children to participate in labor.  

How old were you when you got your first job? Was it hard? Share with us your experience and advice in the comments below! Send this page to those who might require help with their child labor essay.

🔗 References

1. Child Labor Issues and Challenges: NIH
2. Child Labor: World Vision Australia
3. Essay Structure: Harvard University
4. Child Labor: Human Rights Watch
5. Child Labor: Laws & Definition: History.com
6. Child Labor: Our World in Data
7. History of Child Labor in the United States, Part 1: Little Children Working: US Bureau of Labor Statistics