Child labor is a hotly debated topic in the world today. This article highlights the key issues that consistently arise. For Victor, a Bolivian 15-year-old who has been working for five years already, must work in order to provide income for his family. He vehemently asserts that he has a right to work. On a moral level, no one would prefer that children be a part of the workforce. In the practical world, however, it is necessary for them to work so that their families can eat. Citizens of the poorer nations in the world, such as Bolivia, don't really have much of a choice. This being said, fair treatment of child laborers should be of the utmost priority since abolishing child labor isn't feasible. According to the rule of law, these children should be treated the same as unionized adult workers. Children are improving the economy by increasing the supply of products to meet the people's demands, and should have equal rights because of their contributions to the market. This is currently not the case because employers believe they can do whatever they want since the children have less of a voice. The working conditions are often appalling, but instead of attempting to improve them, the organizations of the world are fixated on ridding the world of what they call 'child slavery'.
The level of intensity of the issues surrounding child labor is on par with those enveloping the universal healthcare debates. Both concepts deal with the equality of people. All humans deserve the right to work as well as access to adequate healthcare, but the current policies aren't conducive to helping people. The attempts to centrally control child labor and universal healthcare will actually hinder people rather than help them. Rizzo mentioned in class this week that the more important a good or service is, the more important it is that the allocation of it is left to the market. If child labor laws improved the working conditions for children, their employment could fluctuate with the market demand for it. The same idea applies to healthcare. Medical treatment would be more accessible if there wasn't a central planner involved. The Times article about child labor urged that instead of dealing with child labor, policy makers should concentrate on the poverty that causes it. Protectionism in regards to child labor will only exacerbate the poverty in countries like Bolivia. If people focused more on economic ideals, working children in these nations would be much better off.
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