Business Ethics Awareness Project Child Labor in the Clothing Manufacturing Industry

Child Labor in the Clothing Manufacturing Industry
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Institution
Child Labor in the Clothing Manufacturing Industry
Child labor is one of the many issues that raise ethical concerns, especially in the field of business. Child labor is defined based on the age of the laborer, as well as the form of labor or activity being undertaken (Dammert, de Hoop, Mvukiyehe, & Rosati, 2018). Not all activities performed by a child constitute child labor. Child labor is defined as any type of activity that denies children an opportunity to enjoy their childhood, harms their physical, mental, or social development, and interferes with their education (International Labor Organization (ILO), n.d.a). Over time, many countries have enacted laws that abolish child labor. However, statistics show that there are still many children involved in child labor. Globally, out of the 218 million children aged 5-17 years in employment, 152 million are involved in child labor, and about half of them are involved in hazardous child labor, which is harmful to their well-being (ILO, 2017b). These statistics, coupled with the fact that many clothing companies fail to take responsibility for child labor in the industry because they believe the responsibility falls on foreign governments (Hawksley, n.d.), make child labor an important issue to me as a business student. I believe that while governments and humanitarian organizations have made considerable headway, businesses have the potential to even make a greater, positive change on this issue.
Stakeholders
There is a need for awareness creation on the issue of child labor in the clothing manufacturing industry. The main stakeholders include governments, especially for countries that have high rates of child labor. Besides, international organizations such as the ILO, which is responsible for setting labor standards and enhancing decent working conditions for employees (ILO, n.d.c) is a major stakeholder in creating awareness. Trade unions are also major stakeholders, especially at local levels because they understand the labor practices of their specific areas. Others include any stakeholder in the manufacturing and supplying of clothing (Global March, 2017). These include manufacturers, manufacturers associations, contractors, and retailers. Also, the civil society organizations that work on the issue of child labor, especially in the clothing industry, are major stakeholders. Another important stakeholder is all the community-based organizations that collaborate with the locals and the respective government agencies to create awareness and discourage child labor.
History of Child Labor
Child labor has a long history dating from way before the industrial revolution. However, child labor became rampant in North America and Europe during the 19th century due to the high demand for labor created by industrialization (Ortiz-Ospina & Roser, 2019). This was because child labor was a source of cheap labor and employers were more focused on profit maximization. As revealed by Deckop (2008), profit maximization forms a strong argument in ethical decision-making. However, the use of child labor decreased in the 20th century in these regions as people realized the ethical concerns raised by child la...