The regulation of child labour began in the 18th Century and yet many would have hoped that three centuries later, in our advanced society, it would have been fully eradicated. However, the reality of this situation is much different.

According to the International Labour Organisation, 152 million children - of whom 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls - are subjected to child labour. That makes one in ten children around the world subject to constant struggling, hardship and suffering. One third of children aged between 5 to 14 who are working receive no education at all. 38% of children working in hazardous conditions aged 5 to 14 and two-thirds of those aged 15-17 work for more than 43 hours per week. 72.1 million children aged 5 to 17 engaged in labour are found in Africa, 62 million in Asia and the Pacific, 10.7 million in the Americas, 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia and 1.2 million in the Arab States (“Modern Slavery and Child Labour”, "Modern Slavery - The Slave Children Of The 21St Century"). This shows how severe the phenomenon still is.

Unfortunately, not all are contributing to stopping this. Many popular brands are using child labour as their strategy to make a profit. Syrian refugee children were found working in H&M and Next factories in Turkey. They were the only companies that divulged that they had identified child labour over the year 2015. Nevertheless, both firms declared that they had taken action to return the children to education and support their families (Pitel).

Victoria’s Secret claims that they only use fairtrade cotton in their products. However, on African farms many ‘fairtrade’ workers have said that they cannot make a decent living from their work. Clarisse Kambire, a thirteen year old girl who worked in a fair-trade cotton program in Burkina Faso (West Africa), which supplied materials for the major retailer, revealed that she was made to sleep in a plastic sheet and was beaten by her supervisor if he wasn’t satisfied by her work. Victoria’s Secret have refused allegations saying that they have used farms as these. However, Tammy Roberts Mayers (vice-president of external communications for Limited Brands Inc., which owns Victoria’s Secret) did say that “we are vigorously engaging with stakeholders to fully investigate this matter [the case of Clarisse]” (Simpson).

Another major brand to have had child labour present in their suppliers is GAP. Police found 14 children from a New Delhi sweatshop sewing clothes destined to make it to the retailer’s shops. Bhuwan Ribhu, a Delhi lawyer and activist with the Indian branch of Global March Against Child Labour revealed that “the children are aged 8 to 15 and at least three of them have told me already that they were working for no pay at all” (Foster).

Forever 21 is also another company linked to child labour. Even though the company has released statements that they work with ethical factory employers, they have never said that they don’t employ young workers. The retailer receives most of its cotton from Uzbekistan, a country known to practice the use of child labour excessively. Forever 21, along with others, has promised to look into the working conditions in Uzbekistan, yet nothing has changed so far (Lamarque).

Another major problem is beauty companies struggling to obtain child labour-free mica. Mica is used in eyeshadows, lipstick and foundation. In Jharkand, India, children as young as 10 hammer flakes of rock in the mountainsides. Some of the world’s biggest cosmetic companies, such as L’Oreal and Estee Lauder, receive mica from India. Lush, in particular, has struggled to remove mica from its supply chain. “We had no idea just how difficult it would be” says Stephanie Boyd, the company’s PR (public relations) manager (Paddison and Bengsten).

One of the main reasons as to why child labour is still present today is poverty. Children who come from poor families are forced to work in order to support their family. Their parents might not be able to earn enough and therefore the children will have to contribute as well. Another major cause is the huge demand employers have for unskilled labourers. Due to children being unskilled, they provide a cheap source of labour. This increases the profits for businesses, attracting many entrepreneurs to use child labour as their strategy. These types of employers force children to work in dreadful conditions. The high cost of education is also another reason for child labour. To many parents who live in poverty, providing food is their priority instead of education since it can be too expensive. Instead of letting children stay at home, parents send them to work. Some parents can only provide basic education. In turn, children will be forced to look for work since they aren’t able to pursue their education further (“Child Labour: Meaning, Causes, Effects, Solutions”).

Child labour leaves permanent marks on the unfortunate children. Physical injuries and mutilations are caused due to the machineries. Growth deficiency is widespread among the working children who in turn are shorter and lighter and this impacts their adult life. Long-term health problems such as cancers and respiratory diseases affect children who are forced to work with hazardous chemicals. Children performing long hours of heavy manual labour are exhausted and malnourished. Their experiences also cause mental traumas which in turn makes them societal misfits and in some cases insensitive (“Causes and Consequences Of Child Labour”).

The best way to stop child labour is international cooperation. Countries have put economic sanctions on others so why not use this as a strategy to enforce active international participation in ending child labour? Through global cooperation, aid can be provided to poor families so that their children can receive education. Another way is conscious consumerism in order to force industries to act in ethical manners. Someone could be against child labour, yet they could indirectly support it by not paying attention to the products that they buy. That is why fair trade is a significant way to put a stop to child labour. Yes, fair trade products are more expensive, but think about how many lives those cheaper products have cost. If we can all make little changes to our everyday lives, then we can make a huge difference (Soufi).

We have the power to put a stop to child labour. We have the power to stop innocent children from suffering everyday. We have the power to make the world a better place. It is now time for everyone to start using their power, in order to create a fair and just future for everyone to be part of. A future where no child will ever have to work again.

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Foster, Peter. "'Gap Sweatshop Children' Saved In India Raid." The Telegraph. N.p., 2007. Web.

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Lamarque, Hannah. "10 Companies That Still Use Child Labor." Career Addict. N.p., 2016. Web.

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"Modern Slavery And Child Labour." International Labour Organisation. N.p., 2017. Web. 12

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"Modern Slavery - The Slave Children Of The 21St Century." Humanium. N.p., 2015. Web. 10

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Paddison, Laura, and Peter Bengtsen. "Beauty Companies And The Struggle To Source Child

         Labour-Free Mica." theguardian. N.p., 2018. Web. 9 Jan. 2018

Pitel, Laura. "Syrian Refugee Children Found Working In Next And H&M Factories."

         Independent. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Jan. 2018.

Simpson, Cam. "Victoria’S Secret Revealed In Child Picking Organic Cotton." Bloomberg. N.p.,

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         World Peace. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Jan. 2018.