Would social dumping protection help the child labour problem?
Fourth, “child labour” is often used as an argument in the “social dumping” arguments. Child labour should be fought on moral, ethical and human rights grounds, which are fully understandable and shared by everybody. The association with social dumping – for example, demands for an import ban on all manufactures produced using child labour – may make matters worse for the children. Restrictions on child labour are already embedded in the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 138, which mandates countries to specify a minimum age of employment for children (not less than 15 years) so child labour below that age is considered illegal. To date, 141 countries have signed this ILO convention and some others, which have not signed the convention (included the US) effectively outlaw child labour as well in their national labour regulations. In spite of the almost universal presence of legal bans, child labour continues to thrive The only countries which have advanced in banning c
