child labor informative essay

Essay on Child Labour for Students and Children

500+ words essay on child labour.

Child labour is a term you might have heard about in news or movies. It refers to a crime where children are forced to work from a very early age. It is like expecting kids to perform responsibilities like working and fending for themselves. There are certain policies which have put restrictions and limitations on children working.

The average age for a child to be appropriate to work is considered fifteen years and more. Children falling below this age limit won’t be allowed to indulge in any type of work forcefully. Why is that so? Because child labour takes away the kids opportunity of having a normal childhood, a proper education , and physical and mental well-being. In some countries, it is illegal but still, it’s a far way from being completely eradicated.

Causes of Child Labour

Child Labour happens due to a number of reasons. While some of the reasons may be common in some countries, there are some reasons which are specific in particular areas and regions. When we look at what is causing child labour, we will be able to fight it better.

Firstly, it happens in countries that have a lot of poverty and unemployment . When the families won’t have enough earning, they put the children of the family to work so they can have enough money to survive. Similarly, if the adults of the family are unemployed, the younger ones have to work in their place.

Moreover, when people do not have access to the education they will ultimately put their children to work. The uneducated only care about a short term result which is why they put children to work so they can survive their present.

Furthermore, the money-saving attitude of various industries is a major cause of child labour. They hire children because they pay them lesser for the same work as an adult. As children work more than adults and also at fewer wages, they prefer children. They can easily influence and manipulate them. They only see their profit and this is why they engage children in factories.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Eradication of Child Labour

If we wish to eradicate child labour, we need to formulate some very effective solutions which will save our children. It will also enhance the future of any country dealing with these social issues . To begin with, one can create a number of unions that solely work to prevent child labour. It should help the children indulging in this work and punishing those who make them do it.

Furthermore, we need to keep the parents in the loop so as to teach them the importance of education. If we make education free and the people aware, we will be able to educate more and more children who won’t have to do child labour. Moreover, making people aware of the harmful consequences of child labour is a must.

In addition, family control measures must also be taken. This will reduce the family’s burden so when you have lesser mouths to feed, the parents will be enough to work for them, instead of the children. In fact, every family must be promised a minimum income by the government to survive.

In short, the government and people must come together. Employment opportunities must be given to people in abundance so they can earn their livelihood instead of putting their kids to work. The children are the future of our country; we cannot expect them to maintain the economic conditions of their families instead of having a normal childhood.

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Essay on Child Labour in 1000 Words for Students

• Updated on  
• May 21, 2024

Essay on Child Labour: A study called ‘ Campaign Against Child Labour ‘ revealed that around 12.67 million child labourers exist in India. Child labour refers to the forceful employment of children at shops, domestic and hazardous places like factories and mines. Child labour exploits children for their basic childhood rights and affects their physical and mental growth. According to the International Labour Organization, the minimum age to work is 15 years. However, some countries have set the minimum working age at 14 years.

In India, the Ministry of Labour & Employment is responsible for protecting children’s rights. The Ministry launched the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) scheme for the rehabilitation of child labourers.

Table of Contents

• 1.1 Poverty and Unemployment
• 1.2 Lack of Access to Education
• 1.3 Lack of Enforcement Laws
• 1.4 Debt Bondage
• 1.5 Ignorance and Lack of Awareness
• 2.1 Education Deprivation
• 2.2 Impact on Physical Health
• 2.3 Impact on Mental and Emotional Health
• 2.4 Cycle of Poverty
• 3 What is the Global Perspective?
• 4 Child Labour in India
• 5 5 Steps to Eradicate Child Labour
• 6 10 Lines to Add in Child Labour Essay

5 Major Child Labour Causes

Poverty, unemployment, lack of access to quality education, lack of awareness, etc are some of the common causes of child labour. Understanding all the causes of child labour is very important to eradicating its practice.

Poverty and Unemployment

Poverty and unemployment are the primary causes of child labour. Families living in extreme poverty force their children to work and meet basic needs such as food, shelter, and healthcare. On top of this, employees take advantage of their poverty and pay them low wages.

Lack of Access to Education

Children belonging to poor families have limited access to education due to inadequate infrastructure, insufficient resources and social discrimination. Due to this reason, children who are supposed to go to school are pushed towards labour instead of attending school.

“The Best Way to Make Children Good is to Make Them Happy” – Oscar Wilde

Lack of Enforcement Laws

A lot of countries do not have strict laws against child labour. Unethical employers are not afraid because the laws against child labour are not strict. Child labour is persistent because employees do not fear the law. In some cases, insufficient coordination among government agencies, NGOs, and international organizations leads to gaps in the enforcement of child labour laws.

Debt Bondage

Debt bondage or bonded labour is a type of child labour where individuals are forced to work to repay a debt or a family loan. These impoverished people have no other option but to work as bonded labourers in domestic places. 

Master the art of essay writing with our blog on How to Write an Essay in English .

Ignorance and Lack of Awareness

The lack of awareness becomes an important cause of child labour, as these people have no idea about the long-term consequences of child labour. 

Impacts on Children

Child labour can have serious impacts on a child’s physical and mental growth. However, the impacts of child labour are not limited to children only. 

Education Deprivation

Child labour deprives children of their right to education. In India, the Right to Education is a basic Fundamental Right and is also a Fundamental Duty. The Indian Constitution says that any person, who is a parent or a guardian, must provide opportunities for education to his child or ward between the ages of six and fourteen years.

Also Read: Child Labour Speech

Impact on Physical Health

Children who consistently work in dangerous or tough conditions sometimes get hurt, and sick, and can face long-term health issues. Children working in factories and mines are exposed to harmful chemicals, pollutants and dust. Prolonged exposure can lead to respiratory problems, skin disorders, and other health issues.

Impact on Mental and Emotional Health

Working for long hours in hazardous conditions is a deadly combination. These conditions can contribute to high levels of stress and anxiety, affecting the mental well-being of children. In addition to this, these children are denied the right to education, which limits their cognitive development and prospects.

Cycle of Poverty

Children are supposed to go to school and study, not work in factories or as domestic helpers. Child labour perpetuates the cycle of poverty. The cycle of poverty can only end if child labour ends. 

Also Read: Essay on Peer Pressure in 100, 200 and 350 Words

What is the Global Perspective?

According to UNICEF, 1 out of 10 children are subjected to child labour worldwide and some are forced into hazardous work through trafficking. Child labour is a complex issue with its regional challenges. In 2020, around 16 crore children in the world were subjected to child labour. 

International organisations like the ILO, UNICEF, etc. are constantly fighting against children. They collaborate with global governments, NGOs, and private organisations and discuss the root causes of child labour, such as poverty, lack of access to education, cultural norms, armed conflict, and economic pressures. It is very important to address these factors for effective solutions.

Child Labour in India

In India, there are five major sectors where child labour is most prevalent. These sectors are:

• Agriculture – The largest number of children are employed in the agricultural sector and related activities. Children in rural areas are employed in sugarcane, wheat and rice farms, where they are forced to work for long hours in scorching heat.
• Brick Kilns – For ages, the brick kiln industry has been employing children at low wages. In several brick kilns, children work for long hours with their parents and are exposed to toxic fumes and pollutants.
• Garment Industry – The Indian garment industry constitutes a large portion of child labour. Most of the Indian garment industries are managed by local start-ups, who hire children at low wages to preserve their profit margin.
• Fireworks – Firework factory owners hire a significant number of children at low wages. Children working in fireworks factories work in cramped conditions and are exposed to toxic fumes and hazardous chemicals, which hampers their physical and mental health.
• Unorganised Sectors – The unorganised sector includes local dhabas, food and tea stalls, vegetable and fruit vendors, etc. These people employ children as helpers and servants. 

Also Read: Essay on Discipline

5 Steps to Eradicate Child Labour

• Raising Awareness: Raising awareness about child labour can be the first step to eradicating child labour. If people, especially parents, are aware of the consequences of child labour, they might not force their children to work in hazardous places. 
• Support Families: Traffickers prey on vulnerable children, especially those who come from poor families and are not aware of child labour. We need to support these families by providing them with financial assistance, job training for adults, and other resources. When families have enough money to live on, they are less likely to rely on their children’s income.
• Strict Laws: There is an urgent need for stringent laws against child labour. Strict laws against child labour can bring long-lasting social changes. In India, child labour is a crime. According to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act of 1986, children below the age are prohibited from working. However, this law is not strictly enforced.
• Pro-child Laws: Today, various NGOs are working in collaboration with local and state governments to implement pro-child laws.
• Education for All : Education must be made compulsory and accessible to all. In India, the Right to Education is a fundamental right. Yet, a lot of children are deprived of this basic constitutional right. Strict laws and easy access to education can bring a big change, ending child labour in the country.

Also Read: Essay on Summer Vacation in 100, 250 and 350 words

10 Lines to Add in Child Labour Essay

Here are 10 lines on child labour. Feel free to add them to your child labour essay or similar topics.

• Child labour deprives children of their right to a proper childhood.
• It involves children working in harmful environments. 
• It Disrupts their physical and mental well-being.
• Poverty is a major factor pushing children into the workforce at an early age.
• Lack of access to education often perpetuates the cycle of child labour.
• Children engaged in labour are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
• Hazardous conditions in factories and mines pose serious health risks to working children.
• Child labour hinders the development of necessary skills and knowledge for the future.
• Long working hours and limited leisure time impact a child’s social and emotional growth.
• Addressing the root causes, such as poverty and lack of education, is crucial in the fight against child labour.

Ans: Child labour refers to the practice of employing young children in hazardous places like factories and mines. Child labour exploits children for their basic childhood rights and hampers their physical and mental growth. According to the International Labour Organization, the minimum age for work is 15 years. However, some countries have set the minimum working age at 14 years.

Ans: Poverty and Unemployment, Lack of Access to Education, Law of Enforcement Laws, Debt Bondage, etc. are some of the primary causes of child labour.

Ans: Child labour is banned in India. According to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, of 1986, no child below 14 years of age is allowed to work in hazardous or domestic places, like factories, mines or shops.

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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.

• 📜 How to Write
• ❓ Brief History
• ⚖️ Laws Today

🔗 References

📜 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:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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?
• 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.

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:

• Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
• Minimum Age Convention
• Medical Examination of Young Persons (Industry) Convention
• Australia’s and UK’s Modern Slavery Acts
• National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020
• International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor
• 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 . 
• Ethics in business: child labor in the chocolate industry.  
• Samsung and child labor: business ethics case . 
• Child labor’s role in westernization and globalization . 

Child Labor Essay Topics

• Analyze the connection between poverty and child labor. 
• Discuss the reasons for the high trafficking of children rates.  
• Explain why child labor is among topical issues in the modern world.  
• What can be done to reduce child trafficking rates?  
• Explore the ways labor unions help to fight child labor.   
• Describe the child labor laws around the world and evaluate their effectiveness.  
• Analyze the cases of child exploitation in sweatshops in developing countries. 
• Discuss the social issues connected with child labor.   
• Examine the impact of child labor on children’s physical and mental health.  
• The role of UNICEF in the abolition of child labor and exploitation.  
• Child trafficking as a primary human rights issue.  
• The absence of adequate punishment is the reason for increased child slavery rates.
•  Analyze if current measures to prevent child exploitation are sufficient enough.  
• Discuss how social media platforms facilitate child trafficking.   
• Examine the social impact of child exploitation and trafficking .  
• Describe how the attitude towards child labor depends on the specifics of the country’s culture.  
• Explore how Zara’s use of child labor influenced its public image.  
• What organizations deal with commercial child exploitation prevention?  
• What can a healthcare professional do to help the victims of child exploitation?  
• Analyze the urgency of creating an effective program for the recovery of child trafficking victims .  
• Discuss the laws regulating child labor in different countries.  
• Explain the connection between the level of education in the country and child labor rates.  
• The role of parents in the success of child labor and exploitation prevention.  
• Explore the history of child labor.  
• Can labor be the way to teach children about basic life skills?  
• The disastrous effect of child trafficking on the mental health of its victims.  
• Discuss the problems connected with child trafficking and exploitation investigation.
• Examine the cases of using child soldiers in modern armed conflicts.  
• Analyze the role of international organizations in saving child soldiers.  
• The use of abducted children as frontline soldiers in Uganda.  
• What can be done to overcome the issue of child soldiers in the near future?  
• Discuss what fashion brands can do to prevent the use of child labor in overseas sweatshops.
• Explain why young workers are more vulnerable to exploitation compared to adult workers.
•  Explore the issue of child labor and exploitation in the Industrial Age.  
• Analyze how child labor affects the education of children . 
• Describe the business ethics of child labor.  
• Who is responsible for the use of child labor at tea plantations?  
• Examine the reasons for using child labor in mining in the 19 th century. 
• Employing child labor as one of the most widespread violations of children’s rights .
• 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.

• Child Labor Issues and Challenges: NIH
• Child Labor: World Vision Australia
• Essay Structure: Harvard University
• Child Labor: Human Rights Watch
• Child Labor: Laws & Definition: History.com
• Child Labor: Our World in Data
• History of Child Labor in the United States, Part 1: Little Children Working: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
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Problem of Child Labor in Modern Society Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Worst forms of child labor

Economic theory of child labor, addressing the problem of child labor.

Erick Edmonds looks at the current definitions of child labor with references to politicians and economists. Politicians refer to child labor as works that weaken the welfare of children. On the other hand, economists see child labor as economic activities where children participate. He also notes that child labor is a world phenomenon with the majority employers of these children being their parents.

Erick also looks at the reasons why children work. He observes impoverished situations in developing countries force children to engage in paying labor to supplement the meager family income. However, in some cases, child labor may not end even if the living standards improve because parents want to see their children earn. In developing countries, parents would want to see their children go to school. These studies across countries reveal that child labor develops out of poverty.

The author notes that globalization and child labor interact in two ways. Globalization is most likely to increase child labor in developing countries due to increase in demand for labor. On the other hand, improved household earnings can also reduce child labor if the main cause is poverty within the family.

Rich nations may also use their trade policies to curtail child labor by influencing the export of products from nations known to engage in child labor for productions. Erick demonstrates by study in Vietnam where increased earnings from rise led to reduction in child labor.

Erick’s study shows that parents in developing nations use extra incomes to move their children out of the labor market. He further highlights that restricting exports from the developing nations to curtail child labor may not create the desired results. The best way to control child labor is through supplementing supports for household incomes, and probably to offer incentives for children to stay in school.

In short, the challenge for countries concerned about child labor is not to fight globalization and international trade, but rather to ensure that gains from the trade reach to the poor households. Evidences show that child labor can almost disappear if the living standards in poor households improve.

People concerned with the child labor have long recognized it as a general practice in developing nations. However, in the recent past, it has attracted the attention of economists. In this regard, the economists’ view of child labor is generally new. There are several abominable exploitations of children.

These are what constitute worst forms of child labor: child prostitution, bonded labor, child soldering or works with extremely hazardous, unhealthy or personally dehumanizing. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), these are the worst forms of child labor (Wiener, 2009).

Economists are disassociating themselves with the worst forms of child labor. They do not try to defend their existence or justify them. Conversely, they believe that the worst forms of child labor are on the decline. Currently, they have shifted their attentions to look at the child work around family farm, local farms, domestic works, in service industries or in an office environment. They argue that the term child labor is a catchall, which includes even the acceptable forms of child work.

Economists believe that most family would not like to see their children work. Conversely, most families who send their children to work do so because of pressing financial needs. They believe that it is the family responsible for the supply of child labor but not demand for it. This is because the prevailing adults’ wages are too low to support a household.

Therefore, families would prefer their children do not work, but the prevailing wage circumstances force them in labor to supplement the family income. In this context, if the parents’ earnings are adequate to support a household, then parents can afford to cater for their children school fees and keep them out of the labor market. This also implies that wages must remain high in order to restrict the supply of child labor because children are low earners (Hugh, 2009).

Historically, the developed nations once depended on child labor in conditions similar to these we observe in emerging nations. Historians point out that developed nations took time to resolve their child labor problem, but they are now impatiently pushing for immediate, and rapid solutions in developing countries.

Today’s child labor condition has acquired a new feature. There is a global drive to eradicate child labor. The movement has its roots in the developed nations in the late 1970s. The UN supported the movement through adoption of its UN convention on the Rights of the Child. The program further gained momentum in the year 1992 through adoption of the IPEC.

Governments are adopting strict measure to curtail child labor because people believe that they are the generation of tomorrow. Therefore, their future must be safeguarded for a better future. There have been emphases on scholarship from donors, governments, and private persons on child labor studies. These studies are developing the significant insights that highlight the causes, effects and remedies for child labor.

We are certainly aware of the issues surrounding child labor. Employers who seek access to the global consumers are careful not to involve child labors in production of their products. The community is making progress in eradication of child labor. However, the achievements are uneven and vary from country to country particularly in countries experiencing political instability and extreme poverty.

Certainly, complete eradication of child labor may not be possible, and many children will continue to experience worst forms of child labor. However, we might be able to eradicate the worst forms of child labor after a life time.

Social scientists support child works in the lives of children. However, they dwell on a balanced view whereby the work is not harmful and does not deter a child from accessing a good-quality education. They agree that children themselves tend to articulate these views well.

However, there is a challenge to universal worst forms of child labor. Children have tended to elaborate their views on child work. These views seem to reflect that the community should protect children from exploitations. At the same time, they have ideas of normal and appropriate childhood with the right to education, right to work and earn from their works. That is if they need extra income or if they want to make their own money (Corsaro, 2005).

These constitute part on normal childhood. The developed nations such as the US, the United Kingdom and Netherlands have adopted these views of child work. This view regards child labor as a problem and not children’s work but as an abuse of children’s capacity to work (Liebel, 2004).

Industrialized nations took steps of ending child labor in the 20th century. There are emerging cases of child labor in the third world nations. Governments and several NGOs have taken measures of curbing child labor. There is a growing trend whereby human rights bodies and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have joined the fight against child labor.

The problem with the child labor is that it is so ingrained and extensive in the society to the extent that penetrating it becomes a challenge to the government as well as the NGOs. The nature of child labor in the society has forced governments, and NGOs to adopt different methods. For instance, the Rugmark strives to curtail child labor through certification that carpets are not productions of child labor.

The UN’s ILO has been tirelessly and effectively working through its International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) in advocating the rights of children. These are just but a few examples of combating child labor. However, every government and other bodies, at least in every state, have at least some mechanisms in place to combat child labor.

Child labor is a concern of immense economic and social considerations throughout the developing nations. Though, observers have noticed a number of encouraging trends to curtail child labor in areas such as Mexico, Vietnam, Brazil and Turkey, the problem still persists in most countries. Several children work absolutely in unpleasant conditions and many more work out of necessities or circumstances. Child labor has robbed off these children their childhoods and their futures.

Corsaro, W. (2005). The Sociology of Childhood, 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Hugh, H. (2009). The world of child labor : an historical and regional survey. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

Liebel, M. (2004). A Will of Their Own: Cross-cultural Perspectives on Working Children. London: Zed Books.

Wiener, G. (2009). Child Labor: Global Viewpoints. New York: Greenhaven Press.

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Essay on Child Labour

Students are often asked to write an essay on Child Labour in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Child Labour

Introduction.

Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives them of their childhood and is harmful to their physical and mental development.

The main causes of child labour include poverty, lack of education, and inadequate laws. When families struggle financially, children are forced to work to support their families.

Child labour has serious effects. It deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially, and morally harmful.

We can combat child labour by spreading awareness, improving education, and strengthening legal frameworks to protect children.

250 Words Essay on Child Labour

Child labour, a deeply embedded social issue, is a manifestation of the profound socio-economic disparities that exist in our society. It is a practice that not only infringes upon the rights of children but also hampers their overall development and future prospects.

Understanding Child Labour

Child labour is defined as the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives them of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially, or morally dangerous and harmful. It is a complex issue, intertwined with factors like poverty, lack of educational resources, and systemic social and economic inequalities.

The Global Scenario

Globally, an estimated 152 million children are engaged in child labour, with nearly half involved in hazardous work. Despite international agreements and national laws against child labour, the practice remains widespread, particularly in developing countries. It is a direct violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Consequences of Child Labour

Child labour robs children of their potential, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and exploitation. It hinders their cognitive and physical development and often exposes them to dangerous conditions, leading to long-term health issues. Moreover, it deprives them of the fundamental right to education, limiting their opportunities for upward social mobility.

Addressing child labour requires a multifaceted approach, focusing on poverty alleviation, access to quality education, and strict enforcement of child labour laws. It is crucial to break the cycle of poverty and exploitation to ensure a better future for these children. It is not just a legal and moral obligation, but also a necessary step towards sustainable development and social justice.

500 Words Essay on Child Labour

The prevalence of child labour.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), an estimated 152 million children worldwide are engaged in child labour, with nearly half involved in hazardous work. The majority of these children work in Asia and Africa, often in agriculture, mining, and domestic service. The persistence of child labour is often rooted in poverty and lack of access to quality education.

Child labour has far-reaching effects on individual children, their families, and society at large. It deprives children of their childhood and potential, impeding their physical and mental development. It also perpetuates the cycle of poverty, as these children often grow up without the necessary skills or education to secure better-paying jobs in adulthood.

Legal and Ethical Aspects

Efforts to combat child labour, role of education.

Education is a powerful tool in the fight against child labour. Providing access to quality education can break the cycle of poverty that often drives child labour. Education equips children with the skills they need for a prosperous future, reducing their vulnerability to exploitation.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Human Rights — Child Labour

Essays on Child Labour

How to write a child labor essay, introduction: understanding child labor.

• Definition of child labor: Explain what child labor is and provide a brief overview of the different types of child labor that exist (e.g. bonded labor, forced labor, hazardous work).
• The extent of the problem: Highlight the prevalence of child labor around the world and provide statistics to support your claims.
• The impact on children: Discuss the negative impact that child labor has on children's health, education, and overall well-being.

Body: Writing a Comprehensive Essay on Child Labor

Section 1: the causes of child labor, section 2: the effects of child labor, section 3: the laws and policies surrounding child labor, section 4: the solutions to child labor, anecdotal hook.

Imagine a world where children as young as six years old toil away in dangerous factories instead of attending school and playing. This was the harsh reality of child labor during the Industrial Revolution.

Question Hook

Is child labor a relic of the past, or does it still persist in the shadows of our global economy? Explore the contemporary implications of child labor and efforts to eradicate it.

Quotation Hook

"The hands that help build the nation should be small and tender." — Karl Marx. Analyze the profound social and economic commentary within this quote as it relates to child labor issues.

Statistical or Factual Hook

Did you know that as of 2021, approximately 152 million children worldwide are engaged in child labor? Examine the global scope of child labor and its devastating consequences.

Definition Hook

What constitutes child labor, and how is it different from age-appropriate work or chores? Define the key terms and concepts related to child labor for a deeper understanding.

Rhetorical Question Hook

Can we ensure the rights and welfare of children while respecting cultural and economic diversity, or is child labor an absolute evil that must be eradicated at all costs? Delve into the ethical dilemmas surrounding this issue.

Historical Hook

Step back in time to the 19th century and explore the origins of child labor during the Industrial Revolution. Investigate the conditions that forced children into factories and mines.

Contrast Hook

Contrast the stark realities of child labor in the 19th century with the progress made in the 21st century to combat this issue. Assess the effectiveness of international conventions and national laws.

Narrative Hook

Meet a survivor of child labor who overcame adversity to become an advocate for children's rights. Follow their personal journey and commitment to ending this global problem.

Shocking Statement Hook

Prepare to be shocked by stories of children forced to work in hazardous conditions, deprived of their childhoods, and denied access to education. These stories reveal the urgent need to address child labor.

Negative Side of Child Labor: Arguments

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The Problem of Child Labour in The World

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The Cause and Present Status of Child Labour

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1. Grootaert, C., & Kanbur, R. (1995). Child labour: An economic perspective. Int'l Lab. Rev., 134, 187. 2. Ray, R. (2000). Analysis of child labour in Peru and Pakistan: A comparative study. Journal of population economics, 13, 3-19. 3. Fors, H. C. (2012). Child labour: A review of recent theory and evidence with policy implications. Journal of Economic Surveys, 26(4), 570-593. 4. Thévenon, O., & Edmonds, E. (2019). Child labour: Causes, consequences and policies to tackle it. 5. Dessy, S. E., & Pallage, S. (2005). A theory of the worst forms of child labour. The Economic Journal, 115(500), 68-87. 6. Donnelly, P. (1997). Child labour, sport labour: Applying child labour laws to sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 32(4), 389-406. 7. O'Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E., & Rosati, F. C. (2002). Child labour and health: Evidence and research issues. Understanding Children's Work Programme Working Paper. 8. Goulart, P., & Bedi, A. S. (2008). Child labour and educational success in Portugal. Economics of Education Review, 27(5), 575-587. 9. Agbo, M. C. (2017). The health and educational consequences of child labour in Nigeria. Health science journal, 11(1), 1. 10. Cunningham, H., & Viazzo, P. P. (1800). Some issues in the historical study of child labour. Child Labour in Historical Perspective, 1985, 11-22.

1. Grootaert, C., & Kanbur, R. (1995). Child labour: An economic perspective. Int'l Lab. Rev., 134, 187. (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/intlr134&div=23&id=&page=) 2. Ray, R. (2000). Analysis of child labour in Peru and Pakistan: A comparative study. Journal of population economics, 13, 3-19. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s001480050119) 3. Fors, H. C. (2012). Child labour: A review of recent theory and evidence with policy implications. Journal of Economic Surveys, 26(4), 570-593. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2010.00663.x) 4. Thévenon, O., & Edmonds, E. (2019). Child labour: Causes, consequences and policies to tackle it. (https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/child-labour_f6883e26-en) 5. Dessy, S. E., & Pallage, S. (2005). A theory of the worst forms of child labour. The Economic Journal, 115(500), 68-87. (https://academic.oup.com/ej/article-abstract/115/500/68/5085674) 6. Donnelly, P. (1997). Child labour, sport labour: Applying child labour laws to sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 32(4), 389-406. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/101269097032004004?journalCode=irsb) 7. O'Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E., & Rosati, F. C. (2002). Child labour and health: Evidence and research issues. Understanding Children's Work Programme Working Paper. (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1780320) 8. Goulart, P., & Bedi, A. S. (2008). Child labour and educational success in Portugal. Economics of Education Review, 27(5), 575-587. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775707000969) 9. Agbo, M. C. (2017). The health and educational consequences of child labour in Nigeria. Health science journal, 11(1), 1. (https://www.proquest.com/openview/bd022cc34441508da4a891b92b6a2b35/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=237822) 10. Cunningham, H., & Viazzo, P. P. (1800). Some issues in the historical study of child labour. Child Labour in Historical Perspective, 1985, 11-22. (https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/hisper_childlabour_low.pdf#page=13)

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Essay on Child Labour For Children and Students – 10 Lines, Short and Long Essay

• Key Points To Remember When Writing Essay On Child Labour
• 10 Lines On Child Labour
• Paragraph On Child Labour
• Short Essay On Child Labour
• Long Essay On Child Labour In English
• What Will Your Child Learn From An Essay On Child Labour?

Childhood is the most cheerful time in a person’s life. Children should spend this time of their lives with ease. They should play, study, eat good food, learn to be good citizens and have a nice time without worries. Unfortunately, not all children enjoy their childhood as they should. Poverty, lack of resources, family problems and many such issues force children to struggle with the responsibility of working for wages. While some children have all the comforts, others worry about the next meal. They start to work and earn from a tender age. They may have to face dire conditions, work beyond their physical capacity, and miss out on the opportunity of education and maintaining good health. They are victims of child labour.  

Children are sensitised about this issue to understand the value of education and appreciate their opportunities. They will understand the problems of the world and think about ways in which they can help. Teachers ask children to write an essay on child labour to evaluate their knowledge. When your child writes about child labour in India, they understand the severity of this problem. They will also get to express their ideas on curbing this social evil. Let us help your child write an excellent child labour essay in English that will hopefully spark ideas of social change.  

Key Points To Remember When Writing Essay On Child Labour  

Your child should remember a few important points while writing an essay on child labour . Let us discuss it below.  

• Children need to think of some ideas about the life of children in general as compared to child labour in the first step.
• The second step includes creating an outline of all the points kids have structured in their minds.
• Crafting short and simple sentences from the pointers comes under the third step.
• Guide your child not to elaborate too much on any single idea.
• Encourage your child to write with the flow, as they should enjoy the process.
• Your little one can write about what childhood should be like and how some children are deprived of their happy early days and become victims of child labour.

10 Lines On Child Labour  

Child labour is a cause of concern that cripples the life of children. It may be difficult for young children to understand, but they can slowly come to grips with the subject by practising writing a few lines on child labour . Let’s help your children of classes 1 & 2 with some facts and ideas that they can learn for writing an essay on child labour :  

• Child Labour means making children work for money instead of studying and enjoying childhood.
• This issue is prevalent not only in India but has a global presence.
• Children should spend their days playing, studying, and eating healthy food.
• Child labour stops children from exercising their basic rights like education.
• Poverty triggers child labour worldwide.
• Children from families that don’t have adequate income are forced to work and earn wages.
• The payment is very less, and sometimes, they are not even paid for their hard work.
• Working under laborious conditions affects a child’s mental, physical, emotional, and social well-being.
• Little kids have to work in fields, mines, factories, workshops and other such establishments as cheap labourers while some kids also work in households as domestic helpers.
• The social peril of child labour must end and every child should attend school, play with friends and live a happy life without worrying about work.

Paragraph On Child Labour  

Writing an essay on child labour in English requires you to be clear and confident, especially when discussing how to stop child labour. This example will show you ways to communicate your point in a short but impactful manner.  

Child labour is a serious problem affecting millions of children worldwide. Many are forced to work in harsh conditions for long hours and very little pay. This harms their health and prevents them from going to school and enjoying their childhood. Instead of playing and learning, these children miss meaningful experiences that help them grow. Governments, charities, and communities must join forces to stop child labour. By enforcing laws and providing support to families in need, we can ensure that every child has the chance to live a safe, happy, and fulfilling life.  

Short Essay On Child Labour 

Child labour is a major issue that damages the lives of children. Writing an essay for class 3 will help kids become aware of this significant issue. Here’s an example of an essay on child labour in 200 words:  

Child labour occurs when children are made to work for money, taking away their glorious childhood. It is a big issue in our country and many other developing nations and underdeveloped countries. Children should rightfully spend their days playing, studying, eating nutritious food, and having a nice time.    

The leading cause of child labour is poverty. Children are pushed to work by their families to earn money. Little kids are made to work in shops, fields, mines, and factories as daily wagers or even households to work as domestic helpers. These children work to earn some money when they should be attending school or playing with their friends. The payment in these places is less, and the working environment is often unsafe and harmful for children.  

Child labour affects a child’s mental, physical, emotional, and social well-being. The children lose their childhood days and suffer in silence. The government has introduced many laws against child labour to address this problem. We, too, must encourage every child to go to school and get educated and ensure they are not involved in child labour.   

Child labour remains a pressing issue, undermining children’s rights and futures. Collective action is essential to eradicate this injustice globally.  

Long Essay On Child Labour In English  

As kids progress in academics, teachers will ask them to write long essays. Let us help your child write a long composition on child labour:

What Is Child Labour?

Child labour means making children work and earn. Such kids work in shops, fields, mines, factories or as domestic helpers. These kids have to spend their days earning wages when they should be studying and playing.

What Are The Types Of Child Labour

• Domestic Child Labour:  Many children are made to work as domestic help for rich families, for very little wages.
• Industrial Child Labour:  Children are employed to work in factories, industries, plantations, and coal mines, as cheap labourers. They are underpaid and are made to work under hazardous conditions. The poor working conditions affect their health in the long run.
• Debt Bondage:  This happens when a child works to pay off the inherited debt of their parents. These children are exploited extremely, without any measure of how long they need to serve their employers.
• Child Trafficking:  In many instances, children are traded off for money against their will and are uprooted from their families and homelands. They are made to work in terribly unsafe conditions and are exploited. They are even forced to beg on the streets.

What Are The Causes Of Child Labour?

The reasons for child labour are:

• Poverty and unemployment.
• Lack of educational institutions nearby.
• Unavailability of free education.
• Violation of laws imposed on Child Labour.
• Suppression of workers’ rights.

Effects Of Child Labour

Child labour is a major issue. It deprives children of their childhood days of innocence, and it robs them of the opportunity of going to school and studying or playing. These children never get to exercise their basic rights. They are made to work in dire conditions, which negatively affects their mental and physical health. They often develop long-term health issues due to working in poor and hazardous conditions.

Child Labour Is A Crime

Child labour is an inhuman crime, and it is illegal. Moreover, the Right To Education is every child’s fundamental right. So, sending a child off to work for wages denies children of this right, which is a legal offence. Most of these children are not aware of labour laws so they are exploited at the workplace by having to work in hazardous conditions without any safety, medical security or even something as basic as a high salary.

Government Policies And Laws On Child Labour

The law of our country has taken steps to curb child labour. Many laws have been introduced against child labour to put a check on this problem. Let us discuss some of the laws against child labour.

• The Factories Act of 1948:  According to this Act, children below 14 years cannot work in any industrial factory.
• The Mines Act of 1952:  Mining is a very hazardous occupation. According to this Act, any child below the age of 18 is not allowed in underground mining activities.
• The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986:  The Act bans the employment of any child under 14 and 15 years of age in certain sectors. It also enforces strict regulations on any employment of children, including numbers of working hours, wages and prohibited work.
• The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009:  According to this law, children between 6-14 years of age must get free and compulsory education. It also states that 25% of seats will be reserved for underprivileged children in every private school.

Eradication Of Child Labour

Different measures need to be taken to put an end to child labour. For this, our country has framed some laws to protect children from child labour. Citizens, volunteers, and NGOs have come forward to ensure that government policies are strictly imposed and all forms of corruption allowing child labour to continue are exposed. Education drives and workshops are regularly conducted in rural areas to raise awareness about children’s right to free and compulsory schooling. There are numerous seminars that raise awareness about the adverse effects of child labour on children’s mental health. Local government bodies also take several measures to encourage parents to send their children to school. Provision of nutritious meals, regular health check ups of children, prizes for scholarly students and provision of clean classrooms, toilets and other such facilities in school encourage children to continue school without dropping out. Parents need to think of the long-term benefits of educating their children, without gender discrimination. The size of a family can also contribute to child labour, as larger families are more likely to be stressed for providing money and resources for every member. Under such conditions, parents resort to sending their children to work to contribute to the family income. So having a small family is important. These are some of the steps that need to be taken for the prevention of child labour.

What Will Your Child Learn From An Essay On Child Labour?  

When your child writes an essay on child labour, they become aware of this crucial issue. They understand this problem more closely and learn about its causes and how they can be resolved. Essay writing develops their creative writing skills and enhances their vocabulary.

1. How Many Children Are Affected By Child Labour?

Globally, approximately 160 million (16 crores) children are involved in child labour, which accounts for about 1 in 10 children. This includes various forms of work, with a significant number engaged in hazardous conditions.  

2. What Are the Dangers of Child Labour?

Child labour can be hazardous. Children may work with harmful chemicals, heavy machinery, or unsafe environments. This can lead to severe injuries or long-term health problems. Additionally, working long hours can prevent children from going to school, which affects their education and future opportunities.  

3. How Can We Help Stop Child Labour?

There are several ways to combat child labour.   

• Education : Supporting education initiatives can help keep children in school and out of work.  
• Awareness : Raising awareness about the issue can encourage people to take action and support laws that protect children.  
• Support Fair Trade : Buying products from companies that ensure fair treatment of workers can help reduce child labour.  

We hope the above sample essays about child labour help your child write an interesting and informative essay on this issue. We have made sure to keep the language and the words simple so that it’s very easy for them to understand. Essay writing is one activity that will help your little one till much later in life, even after they grow up.

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Causes and Effects of Child Labor. (2016, Mar 28). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/causes-and-effects-of-child-labor-essay

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The Worst Forms of Child Labor in Western Africa

In Western Africa, cocoa is a commodity crop grown primarily for export; cocoa is the Ivory Coast’s primary export and makes up about half of the country’s agricultural exports in volume. [15] Cocoa was originally brought to Western Africa by European chocolate companies seeking to grow it where labor was cheap or free, and that colonial legacy exists in the chocolate industry today. [16] As the chocolate industry has grown over the years, so has the demand for cheap cocoa. Most cocoa farmers earn less than $1 per day, an income below the extreme poverty line. [17, 18] As a result, they often resort to the use of child labor to keep their prices competitive. [19] In many cases, this includes what the International Labour Organization (ILO) calls “the worst forms of child labor.” These are defined as practices “likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of children.” [20] Approximately 2.1 million children in the Ivory Coast and Ghana work on cocoa farms, most of whom are likely exposed to the worst forms of child labor. [21, 22]

The children of Western Africa are surrounded by intense poverty, and many begin working at a young age to help support their families. [23, 24, 14] Some children end up on the cocoa farms because they need work and traffickers tell them that the job pays well. [8] Other children are sold to traffickers or farm owners by their own relatives, who are unaware of the dangerous work environment and the lack of any provisions for an education. [25, 4] Often, traffickers abduct the young children from small villages in neighboring African countries, such as Burkina Faso and Mali, two of the poorest countries in the world. [26, 27] In one village in Burkina Faso, almost every mother in the village has had a child trafficked onto cocoa farms. [6] Traffickers will then sell children to cocoa farmers.

Journalists who went undercover as cocoa farmers documented traffickers in Ghana selling children to them for $34 a child. [14] These children were liberated, and social workers reunited them with their families. [14]

Once they have been taken to the cocoa farms, the children may not see their families for years, if ever. [14] If a child who has been trafficked wants to go home, they will likely not be allowed because the trafficker has sold them to work on the cocoa farms for a certain number of years. [14]

Most of the children laboring on cocoa farms are between the ages of 12 and 16, but reporters have found children as young as 5. [28, 29] In addition, 40% of these children are girls, and some end up working on the cocoa farms through adulthood. [29, 4]

Child laborers on cocoa farms work long hours, with some being forced to work up to 14 hours a day. [30] Some of the children use chainsaws to clear the forests. [29] Other children climb the cocoa trees to cut bean pods using a machete. These large, heavy, dangerous knives are the standard tools for children on the cocoa farms, which violates international labor laws and a UN convention on eliminating the worst forms of child labor. [20, 31, 8] Once they cut the bean pods from the trees, the children pack the pods into sacks that weigh more than 100 pounds when full and carry them through the forest. [8] Aly Diabate, a former enslaved cocoa worker, said, “Some of the bags were taller than me. It took two people to put the bag on my head. And when you didn’t hurry, you were beaten.” [28]

Holding a single large pod in one hand, each child has to strike the pod with a machete and pry it open with the tip of the blade to expose the cocoa beans. [14] Every strike of the machete has the potential to slice a child’s flesh. Many children have scars on their bodies from their work in on the cocoa farms. [29, 32]

In addition to the hazards of using machetes, children are also exposed to agricultural chemicals on cocoa farms in Western Africa. [4] Tropical regions such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast consistently choose to deal with prolific insect populations by spraying the pods with large amounts of industrial chemicals. Young children spray the pods with these toxins without wearing protective clothing. [4] There has been a huge increase in the past decade of the number of children exposed to agricultural chemicals on Ghana and the Ivory Coast’s cocoa farms, from 15% of children to approximately 50% of children. [33] *

The farm owners using child labor usually provide the children with the cheapest food available, such as corn paste or the cassava and bananas that grow in the surrounding forest. [34, 4] In some cases, the children sleep on wooden planks in small windowless buildings with no access to clean water or sanitary bathrooms. [34, 8]

Around 30% of children laboring on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast do not attend school, which violates the ILO’s Child Labour Standards. [29, 35] Depriving these children of an education has many short-term and long-term effects. Without an education, the children of the cocoa farms have little hope of ever breaking the cycle of poverty.

Aboudnamune, a 13-year-old child who has been working on cocoa farms since he was 11, described his experience: “We are hungry, and we just make a small amount of money.” [8]

In 2015 the Ivory Coast passed laws requiring children attend school until age 16 and making it illegal for children under 16 to work, but this has had little impact on children trafficked onto cocoa farms. [36] In an investigation by The Washington Post , a cocoa laborer named Abou Traore first told a reporter that he was 19 years old, but when the farmer overseeing him wasn’t looking, Abou revealed that he was actually 15. [8]

Abou, who is from Burkina Faso, started working on the cocoa farms when he was 10 years old. “I came here to go to school,” Abou said. “I haven’t been to school for five years now.” [8]

Some children labor on their parents’ farms in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Cocoa farmers who want to send their children to school are often unable to afford to. Mr. Zongo, a farmer who has been working in cocoa for 30 years, could only afford to send one of his children to school. [4]

“We are exhausted and we don’t have enough money,” Mr. Zongo said. [4]

Parents like Mr. Zongo are forced to include their children in the farm labor instead of sending them to school because they are not paid enough for the cocoa they sell. This is not because chocolate is unprofitable; the chocolate industry makes about $103 billion a year in sales. [37] It is through the industry’s exploitation of cocoa farmers that these corporations are able to make such a profit. As a result, chocolate companies have little incentive to change the conditions of cocoa farmers and thereby reduce child labor.

Slavery in Western Africa

Many children trafficked into Western African cocoa farms are coerced to work without pay. [3, 7, 14] Abby Mills, campaigns director of the International Labor Rights Forum, reported, “Every research study ever conducted in shows that there is human trafficking going on, particularly in the Ivory Coast.” [38] A journalist who visited cocoa farms in Ghana during the making of the documentary Invisible Hands said that they found incidents of trafficked children on all of the farms they visited. [14]

Both children and adults are enslaved on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. [39] A study found that in Ghana, 23% of surveyed cocoa laborers reported having performed work without compensation. [40] While the term “slavery” has a variety of historical contexts, slavery in the cocoa industry involves the same core human rights violations as other forms of slavery throughout the world.

In the documentary Chocolate’s Heart of Darkness, journalists interviewed a cocoa laborer named Aziz who worked for five years without payment, starting when he was 15 years old. Another laborer on the same farm named Ali worked for six years without being paid. After years of working for free, Ali and Aziz were given small cocoa parcels as “rewards,” which they could sell for very little. Ali, for example, made only about $250 in one year from selling his share of cocoa. [4]

Cases of slavery in the cocoa industry often involve acts of physical violence, such as being whipped for working slowly or trying to escape. Reporters have also documented cases where children were locked in at night to prevent them from escaping. [34] Former enslaved cocoa worker Aly Diabate told reporters, “The beatings were a part of my life. Anytime they loaded you with bags and you fell while carrying them, nobody helped you. Instead, they beat you and beat you until you picked it up again.” [28] Drissa, a freed enslaved worker who had never even tasted chocolate, experienced similar circumstances. When asked what he would tell people who eat chocolate made from slave labor, he replied that they enjoyed something that he suffered to make, adding, “When people eat chocolate, they are eating my flesh.” [41]

In the Supreme Court case Nestlé USA and Cargill v. Doe , six people from Mali sought damages from Nestlé and Cargill for being trafficked into the Ivory Coast as children and forced to work on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast. [42] The formerly enslaved plaintiffs described how guards would punish child workers who attempted to flee with atrocities such as forcing them to drink urine or cutting open their feet. [30] If the guards thought they weren’t working quickly enough, they would beat them with tree branches. [30] The plaintiffs also described how they were kept in locked rooms at night and only given scraps of food to eat. [30]

The workers’ attorney, Paul L. Hoffman, said his clients were “former child slaves seeking compensation from two U.S. corporations which maintain a system of child slavery and forced labor in their Ivory Coast supply chain as a matter of corporate policy to gain a competitive advantage in the U.S. market.” [42]

Business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with Nestlé and Cargill, wanted the case tossed out, and got their wish when the Supreme Court appallingly ruled in favor of the chocolate companies. [42, 43] 

Nestlé and Cargill, along with Mars, Hershey’s, Barry Callebaut, Olam and Mondelēz, were simultaneously sued in another federal case (which is still pending) involving eight formerly enslaved plaintiffs also trafficked from Mali to cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast. [32, 44] Among other abuses, the plaintiffs were fed very little and were often kept alone, isolated from one other, while on the cocoa farms. [32] The chocolate companies unsurprisingly tried to get the case tossed here as well. [45]

Child Labor and Slavery in Brazil

Unlike child labor and slavery in the West African cocoa industry, which has been exposed for some time, these abuses remained hidden on Brazilian cocoa farms until only a few years ago. [11]

While cocoa is native to the Amazon, Brazil only produces about 3.7% of the world’s supply. The Brazilian states of Pará and Bahia account for almost all of the country’s cocoa production. The residents of the main municipalities that produce cocoa, Ilhéus in Bahia and Medicilândia in Pará, face high rates of poverty. In Illhéus, for example, more than 22% the population live in homes without a toilet or running water. [11] 

At least 7,900 children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 17 work on Brazil’s cocoa farms. [11] Veronica, a 14-year-old child who was interviewed in the documentary The Cocoa Route , has been working in cocoa since the age of 7. [46] 

Stacking the cacao beans is the part of the harvest process that most often uses child labor in Brazil. Like in Western Africa, the Brazilian child workers also use machetes to harvest the cocoa from tree branches. They then carry baskets of the fruit, which can weigh up to 44 pounds, on their backs. [11]

Parents who work in cacao production often have no choice but to include their children in the harvest. Interviewed parents described that since farmers are paid such a low price for the cocoa, if their children do not collaborate on the plantations, “the bills don’t get paid.” [11]

Many children who work on cocoa farms do not attend school, or if they do attend, they may arrive without their homework completed and fall behind in their learning as a result. [11, 46] In a report by the ILO, the parents interviewed want to prioritize education in their children’s lives, but are faced with no alternative. [11] 

One cocoa farmer described, “If I didn’t have this rope around my neck, my 12-year-old-son, who works in the harvest, would be studying.” [11]

Cases of slavery in Brazilian cocoa production were also discovered in recent years. Enslaved cocoa workers have been subject to unsanitary housing, poor work conditions, debt bondage, and long work hours. In three inspection operations in the same main cocoa producing municipalities, Medicilândia and Ilhéus, 83 workers were rescued. [11]

In June 2017, three workers were rescued from conditions of slavery that they had been experiencing since 2009. Inspectors discovered two huts with “appalling storage and hygiene conditions” and without electricity, running water, or toilets. The people that lived there had to collect untreated water to drink using empty agricultural chemical packaging to carry the water. [11]

The Industry’s Response

For years, the chocolate industry has not sufficiently addressed accusations of child labor in its supply chain, and many companies refuse to release information about where they sourced their cocoa . [47] Recently, many of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers have admitted to the existence of child labor and slavery within their supply chains, but this is only because they have been pressured to by consumers. 

Since companies have been forced to acknowledge these abusive practices, their next tactic has been to distance themselves from their responsibility to end them: they publicly express concern over child labor and slavery in order to distract consumers from the fact that they profit off of the unliveable conditions for cocoa laborers. [4, 48, 14] The world’s largest chocolate manufacturers have formed various initiatives to supposedly address child labor and slavery in cocoa production, but these initiatives have unsurprisingly done little to remove either abuse. [49, 50] 

While the chocolate companies frequently claim large numbers of farmers are impacted by their programs, the language they use is vague. For example, in Cargill’s “Cocoa Promise” program, they say they seek to have “1,000,000 farmers ‘benefiting’ from the services by 2030.” Cargill and other companies intentionally mislead consumers to believe that farmers’ lives are improving, or will improve, even though farmers themselves tend to see little impact on their lives from these programs. [49] 

Moreover, these initiatives often don’t even involve very many farmers. Nestle’s Cocoa Plan, for instance, only works with 5% of cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast. There has been almost no reporting that reveals any large-scale impact from these programs. [49]

We also know from watching the largest chocolate manufacturers postpone a commitment to end the worst forms of child labor in cocoa for more than 15 years that promises it makes about its efforts mean nothing. In 2001, heads of Mars, Hershey, Nestlé USA, and other companies signed a deal called the Harkin-Engel Protocol, pledging to end “the worst forms of child labor” in their cocoa suppliers in four years. In 2005, they missed the deadline to end child labor in their cocoa supply, and proceeded to miss deadlines in 2008 and 2010. [8] The chocolate industry then scaled back its “goal” to reducing child labor only by 70% in 2020, and by that year, the amount of child labor had increased. [8, 51]

The chocolate companies signed the Harkin-Engel Protocol because they were desperate to avoid proposed legislation that would have created a federal certification system to indicate whether or not cocoa was harvested using child slavery. Under the protocol, federal regulators were kept from monitoring the chocolate supply, and the responsibility to end child labor and slavery in the chocolate industry was instead placed with the chocolate companies. [8]  

Susan Smith, a previous spokesperson for the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, said, “We don’t need legislation to deal with the problem. We are already acting.” [8] Yet, two decades later, the problem has only worsened.

“We haven’t eradicated child labor because no one has been forced to,” said Antonie Fountain, the managing director of a group seeking to end child labor in the cocoa industry called the Voice Network. “What has been the consequence . . . for not meeting the goals? How many fines did they face? How many prison sentences? None. There has been zero consequence.” [8]

While the chocolate industry has taken little action to address child labor and slavery, companies have put enourmous energy into exaggerating their efforts. Leaked documents from a World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) strategy meeting, where representatives from Nestlé, Hershey’s, Mars, and others were present, showed that the industry prioritized messaging around its “accomplishments” in addressing child labor and slavery over actually ending those abuses. [18, 48]

The leaked documents additionally show how the chocolate industry attempts to downplay the abuse in its supply chain. As the WFC meeting notes reveal, chocolate companies were given early access to the draft of a NORC at the University of Chicago report on the prevalence of child labor on Ghana and the Ivory Coast’s cocoa farms. [18, 48] The companies expressed “comments and concerns” that led NORC to revise and likely water down the report. [18, 48] 

The draft of the NORC report, which was also leaked, included higher numbers of children working in cocoa: the early version stated that 2.1 million children are engaged in child labor on Ghana and the Ivory Coast’s cocoa farms, but NORC lowered the number of child laborers to 1.56 million in the final published version. [52, 33] No amount of reworking the methodology can hide the fact that the numbers of children working on cocoa farms has increased over the past 20 years due to the cocoa industry’s failure. [51] Neither of these estimates even include the number of trafficked children working in cocoa, given that the NORC report did not cover forced child labor. [33]

The WFC strategy meeting document included an agreed-upon statement from the cocoa industry that seeks to obscure the prevalence of child labor and slavery: “The cocoa and chocolate industry has zero tolerance for forced labor by adults or children and these practices are extremely rare.” [48] 

The chocolate industry is also being called upon to develop and financially support programs to rescue and rehabilitate children who have been sold to cocoa farms. [53] To date, the industry has done just as little to aid survivors of child labor as it has done to prevent child labor in the first place. This lip service is characteristic of the chocolate industry, which has the resources to address and eliminate child labor but consistently fails to take action.

Are the Labels on Chocolate Meaningful?

The truth is that as consumers today, we have no sure way of knowing if the chocolate we buy involved the use of slavery or child labor. Between a quarter and a third of all cocoa is grown under a certification label, such as various fair trade certifications and the Rainforest Alliance/UTZ Certification; however, no single label can guarantee that the chocolate was made without the use of exploitive labor. [54, 55] The third-party inspectors for these certifications are usually only required to visit fewer than 10% of cocoa farms. [8] Moreover, audits are usually announced in advance, which enables farmers to hide evidence of rule violations. [56] These inspections have made child labor more hidden while remaining just as prevalent. [22]

Some certifiers even claim that their standards for labor practices do not come with a guarantee that they are being met. One certifier said, “There is no guarantee. We don’t use the word guarantee.” [40]

In 2010, the founders of the “Fair Trade” certification process had to suspend several of their Western African suppliers due to evidence that they were using child labor. [57]   Additionally, in 2011, a Danish journalist investigated farms in Western Africa where major chocolate companies buy cocoa. He filmed illegal child labor on these farms, including those certified by the now merged certification bodies, UTZ and Rainforest Alliance. [3] Another advocate found trafficked children laboring on Fair Trade certified cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast as recently as May 2017. [49]

UTZ has rules against child labor, but it co-sponsored reports in 2013 and 2017 that found that child labor was even more prevalent on UTZ certified farms in the Ivory Coast than other farms. Children on UTZ-certified farms were also more likely to be engaged in hazardous tasks such as working with agricultural chemicals and machetes. [56]

An author of one of the UTZ-sponsored reports said, “Consumers believe that by buying certified cocoa they are doing something good for the environment, or children or farmers. But that is a fiction.” [56]

Charity Ryerson, a co-founder of a corporate accountability nonprofit, said she found little evidence when visiting cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast that anyone was making sure “certified” farms were complying with standards. She described how a requirement for clean bathrooms was checked off on an evaluation checklist even though none of the farms have bathrooms. [49, 56]

Ryerson added, “From our experience talking to farmers, it was clear that certification meant almost nothing. It’s an open secret in the Ivory Coast that no one checks the certified farms for compliance.” [56]

A report by the University of Sheffield found that 95% of the cocoa workers they surveyed in Ghana did not know whether their worksite was certified or not. [40]

Brazil is the “least certified cocoa country,” but the situation with its certifications is very similar to that of cocoa in Western Africa. [58] Patrícia de Mello Sanfelici, a member of the ILO report team, said that companies will show “perfect reports, but in fact they are only documents … they don’t represent the real thing, what really happens when we are not looking.” [58] It is not an accident that certifications fail to improve labor conditions in the cocoa industry. Because certifiers compete with one another, they often lower standards or enforcement in order to attract clients. [49]

The following is an excerpt from a study conducted by the Corporate Accountability Lab on the failure of initiatives in the chocolate industry like certifications:

In order to understand the gap between consumer perception and farmer impact better, we brought certified chocolate bars to villages where some or all farmers were certified. We held up the bar with the label, and explained to the farmers what consumers expected out of the label (primarily that farmers were paid a fair price, earned a decent living, and certain practices—like child labor and deforestation—were not present). We also explained the difference in retail price between Fairtrade and uncertified chocolate.

The overwhelming response of farmers to this information was shock and outrage. One farmer pulled his worn shirt out in front of him and asked if it looked like he earned a decent living. A woman in one village said she could hardly afford to send her children to school, so how could anyone think she earned a fair price. Our farmer consultations revealed virtually imperceptible differences between certified and uncertified farms in terms of living incomes, poverty, education, access to healthcare, farmer bargaining power, or access to information . 

Chocolate companies keep certifying their products to tell consumers that they source their cocoa ethically, but these companies continue to enable abuse on cocoa farms.

The Problems With Cocoa Cooperatives

While cocoa cooperatives may seem like a solution to the issue of chocolate companies withholding decision-making power from cocoa farmers, the cooperatives are rarely fully worker-owned (at least in Western Africa) and are often simply “buying agents” created by chocolate companies. A member of the World Cocoa Farmers Organization said, “What we have in most producing countries especially in West Central Africa is cooperatives put in place by one of the chocolate companies so they can say to people ‘we buy from cooperatives.’” He said that out of 20 cocoa cooperatives in the Ivory Coast, you won’t even find two that are driven by cocoa farmers. [59]

Another issue is that even if not all of the cocoa farms employ the same labor practices, cocoa beans that a certifier gets from separate farms may not be labeled and may all be mixed together upon arrival. Journalists documented bags of beans from about 40 different farmers arriving at Coopaweb, a cocoa cooperative in the Ivory Coast, being opened and combined with one another prior to being shipped out. Coopaweb sells its beans to Cargill, which supplies companies like Hershey’s, Mars, and Nestlé, and was Fair Trade certified until it had its certification suspended for undisclosed reasons. [4]

A Living Income for Cocoa Farmers

Certifications do little to address the root cause of child labor and slavery in the cocoa industry: the absense of a living income for cocoa farmers. A living income is the income a household needs to earn in order for its members to afford food, water, housing, health care, education, clothing, transportation, emergency funds, and other essential needs. [22] Almost no cocoa farmers in Ghana or the Ivory Coast make a living income. [22] This even includes cocoa farmers who must turn to growing additional crops besides cocoa in order to supplement their incomes. [60] As long as farmers do not earn a living income, they will not have enough to pay the workers on their farms a living income either and child labor and slavery will continue to pervade the industry.

Most certified cocoa farmers also still live in poverty. [61] Certified farms receive payments called premiums, but they are partially paid to a communal fund for farmer training. [62] The remaining money paid directly to farmers is minimal. A UTZ certified farmer, for instance, receives only the equivalent of around $99 to $158 in cash per year from premiums. [62] Fernando Morales-de la Cruz, founder of Cacao for Change, said, “As a business model, Fairtrade was never designed to be fair to farmers or farm workers because the payment made to them has always been unfair.” [63]

In addition to certification bodies, some chocolate companies and the governments of Ghana and the Ivory Coast have put forward policies for minimum prices that should be paid to farmers for their cocoa. Despite having names like “Living Income Reference Price” and “Living Income Differential,” these prices are still too low for cocoa farmers to actually make a living income. [64]

Moreover, chocolate companies have been resistant to paying Ghana and the Ivory Coast’s Living Income Differential (LID), an extra $400 charged per ton of cocoa paid to the countries’ governments. [65, 66] The purpose of the LID is to increase cocoa farmer incomes, although there is concern about how much of the money will directly benefit farmers. [66]  

In 2020 Hershey’s bought approximately 30,000 tons of cocoa on an exchange in order to avoid paying this extra price. [67] Whether or not the LID is successful in its goal, the fact that Hershey’s tried to opt out of an effort to improve farmer incomes reveals how much it values profit over workers’ lives.

Despite their role in contributing to child labor, slavery, and human trafficking, the chocolate industry has not taken significant steps to remedy the problem. Within their $103 billion-per-year industry, chocolate companies have the power to end the use of child labor and slave labor by paying cocoa farmers a living income for their product. [37]

For example, the chocolate company Ferrero could provide a living income for all 90,000 cocoa farmers producing its cocoa and still pay the Ferrero family about $233 million a year. [22]

Coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the global economy has led to the deterioration of cocoa producing countries’ economic situations. [18] The combination of lower farmer incomes and school closures is likely what led to an estimated 15–20% increase in child labor on the Ivory Coast and Ghana’s cocoa farms in the first months of the pandemic. [68, 18, 69] Child laborers and victims of slavery are also even more vulnerable to the virus due to their lack of healthcare. [70]

The chocolate industry’s response to the pandemic has been inadequate. Like the money chocolate companies have spent to address child labor and slavery in general, their donations to COVID-19 relief efforts represent only a fraction of the companies’ revenue: for example, Hershey’s donations in the initial months represented only 0.05% of their profits. [18, 70]

Our Responsibility

Multiple government and NGO programs have been developed in an attempt to address the root causes of “the worst forms of child labor” and slavery in the chocolate industry. However, these efforts will not be successful unless the chocolate industry begins to show genuine support for paying cocoa farmers a living income.

Consumers play an essential role in diminishing the food industry’s injustices. Child slavery on cocoa farms is a difficult issue to fully address because the most serious abuses take place across the world; however, that does not mean our responsibility is reduced. Chocolate has become a regular presence in many of our lives, but it is important to remember it is a luxury.

What You Can Do

• Consult our list: Use Food Empowerment Project’s (F.E.P.’s) chocolate list to be sure that when you buy vegan chocolate, you are not supporting companies that source their cocoa from areas where slavery and the worst forms of child labor are prevalent. Other than a few exceptions (which are explained), we encourage people not to purchase chocolate that is sourced from Western Africa or Brazil. Even if this chocolate is vegan, that does not mean it is cruelty-free. The list is available on our website along with free downloadable apps for the iPhone and Android.
• Speak Out: Contact chocolate companies and let them know how you feel about the injustices in the cocoa industry. Demand transparency from companies that have refused to disclose where they source their cocoa from, and call on companies to pay a living income to cocoa farmers. Even if a company is recommended on our chocolate list, contact them to let them know that is why you are buying their product. Our free app makes it easy to contact the companies.

*This fact about children’s exposure to agricultural chemicals is from the published version of the NORC report, “Assessing Progress in Reducing Child Labor in Cocoa Production in Cocoa Growing Areas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.” Given that the final version of the report was reworked due to the chocolate industry’s influence, this data is not entirely credible. However, in the original draft it was estimated that over 1 million children working on cocoa farms in Ghana and the Ivory Coast are exposed to agricultural chemicals.

References:

1] “Growing Cocoa.” Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), http://www.fao.org/3/AD220E/AD220E01.htm. Accessed 20 Oct. 2021.

[2] Wessel, Marius and P.M. Foluke Quist-Wessel. “Cocoa Production in West Africa, a Review and Analysis of Recent Developments.” NJAS – Wageningen Journal of Life Science, vol. 74–75, Dec. 2015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2015.09.001. Accessed 20 Oct. 2021.

[3] Shady Chocolate. Directed by Miki Mistrati and U. Roberto Romano, Bastard Film & TV, 2012. 

[4] Chocolate’s Heart of Darkness. Directed by Paul Moreira, Public Sénat, 2019.

[5] Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Tulane University Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer, 31 Mar. 2011, https://issuu.com/stevebutton/docs/tulane_final_report. Accessed 20 Oct. 2021.

[6] BBC. March 24, 2010. “Tracing the Bitter Truth of Chocolate and Child Labour.” Panorama, BBC, 24 Mar. 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD85fPzLUjo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2021.

[7] McKenzie, David and Brent Swails. “Child Slavery and Chocolate: All Too Easy to Find.” CNN, 19 Jan. 2012, https://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/child-slavery-and-chocolate-all-too-easy-to-find/. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[8] Whoriskey, Peter and Rachel Siegel. “Cocoa’s Child Laborers: Mars, Nestlé and Hershey Pledged Nearly Two Decades Ago to Stop Using Cocoa Harvested By Children. Yet Much of the Chocolate You Buy Still Starts With Child Labor.” The Washington Post, 5 Jun. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/hershey-nestle-mars-chocolate-child-labor-west-africa/. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[9] 2020 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. United States Department of Labor (DOL), Sept. 2020, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2020/2020_TDA_BigBook_Online_optimized.pdf?mc_cid=93f99c6252&mc_eid=8685c28e55. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[10] Williams, O, et al. “Perception of Nigerian Cocoa Farmers on Child Labour: Implications for Hazardous Child Labour.” Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, vol. 10, no. 3, Jan. 2016, https://doi.org/10.9734/AJAEES/2016/21644. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[11] Cadeia produtiva do Cacau – Avanços e desafios rumo à promoção do trabalho decente: análise situacional. International Labour Organization (ILO), Nov. 2018, https://www.ilo.org/brasilia/publicacoes/WCMS_817094/lang–pt/index.htm. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021. Working paper. 

[12] “Franco-Canadian Journalist Killed by First Lady’s Security Guards, says French TV.” RFI, 22 Jul. 2009, http://www1.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/115/article_4453.asp. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[13] “Ivory Coast Arrests 3 Journalists over Cocoa Story.” Voice of America, 16 Jul. 2010, https://www.voanews.com/a/ivory-coast-arrests-3-journalists-over-cocoa-story-98661144/161593.html. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[14] Invisible Hands. Directed by Shraysi Tandon, First Run Features, 2018. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021. 

[15] El Makhloufi, Abdel, et al. Towards a Sustainable Agro-Logistics in Developing Countries. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), Sept. 2018, http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/735521553488355096/pdf/Towards-Sustainable-Agrologistics-in-Developing-Countries-Cocoa-Supply-Chain-in-Cote-D-ivoire.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021. 

[16] Athreya, Bama. “White Man’s ‘Burden’ and the New Colonialism in West African Cocoa Production.” Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts, vol. 5, no. 1, 2011, pp. 51–59, https://doi.org/10.2979/racethmulglocon.5.1.51. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[17] Yu, Douglas. “West African Cocoa Farmers Yet to Earn A Living Income Despite Sales Growth of Fairtrade Certified Cocoa Beans.” Confectionary News, 19 Oct. 2018, https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2018/10/19/West-African-cocoa-farmers-yet-to-earn-a-living-income-says-Fairtrade#:~:text=The%20survey%20indicated%2042%25%20of,a%20living%20income%2C%20it%20added. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[18] “NGOs: Are Industry and Governments Watering Down New Cocoa Report Data to Downplay Persistent Child Labor and Farmer Poverty?” Fair World Project (FWP), 13 Oct. 2020, https://fairworldproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/GA-NORC-report-press-release-Child-Labor-and-Farmer-Poverty.pdf. Press Release. Accessed 3 Nov. 2020.

[19] Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe et al. No. 19–416, Supreme Court of the U.S., June 2021, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5810dda3e3df28ce37b58357/t/5f90b737ac064c0924860232/1603319607525/Cocoa+Amicus+Main+Document+E+FILE++Oct+21+2020.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021. 

[20] Child Labour: Global Estimates 2020, Trends and the Road Forward. International Labour Organization (ILO), 2020, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_797515.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[21] CLCCG Annual Report. United States Department of Labor (DOL), 2018, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/legacy/files/CLCCG2018AnnualReport.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[22] Fountain, Antonie C. and Friedel Huetz-Adams. Cocoa Barometer 2020. VOICE Network, 2020, https://www.voicenetwork.eu/cocoa-barometer/. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[23] Rolfes, Ellen. “One Million Children Labor in Africa’s Goldmines.” PBS NewsHour, 10 July 2013, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/world-july-dec13-burkinafaso_07-10. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[24] “Child Labour in Africa.” International Labour Organization (ILO), https://www.ilo.org/africa/areas-of-work/child-labour/lang–en/index.htm. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[25] Gregory, Amanda. “Chocolate and Child Slavery: Say No to Human Trafficking this Holiday Season.” Huffington Post, 31 Oct. 2013, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chocolate-and-child-slave_b_4181089. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[26] The Dark Side of Chocolate. Directed by Miki Mistrati and U. Roberto Romano, Bastard Film & TV, 2010. 

[27] Ventura, Luca. “Poorest Countries in the World 2021.” Global Finance Magazine, 21 May 2021, https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/the-poorest-countries-in-the-world. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[28] Raghavan, Sudarsan, and Sumana Chatterjee. “How Your Chocolate May be Tainted.” Knight Ridder Newspapers, 2001, http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/chocolate.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021. 

[29] 2013/14 Survey Research on Child Labor in West African Cocoa Growing Areas. Tulane University Payson Center for International Development, 30 July 2015, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/research_file_attachment/Tulane%20University%20-%20Survey%20Research%20Cocoa%20Sector%20-%2030%20July%202015.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[30] Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe et al. No. 19–416, Supreme Court of the U.S, June 2021, https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-416/157704/20201014155852761_Nestle%20Revised%20Final%20Type%20A.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021. 

[31] “Recommendation 190.” International Labour Organization (ILO), 1999, https://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc87/com-chir.htm. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[32] Balch, Oliver. “Mars, Nestlé and Hershey to Face Child Slavery Lawsuit in U.S.” The Guardian, 12 Feb. 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/12/mars-nestle-and-hershey-to-face-landmark-child-slavery-lawsuit-in-us. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021. 

[33] Sadhu, Santadarshan, et al. NORC Final Report: Assessing Progress in Reducing Child Labor in Cocoa Production in Cocoa Growing Areas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. NORC at the University of Chicago, Oct. 2020, https://www.norc.org/PDFs/Cocoa%20Report/NORC%202020%20Cocoa%20Report_English.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[34] Senator Engel (NY). “1700.” Congressional Record, v. 147, pt. 9, 28 June 2001, (June 28, 2001) pp. H3781, https://www.congress.gov/crec/2001/06/28/CREC-2001-06-28.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[35] “C182 – Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention.” No. 182. International Labour Organization (ILO), 1999, https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C182. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[36] Côte d’Ivoire, United States Department of Labor (DOL), 2015, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2015/cotedivoire.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[37] Whoriskey, Peter. “U.S. Report: Much of the World’s Chocolate Supply Relies on More Than 1 Million Child Workers.” The Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/10/19/million-child-laborers-chocolate-supply/. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[38] Mills, Abby. Personal interview. 28 May 2014.

[39] Bitter Sweets: Prevalence of Fourced Labour and Child Labour in the Cocoa Sectors of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Tulane University and the Walk Free Foundation, Sept. 2018, https://cocoainitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Cocoa-Report_181004_V15-FNL_digital.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[40] LeBaron, Genevieve. The Global Business of Forced Labour. Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) & University of Sheffield, 2018, http://globalbusinessofforcedlabour.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Report-of-Findings-Global-Business-of-Forced-Labour.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

[41] Slavery: A Global Investigation. Directed by Brian Woods and Kate Blewett, True Vision TV, 2000, https://www.truevisiontv.com/films/slavery-a-global-investigation. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[42] Whoriskey, Peter. “Supreme Court Weighs Child-Slavery Case Against Nestlé USA, Cargill.” The Washington Post, 1 Dec. 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/01/cocoa-supreme-court-child-labor/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[43] Barnes, Robert and Peter Whoriskey. “Supreme Court Says Chocolate Companies Cannot Be Sued Over Child Slavery on African Cocoa Farms.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-cocoa-farms-africa-child-slavery/2021/06/17/295ab51e-beed-11eb-83e3-0ca705a96ba4_story.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021. 

[44] Demetrakakes, Pan. “Cocoa Giants Hit With Another Bay Area Lawsuit.” Food Processing, 15 Feb. 2021, https://www.foodprocessing.com/industrynews/2021/cocoa-giants-hit-with-another-slave-lawsuit/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[45]  Issouf Coubaly, et al. v. Cargill, Inc., et al. Memorandum of Points and Authorities In Support of Defendants’ Joint Motion to Dismiss. No. 21-0386, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, http://www.iradvocates.org/sites/iradvocates.org/files/7.30.21%20Defs%20Memo.%20in%20Support%20of%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf. Accessed 26 Oct. 2021. 

[46] The Cocoa Route. Directed by Marques Casara and Poliana Dallabrida, Papel Social, 2019, https://vimeo.com/332509945. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[47] Feeley, Jef. “Hershey Investors Suing Over Child Labor Allowed to Pursue Files.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, originally published in Bloomberg Businessweek, 19 Mar. 2014, https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/hershey-investors-suing-over-child-labor-allowed-to-pursue-files/article_97f46f27-52bd-5881-96a6-80fadb4bfa21.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[48] “Minutes of the Teleconference WCF ad hoc NORC Communications Working Group Call.” Neslté, et al., 26 Feb. 2020,  https://fairworldproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WCF-NORC-strategy-2.pdf. Accessed 26 Oct. 2021.

[49] Empty Promises: The Failure of Voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives to Improve Farmer Incomes in the Ivorian Cocoa Sector. Corporate Accountability Lab, July 2019, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5810dda3e3df28ce37b58357/t/5d321076f1125e0001ac51ab/1563562117949/Empty_Promises_2019.pdf. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[50] “Money and Power: The Unnamed Ingredients.” For a Better World, from Fair World Project, 13 Apr. 2021, https://fairworldproject.org/podcast/season-1/episode-6/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=b9515490-4737-49d0-bcb0-d464c04ec0c7. Accessed 26 Oct. 2021.

[51] Myers, Anthony. “New Report Reveals Child Labor on West African Cocoa Farms Has Increased in Past 10 Years.” Confectionary News, 7 May 2020, https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2020/05/07/New-report-reveals-child-labor-on-West-African-cocoa-farms-has-increased-in-past-10-years. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[52] Sadhu, Shanto, et al. Assessing Progress in Reducing Child Labor in Cocoa Production in Cocoa Growing Areas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. NORC at the University of Chicago, https://foodispower.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/CONFIDENTIAL_NORC-2018-19-Cocoa-Report-DRAFT_English-3.pdf. Draft. Accessed 26 Oct. 2021.

[53] “Demands.” 10 Campaign, 2012, http://www.10campaign.com/demands/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021. 

[54] “Certification Is Not the Systematic Solution to Unsustainable Cocoa.” VOICE Network, 2019, https://www.voicenetwork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/190619-VOICE-Certification-Position-Paper-Final.pdf. Accessed 26 Oct. 2021.

[55] “Fairtrade Combats Child Labor.” Fairtrade America, https://www.fairtradeamerica.org/why-fairtrade/explore-the-issues/child-labor-rights-safety/#:~:text=Fairtrade%20Standards%20prohibit%20child%20labor,is%20free%20of%20child%20labor. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[56] Whoriskey, Peter. “Chocolate Companies Sell ‘Certified Cocoa.’ But Some of Those Farms Use Child Labor, Harm Forests.” The Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/23/chocolate-companies-say-their-cocoa-is-certified-some-farms-use-child-labor-thousands-are-protected-forests/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[57] “‘Shocked But Not Surprised’: Fairtrade Responds to Report of Widespread Child Labour in West African Cocoa Industry.” Fairtrade International, 24 July 2020, https://www.fairtrade.net/news/shocked-but-not-surprised-fairtrade-responds-to-report-of-widespread-child-labour-in-west-african-cocoa-industry. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[58] Examining Brazil’s Cocoa-Chocolate Supply Chain: Film Screening and Discussion, Part 2. Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute (FCCI) and Harvard University, 24 Apr. 2019, https://chocolatrasonline.com.br/chocolate-cacau-e-direitos-humanos/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2021.

[59] Nieburg, Oliver. “‘Fake Cooperatives’: Farmer Groups Warn of Sharm Fair Trade Co-ops in Cocoa.” Confectionary News , 28 Nov. 2017, https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2017/11/28/Fake-cooperatives-Cocoa-farmer-groups-warn-of-sham-fair-trade-co-ops. Accessed 9 Dec. 2021. 

[60] Kiewisch, Elizabeth. “Looking Within the Household: A Study on Gender, Food Security, and Resilience in Cocoa-Growing Communities.” Gender & Development , vol. 23, no. 3, 13 Nov. 2015, pp. 497–513, https://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/files_mf/1450383402GenderandDevelopmentElizabethKiewischNov2015.pdf. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021. 

[61] Fountain, Antonie C. and Friedel Huetz-Adams. Cocoa Barometer 2018 . VOICE Network, 2018, https://www.voicenetwork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2018-Cocoa-Barometer.pdf. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[62] Nieburg, Oliver. “Fair Game: How Effective is Cocoa Certification?” Food Navigator , 20 Dec. 2017, https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2017/12/20/Fair-trade-How-effective-is-cocoa-certification?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20-Dec-2017&c=7fiBYGSIbNocWxvWGeklvYrc0PxTtSqy&p2=. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[63] Michail, Niamh. “Higher Fairtrade Prices Are Still Unfair, Says Cacao for Change Founder.” Food Navigator , 11 Dec. 2018, https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2018/12/11/Higher-Fairtrade-prices-are-still-unfair-says-Cacao-for-Change-founder. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[64] “Necessary Farm Gate Prices for a Living Income: Existing Living Income Reference Prices are Too Low.” VOICE Network , Jan. 2020, https://www.voicenetwork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/200113-Necessary-Farm-Gate-Prices-for-a-Living-Income-Definitive.pdf. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[65] Myers, Anthony. “Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire Threaten Cocoa Sustainability Schemes if Producers Don’t Pay More for Beans.” Confectionary News , 14 Oct. 2019, https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2019/10/14/Ghana-and-Cote-d-Ivoire-threaten-cocoa-sustainability-schemes-if-producers-don-t-pay-more-for-beans. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[66] “VOICE Network Welcomes Historic Move to Raise Cocoa Prices, Questions Remain on Implementation.” VOICE Network , 2019, https://www.voicenetwork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/190905-VOICE-Position-on-West-African-Cocoa-Floor-Price.pdf. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[67] Myers, Anthony. “Hershey Move of Buying Cocoa on Futures Market Threatens LID Agreement with Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.” Confectionary News , https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2020/11/23/Hershey-move-of-buying-cocoa-on-futures-market-threatens-LID-agreement-with-Ghana-and-Cote-d-Ivoire?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=23-Nov-2020. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[68] Knott, Stacey. “Cash Transfer Program Aims to Combat Child Labor in Ghana.” Voice of America, 8 May 2020, https://www.voanews.com/africa/cash-transfer-program-aims-combat-child-labor-ghana. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[69] Schmidt, Sonia and Kaila Uyeda. Toward a Sweeter Future: Analysis and Recommendations Concerning Child Labor in the Cocoa Industry in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Unicef, 15 July 2020, https://gdc.unicef.org/resource/towards-sweeter-future-analysis-and-recommendations-concerning-child-labor-cocoa-industry. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021. 

[70] “COVID-19 Response from Cocoa Farmers.” VOICE Network , 7 Apr. 2020, https://www.voicenetwork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/200407-Voice-Network-COVID-19-response-for-Cocoa-Farmers.pdf. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

[71] “Tell Hershey’s: Protect Cocoa Farmers, Not Just Shareholders, from COVID-19.” Fair World Project, https://fairworldproject.salsalabs.org/tell-hersheys-protect-cocoa-farmers-covid19/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=d7420122-dff9-4f9c-8c60-c67455c50986. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021. 

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