AUGUST 13, 2009 ISSUE
ASU Professor Helps Document Child Labor Worldwide
Hugh D. Hindman, a professor of labor and human resources in ASU’s Walker College of Business, is editor of the recently published book “The World of Child Labor, An Historical and Regional Survey.” Published by M.E. Sharpe Inc., the 1,032-page work is a reference encyclopedia for libraries, students, scholars and others interested in the topic.
The work features 222 essays written by 178 different scholars, researchers or activists from around the world.
An estimated 160 million children aged 5 to 14, or about one in six children worldwide, are engaged in child labor.
And while most of us probably conjure up images of children working in agricultural settings or factories when the term child labor is mentioned, its scope extends to such unseemly settings as the sex industry or warfare.
Hugh D. Hindman, a professor of labor and human resources in ASU’s Walker College of Business, is editor of the recently published book “The World of Child Labor, An Historical and Regional Survey.” Published by M.E. Sharpe Inc., the 1,032-page work is a reference encyclopedia for libraries, students, scholars and others interested in the topic.
The work features 222 essays written by 178 different scholars, researchers or activists from around the world.
Hindman’s essays in the book include “Child Labor in American Textiles,” “Evolution of US Child Labor Law,” “Child Labor in China: An Overview” and “Worst Forms of Child Labor,” which Hindman said includes children in bondage, child soldiers and the commercial sexual exploitation of children. “I had never taken an in depth look at those forms of child labor. That was an eye opener,” he said.
Hindman said the largest number of child laborers is in Central and Southeast Asia. The highest incidence of child labor occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. “There are a number of countries in the world where the child labor force participation rates exceed the adult male labor force participation rates,” he said.
While the International Labor Organization claims that the instance of child labor is declining worldwide, Hindman is more cautious. “To say we are turning the corner is maybe a little optimistic at this point,” he said. “While you can see real tangible measurable progress in a handful of countries that used to have very difficult child labor problems, including Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and Vietnam and a handful of others, in many other parts of the world there has been little progress.”
Child labor isn’t as prevalent or visible in the United States as it once was, Hindman said, but it remains a problem. “We don’t see, except in rare circumstances, child labor in U.S. manufacturing or mining sectors. We do have some persistent problems in agriculture where a child can work unlimited hours at the age of 12,” he said. “We have 400,000 or more young, mostly Latino kids working often in migrant agriculture. So that’s a persistent problem. Also, we have persistent problem of trafficking of children, some for commercial sexual exploitation or for work in domestic service. So for the United States, it’s a mixed bag.”
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