Well put. In fact, in the 1990′s the U.S. boycotted Made in Bangladesh products because of the reports of widespread child labor in the industry. Bangladeshi unions and nonprofits spoke out against the boycott. Eventually the factories banned anyone under 15 from working for them. Kids flooded the streets and some actually turned to prostitution.

It’s really easy to be against child labor, but, what’s not easy, is accepting that we live in a world where in some cases a child working is necessary to help support his/her family.

This kind of bothers me. I’ve long felt that our approach and attitude to child labour is seriously flawed. Children work for the same reason adults do – to provide food and basic needs for themselves and often for their families. Simply taking away the work isn’t a solution – it just means these children now lack for some of their basic needs. Most of those kids who were fired are probably still working somewhere, and since their work has gone from formal to informal, are likely making less money.

A better alternative is necessary. Schools need to provide those basic necessities, so that kids can afford to not be working. That’s a start. But some kids are the breadwinners of their families, so there needs to be other support mechanisms in place…something to make school and “not working” the more attractive alternative.

There were places I visited that were literally “sweatshops.” I mention them in the book. I think for the most part, the big places that make our clothes in Bangladesh look like a factory you would see in the US. Although, the big factories often subcontract out to smaller ones that fly well below most monitors’ radars. It’s in these subcontractor’s factories that the conditions are really deplorable.