What does child labor involve?

Answer 1

Child labor can refer to either of two things:

A: Generally "child labor" refers to the phenomenon of children being forced to work. It can refer to any work which is done by a child. The word "labor" means the same thing as "work" or "effort", so technically, "child labor" can mean any laborious thing which a child does because he or she must do it, regardless of whether or not he or she wants to do it. However, the term "child labor" is not generally used in this context to describe a child being forced to do chores, schoolwork or some other normal childhood occupation, but rather, to refer to a child being compelled, either by threats of violence or by economic necessity, to work at a professional job which is normally only done by adults. For instance: digging for diamonds in South-Africa. In many instances of child labor, children are obliged to work in harsh conditions which endanger their health and safety, and they are quite often unable to achieve a good level of education, due to being obliged to spend too much time working at their job. Children who participate in child labor sometimes do so of their own free will, because their families, for whatever reason, are unable or unwilling to support them, and so they are obliged to work in order to have enough money to feed themselves. Other times, they are children whose families are severely impoverished, and have sold them into slavery, because they can not afford to keep them. "Child labor" in this context is a tragic but unfortunately sometimes necessary phenomenon in the world.

B: Also, although this is less common, "child labor" can refer to a pregnant female child going into labor, AKA "giving birth". This often involves much physical danger both to the pregnant child and to her baby, because the body of a mid-pubescent child is much smaller than that of an adult woman, and it is therefore not as capable of enduring the rigors of childbirth. Child pregnancies often result from sexual promiscuity on the part of the child, and/or from incest or statutory rape by a family members. In general, the younger the pregnant child is, the more likely the pregnancy is to be the result of incest or statutory rape, and the older the child is, the more likely the pregnancy is to be the result of the child's own sexual indiscretion. "Child labor" in this context requires extra medical attention, to ensure the safety of the child in labor, and may often trigger a criminal investigation if there is reason to suspect that the child's pregnancy was/is the result of incest or of statutory rape.