Children: Cheap Labour in Agriculture and Industry

Abstract

Before the industrial revolution, the working child was ‘an auxiliary or unseen actor in the labour market,’ but after the industrial revolution, the child became a ‘required and visible worker.’ The former criterion is still the case in many countries including developed countries. In Turkey ‘having child labour in small-scale workplaces with less than three employees and agricultural areas with less than 50 employees is not prohibited’. This makes the situation prone to the exploitation of child labour in these areas. In this country, one out of every two working children is in the agricultural field, and one out of every six children is in the industrial field. The causes of child labour in Turkey are described as poverty, inability to benefit from/access educational services, migration from rural to urban areas, unemployment of adult family members, a tradition, shortcomings and ineffective implementation of the legislation, and employers' demand and irregular migration. The results include mental, physical and spiritual problems. In this context, protecting children, the most sensitive and vulnerable individuals of the society, from the consequences of risky working environments should be an important and primary goal of the whole world.

Citation

Yiğitbaş, Ç. and Üstün, Ö. (2022), "Children: Cheap Labour in Agriculture and Industry", Yerdelen, B.K., Elbeyoğlu, K., Sirkeci, O., Işıkçı, Y.M., Grima, S. and Dalli Gonzi, R.E. (Ed.) Being a Child in a Global World, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 57-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-240-020221006