Abstract In this paper will examine the use of underage labor by foreign companies and what relationships US companies have with these companies. I will discuss the laws concerning child labor in different countries and how they compare to the US laws. I will inspect the US corporations that use facilities in other countries and if these facilities utilize child labor in their production processes. I will also look at the benefits to using child labor and what if any benefits the children get from the companies who employee them. Finally I will observe whether or not US corporations violate any laws by having partnerships with these oversea companies that utilize child labor, and if they have an ethical responsibility to terminate these partnerships if child labor is used by their oversea partners.

Child labor is defined as any employment that harms children’s health or stops children from attending school. The International Labor Organization believes that 215 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 works under conditions that is illegal, hazardous, or exploitative throughout the world (Child Labor Public Education Project, 2012). Children have been used throughout American history. American farmers, for example, have used their own children to help with jobs on the farms for many years. But as people moved away from the farmlands and into manufacturing areas, some of these companies began to hire children to work for them. Children worked in mines, glass factories, textiles, and many other industries. They were preferred over adult laborers due to the fact that they could be more easily controlled, be less likely to unionize, and would require cheaper wages (Child Labor Public Education Project, 2012). As the years progressed, opposition began to grow on the use of child labor and new laws were enacted to protect children. One such law was The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This law established age limits for children working in nonagricultural jobs and in agricultural jobs. For nonagricultural operations, it restricts the hours that children under age 16 can work and forbids the employment of children under age 18 in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. For agricultural operations, it prohibits the employment of children under age 16 during school hours and in certain jobs deemed too dangerous (Labor, 2012). The above law is just one example of laws enacted attempting to address the issue of child labor in the US. The goal of most of the laws passed was to protect the health and welfare of children and to ensure they had an opportunity to continue their educational opportunities that were taken from them because they had to work or were forced to work. Though progress has been made in ridding the workplace of child labor in the workforce, there has been a push by some to loosen restrictions. In Maine, for example, the state rolled back laws governing how long children under the age of 18 could work. The new law allows children under the age of 18 to work 24 hours a week, up from 20 and as late as 10:15 on school nights, up from 10 p.m. (Cohen, 2011). Missouri has considered allowing children under the age of 14 to work as well as changing the amount of hours children can work during the week. They also looked into ending routine inspections of business that employee child labor (Cohen, 2011). Even if states begin to loosen some of their regulations, the federal FLSA would still hold true, but this federal law is not as restrictive as many state laws (Cohen, 2011). The United States is still a leader in preventing the unfair practice of exploiting children in the workplace, but many foreign businesses still regularly employee children. The international community has not altogether turned a deaf ear to child labor though. In 1973 the minimum age for entry into work was established by the ILO Minimum Age Convention 138 (C138). It stated that the minimum age to start work should be not less than 15, and not less than age to complete school, fourteen if the country has underdeveloped education and economic systems. Light work is allowed for children who are 12 in developing countries. And the minimum age for work in hazardous occupations is 18 (The International Center on Child Labor and Education, 2012). The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) established in September 1990 is another international law. It defines the age of a child as below the age of 18. It requires that states respect and ensure the rights of children in their given jurisdictions. It establishes protection from economic exploitation, hazardous work, and education is not to be interfered with. It established a primary education requirement for all children and that education is to be free, and that all children have the right for play, rest, and leisure activity (The International Center on Child Labor and Education, 2012). The last law is the ILO Worst Forms Convention 182 (C182) established in 1999. It calls for the immediate elimination of all forms of slavery, such as child trafficking, debt bondage, and forced labor, and it protects children from prostitution and production of pornography. The above forms of child labor are considered the worst. It also protects children from being used in illicit activities in illegal drug production and trafficking. All children under the age of 18 are protected under this law (The International Center on Child Labor and Education, 2012). The International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor was launched in 1992. Its main purpose is to eliminate child labor through strengthening international awareness and promoting the problem of child labor throughout the world. Though it addresses all forms of child labor, its main emphasis is on the worst forms of child labor defined by Convention No. 182 (The International Center on Child Labor and Education, 2012). It is estimated that 246 million children between the ages of 5-17 are involved in some form of child labor worldwide. What is even harder to comprehend is that the majority of these children are under the 12. It has been shown that 179 million work in the worst forms of child labor, and out of this number 8.4 million work in unconditional worst forms of child labor, and the majority work in hazardous situations (The International Center on Child Labor and Education, 2012). Children in the workforce can be found in many countries. The Asia-Pacific region has about 127.3 million and is the largest employer of children between 5-14 years old. Sub-Saharan Africa is next with 48 million. Latin America and the Caribbean area have 17.4 million. The Middle East and North America has 13.4 million (The International Center on Child Labor and Education, 2012). The scope of work these children perform can be anything from agriculture which makes up the largest number, 170 million. Here they may be working on family farms, fishing communities, and forestry. Domestic work which is one of the hardest to monitor and detect, mostly involves girls. Here many children face long hours, little rest and the high possibility of being abused both physically and sexually. Manufacturing is another form and is the one that gets the most media attention, but only 5 percent of child labor occurs in this area. The worst and sometimes the hardest to stop and monitor are children that work in the unconditional worst forms. This includes slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, and forced labor. Many are forced into their countries armed forces, and are used on the front lines or as spies. Some of the girls are used by the armies as sex slaves for the men in the army, and many girls are forced in prostitution and working in the pornography industry (The International Center on Child Labor and Education, 2012). There are many reasons child labor occurs. One has to do with a country’s educational system that is poorly funded or has limited or poorly trained teachers. Some schools charge a high fee to attend and force children who cannot afford the fees into work. Many rural communities in some countries do not have facilities or they have facilities that are so run down, no one attends classes. Local political issues play a role. Children from one ethnicity or lower castes tend to be drawn into work. Girls more than boys are expected to do household duties and take care of families and puts them at risk. Traditions and long standing traditions force children into work. Some countries do not want to acknowledge they have a problem with child labor, or they just lack the resources to enforce child labor laws or even investigate reported occurrences. If a country is involved in an armed conflict the possibility of children being forced into work rises. In addition most of this work falls under the worst kind of work. There are some myths associated with child labor. One such myth is children have to work because of poverty. Though most children come from poorer families, recent studies have shown this is not the central issue and used mostly as an excuse. Many other factors like disregard for education, child’s gender, and failing educational systems play a more realistic reason. It has been shown that education is the way out of poverty and should be regarded as one of the most important priorities to parents and children. Another myth is poor families need their children to contribute to household income. At first glance this may seem to make sense, but if one looks at it again, education of the child would make better sense. If the child is allowed to pursue education he or she would have a greater earning potential which would help the family more in the long run. The idea that children are suited for some jobs over adults because they have smaller fingers, more dexterity, or have smaller frame is also a myth. Though children may have smaller fingers and hands, their muscle control, strength, and endurance is not as developed as an adults. This would cause children to tire quickly and require more help than an adult doing the same job. The myth that child labor is cheaper also does not hold up under investigation. Though children are often paid less, the true labor-cost savings using child labor is usually less than 5 percent (The International Center on Child Labor and Education, 2012). So are there any US corporations that utilize child labor? Maybe not at home, but some have been found or accused of having partnerships with foreign countries or corporations that do use child labor. Hershey's chocolate has been accused of using child labor in its cocoa fields in West Africa. Their Bliss line of chocolate receives cocoa from this region of the World (Polis, 2012). Faced with bad publicity, Hershey’s has pledged that their cocoa will be certified by the Rainforest Alliance by 2012, and in addition they will invest 10 million dollars into West African economic improvements and they have promised to stop child labor (Polis, 2012). Apple, in a recent audit of its Chinese suppliers, found that some were using child labor and involuntary labor at their facilities. At some facilities workers worked over the maximum limit of hours allowed, and they did not receive adequate time off. Other plants had wage issues that ranged from being underpaid, not receiving a pay slip, or having wages cut for disciplinary reasons. Some plants used workers that were hired through foreign hiring agencies in Vietnam, Thailand, and other countries. By the time the employees paid the fees to those agencies some owed months of pay, and they were basically working to pay their debt (O'Dell, 2012). Apple states that it has a zero tolerance policy of the above issues, and it is taking action to remedy the situations. Wal-Mart is another company that has come under scrutiny for its overseas partners’ use of child labor, particularly in Huanya, China. In this particular case, the National Labor Committee investigated employee reports and found some that stated they were forced to work from 6 in the morning to 6 at night. They also reported unsafe working conditions in their plant that was responsible for making Christmas ornaments for Wal-Mart. Most of these employees were under the age of 18. Wal-Mart has claimed that is takes child labor allegations very seriously and plans to investigate on its own, and correct any illegal activity that it finds (BARBOZA, 2008). So it does seem American corporations do indirectly use child labor. So why do American corporations use oversea plants in their production processes? One reason they contend is cost savings. American workers are expensive compared to foreign workers. American employees are usually paid a higher wage than their foreign counterparts. They typically have more benefits, such as health insurance, paid time off, some sort of retirement fund, and unions to back them up, all which raise the cost of labor, while most oversea workers have little if any of these benefits. Government regulations play a part in the reason American companies outsources their work. There are many regulations that corporations must follow to remain legal, from air pollution standards and OHSA regulations. Having to comply with all the rules tends to raise the cost of production. Many foreign countries do not have such tight regulations over their companies, so production costs can be lowered. Taxes would be another reason some American companies would do business overseas. In the US, companies would have to pay local, state and federal taxes. They have to pay taxes into workers compensations funds, and with the passage of Obama care, they may have to pay taxes to ensure that all Americans have health care. Typically they can avoid some of these taxes by outsourcing some of their production process. Some oversea countries do not have such a burdensome tax code as the US. One of a corporation’s chief reasons for being in existence is to make money for the shareholders. In America they are free to do this, as long as they can do it without breaking any established laws and regulations on child labor. Moving some of their more costly operations to foreign facilities makes good business sense. What COE in his or her right mind would not like to lower cost so they turn a larger profit and benefit the shareholders, this is what corporations were formed to do. Now with that being said, a corporations should always strive to make the most ethical decision it can make. They all should take a zero-tolerance approach to unfair labor practices, and especially against child labor violations. Some have definitely tried to take this approach, such as Nestle investing 10 million dollars to bring child labor violations and child labor education to the attention of the world. They also have agreed to stop getting their cocoa from suppliers that utilize child labor. Apple also has taken action by doing self-imposed audits of its overseas partners to make sure they are not using child labor in the production of their products. They also have pledged they too will stop business with oversea supplies that use child labor. Apple has seen and reduction in the amount of child labor in their overseas plants since beginning their audits. Some have said that forcing corporations into taking ethical responsibility usually does not produce the wanted response. These people believe that if you naturally let businesses do what they want, they will usually realize that being ethically responsible is the better choice. In this ever expanding globalized economy and with the reach of the internet, companies can no longer hide their unethical behavior in undeveloped countries, someone will find out. When this finally occurs, the public outcry may be more than the company is equipped to financially handle. Many now realize it is easier and financially smarter in the long run if they just behave ethically from the beginning, and the profits will usually follow. Consumers today are more willing to support companies that behave ethically as well as support social causes. So in conclusion, yes child labor does still occur throughout the world, and even some US companies have been found utilizing them in overseas operations. Some of these American companies have said they take a zero-tolerance stance and promise to stop doing business with these guilty overseas companies. Some probably do this because they were caught and others truly had no idea what was happening or just did not what to know what was truly going on at their oversea facilities. But the use of child labor in the worldwide workforce is gaining more and more attention, and with it, the practice will hopefully be eradicated in the future.

Bibliography
Child Labor Public Education Project. (2012). Retrieved October 6, 2012, from Child Labor Public Education Project: http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/
The International Center on Child Labor and Education. (2012). Retrieved October 6th, 2012, from The International Center on Child Labor and Education: http://knowchildlabor.org/child_labor/how_international_law_defines_child_labor.php
BARBOZA, D. (2008, January 5). In Chinese Factories, Lost Fingers and Low Pay . Retrieved October 21, 2012, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/business/worldbusiness/05sweatshop.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1350792779-YC7bvoeZEccYhT2aa3WjDw&
Cohen, A. (2011, June 6th). Time. Retrieved October 6, 2012, from Time US: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2075859,00.html
Labor, U. S. (2012). Youth & Labor. Retrieved October 6th, 2012, from United States Department of Labor: http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/youthlabor/
O'Dell, J. (2012, January 13). Apple audits unveil child labor, slave labor and more at supplier plants. Retrieved October 21, 2012, from Venture Beat: http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/13/apple-suppliers/
Polis, C. (2012, Feburary 1). Huffington Post. Retrieved October 20, 2012, from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/hersheys-child-labor_n_1247111.html