Remember a few years back, when big companies such as Nike kept getting immersed in sweatshop scandals? You hardly hear about that sort of stuff anymore. But the fact is, child labor and forced labor remain startlingly common throughout the developing world.
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The data comes from a report by the U.S. Department of Labor, showing 122 goods made in 58 countries, using children or those working against their will. Here, for example, is the view given of each country. The various industries which use inhumane labor are depicted in icons:
Once you start getting elbow deep in the chart, you'll see that some of the reports are quite old -- dating to 2002, for example. But the sheer number of them is really the smoking gun -- case by case, these studies reveal just how ever present the problem has become.
To be fair, Western economies were built upon slavery and child labor. But better laws and enforcement are obviously only half the reason why we don't resort to such practices anymore. It's greater economic opportunities that make education far more valuable that a child's wage, and create a thriving middle class that finds forced labor unacceptable.
India is ranked 18th on the child labor list and that is not very surprising considering the fact that it has been considered to be one of the worst country in the world when it comes to curtailing the child labor.
Don't miss the rest of the chart here.
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