Was there ever a time where child labor was acceptable? Now I'm not in touch with all the logistics here, but if I were growing up in a country where I had the option of starving or sending my kids off to work I know what I would be choosing. Child labor occurred in my family as little as a generation ago. My mother and her siblings all worked long hours in the field to raise crops with her family. She seems to be thriving after being in a situation the west seems to deem as terrible.
Ideally children don't have to work, ideally no one has to work - I do wonder if South Korea would be as democratic and free today if it weren't for their child labor force as little as 80 years ago though and I do wonder if those children or families would've preferred the alternative to child labor. Presumably they did not, since they volunteered their children to work for low wages.
I really do think we have to be mindful of judging other cultures against our rich western values. There are likely clear cases of child abuse that should be abolished - there are abusive cases of employment for all ages that should be abolished. I do wonder if we're too quick to judge child labor as a category in the west, though.
Ideally children don't have to work, ideally no one has to work - I do wonder if South Korea would be as democratic and free today if it weren't for their child labor force as little as 80 years ago though and I do wonder if those children or families would've preferred the alternative to child labor. Presumably they did not, since they volunteered their children to work for low wages.
I really do think we have to be mindful of judging other cultures against our rich western values. There are likely clear cases of child abuse that should be abolished - there are abusive cases of employment for all ages that should be abolished. I do wonder if we're too quick to judge child labor as a category in the west, though.