In The duty of April 28, Normand Baillargeon believes that the framework of child labor in a law should be based on the foundation of an ethical responsibility with regard to children. He proposes “a goal that should be agreed upon: that of protecting children and ensuring that what we want to transmit to them through education is preserved and accessible to all”. I subscribe to this call.
Over the centuries, the problem of child labor has too often been marked by laissez-faire on the part of States. In the 19the century, the dynamics of massive industrialization and urbanization brought children into the production system outside of domestic work, mainly agricultural. The Poor Law, passed by the British government in 1834, was intended to discipline the poor and shield children from evil influences so that they would become good citizens and good workers. The moral connotation was then decisive. Today, we translate this dimension by claiming to teach children to become responsible through work.
From the XXe century, several states sought to establish more precise guidelines. In 1973, Convention number 138 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) determined that the minimum age for access to employment for children should not be lower than the age at which compulsory schooling ceases: he goal of making this connection is to enable children to fulfill their full potential, which will benefit the children themselves, their families, communities and society as a whole by maximizing the contribution they will make, a adults, to economic growth and social progress. Article 32 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) reflects this same fundamental assertion.
In 2002, A future without child labor, the title of the third ILO report on the fundamental principles and rights of child labour, recalled the essential: respect for the right to education. The ILO wanted to show how “the abolition of child labor has become a global cause of the new millennium”.
The conception of child labor in the world is well documented, and in-depth multidimensional analyzes exist. Sociological analyzes should enable the State and the spokespersons of employers to fully understand the ins and outs of the promotion of child labor in the various spheres of the production system, especially since child labor does not is not really a lasting solution to economic growth and labor shortages.
Doesn’t the law on child labor proposed by the Coalition avenir Québec risk creating an inextricable labyrinth leading to precariousness, dropping out of school and other unforeseeable consequences? In fact, the pernicious long-term social and economic repercussions do not seem to be a concern and, therefore, remain unknown.