Child labour is a serious moral issue that exists today all over the world. An estimated 120 million children worldwide, work everyday, full time, often at the expense of their education, health and natural development. Another 130 million children are said to work part-time, attempting to combine education and other commitments (World Vision, 2001). Today, child labour is illegal in most developed countries such as Canada and the United States. There are strict laws that control the type of jobs, hours, and wages that children have if they do work. The debate regarding if it should be legal or not does exist, and there are two main viewpoints on the subject. Some feel that child labour is morally wrong and that children should not work, no matter how poverty stricken their families are. Some large corporations support child labour, and argue that it is good thing because it gives families who are poverty-stricken a source of income and keeps production prices low. No matter which viewpoint you support, child labour does negatively impact children in developing counties, physically, emotionally, and economically and jeopardizes future opportunities to break the cycle of poverty. .
The physical dangers associated with child labour often transcend the moral implications. Hazardous and exploitative child labour has a profound negative impact a child's physical well-being. Children get paid very little and work very long hours in very dangerous conditions. Child labour exists in factories, mines, and many other dangerous places where a child could get easily hurt. Child labourers experience broken limbs and many other serious injuries, directly caused from the dangerous conditions at their workplaces . In many cases, children engaged in labour will suffer with a lower IQ, physical harm and abuse, low self-esteem, little or no education, and deprivation of adequate care (U.S. Fund For UNICEF, n.
