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Child labour and slavery remain commonplace in many poor countries. In industrialized countries, a high level of labour productivity, technology, and automation

Child labour and slavery remain commonplace in many poor countries. In industrialized countries, a high level of labour productivity, technology, and automation makes it impractical or too expensive to hire a slave or a child. Put another way, advanced economies are advanced enough that there is little useful work that could be performed by a child or a slave, if child labour or slavery were still legal. Data collection, on the other hand, can only take place in countries with a high level of Internet penetration and a developed digital infrastructure.

AndrewUnmuted 6y ago
> a high level of labour productivity, technology, and automation makes it impractical or too expensive to hire a slave or a child > advanced economies are advanced enough that there is little useful work that could be performed by a child or a slave I am uncertain about this idea that abhorrent labor practices vanish under the light of an industrialized workforce. There are practical issues to which we could point; China is a rapidly industrializing country, yet remains notorious for continuing to employ slave & child labor. Advancements in the general productivity of China's workforce have not led to a proportional reduction in this kind of labor practice. China had yet another one of its main goods added to the DoL's list of slave/child labor goods just days ago. [0] (Yes, this list suspiciously fails to report on any of the US's goods but that's an issue for another controversial HN reply.) Then there's the issue of advancing economies employing increasingly-"advanced" child labor protections, which corporations are routinely found to violate. [1] As countries improve their labor conditions and solidify regulatory environments within which corporations can work, firms are frequently found to do everything they can to skirt those laws. More generally, I'd point to the fact that "advanced" economies outsource the production of goods to poorer nations that still allow, tolerate, or willfully employ (that last one being exceedingly rare today) child labor. This sort of outsourcing of ethical responsibility is a common trait that can be observed in just about all civilizations at every level of technological and industrial progress. I think this is more an issue of widespread cultural values. Note that the DoL's list [2] has many examples of goods produced by China, but none produced by neighboring Tibet. Turkey is on the list for its production of several foods as well as garments, despite being a modern, industrialized nation. Italy and Greece are similarly industrialized, and in similar parts of the world, yet they are not on the list at all, despite their production of many goods that are typically produced by forced/child labor. Some places make an effort to negate forced/child labor in their markets, others do not. The blanket notion, though, that advanced economies are rid of these problems due to the lack of incentives to engage in them in the first place, to me seems quite incorrect. [0] https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/us-ramping-up-pressure-on-china-s-use-of-forced-labor-in-distant-water-fishing https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainabilit... [1] https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/chipotle-to-pay-1-4m-fine-to-settle-mass-child-labor-violations https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/chipotle-to-pay-1-4m-fin... [2] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods-print https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-o...

AndrewUnmuted 6y ago

> a high level of labour productivity, technology, and automation makes it impractical or too expensive to hire a slave or a child > advanced economies are advanced enough that there is little useful work that could be performed by a child or a slave I am uncertain about this idea that abhorrent labor practices vanish under the light of an industrialized workforce. There are practical issues to which we could point; China is a rapidly industrializing country, yet remains notorious for continuing to employ slave & child labor. Advancements in the general productivity of China's workforce have not led to a proportional reduction in this kind of labor practice. China had yet another one of its main goods added to the DoL's list of slave/child labor goods just days ago. [0] (Yes, this list suspiciously fails to report on any of the US's goods but that's an issue for another controversial HN reply.) Then there's the issue of advancing economies employing increasingly-"advanced" child labor protections, which corporations are routinely found to violate. [1] As countries improve their labor conditions and solidify regulatory environments within which corporations can work, firms are frequently found to do everything they can to skirt those laws. More generally, I'd point to the fact that "advanced" economies outsource the production of goods to poorer nations that still allow, tolerate, or willfully employ (that last one being exceedingly rare today) child labor. This sort of outsourcing of ethical responsibility is a common trait that can be observed in just about all civilizations at every level of technological and industrial progress. I think this is more an issue of widespread cultural values. Note that the DoL's list [2] has many examples of goods produced by China, but none produced by neighboring Tibet. Turkey is on the list for its production of several foods as well as garments, despite being a modern, industrialized nation. Italy and Greece are similarly industrialized, and in similar parts of the world, yet they are not on the list at all, despite their production of many goods that are typically produced by forced/child labor. Some places make an effort to negate forced/child labor in their markets, others do not. The blanket notion, though, that advanced economies are rid of these problems due to the lack of incentives to engage in them in the first place, to me seems quite incorrect. [0] https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/us-ramping-up-pressure-on-china-s-use-of-forced-labor-in-distant-water-fishing https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainabilit... [1] https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/chipotle-to-pay-1-4m-fine-to-settle-mass-child-labor-violations https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/chipotle-to-pay-1-4m-fin... [2] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods-print https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-o...