Child Labor: Home

How Old Are You?    18+ Years Old     Below 18 Years Old

Instructions - Below are three hypothetical scenarios involving child laborers. All are based on true stories. On a scale of one to five, rate how acceptable you think the type of child labor described in each scenario is, with five being completely acceptable and one being completely unacceptable.

Scenario 1

Kumar, who is 10 years old, works as a domestic servant for a family in Bangladesh. He works because his parents cannot afford to feed or clothe him. His employer gives him food, clothes, and payment for his services, though the payment goes to his parents. Kumar lives with his employers. Though he does not go to school, his employer spends time to educate him, and he gets some free time. His employer is fair with him and does not abuse him.

How acceptable is it for Kumar to work, based on the information in the scenario?

Completely Unacceptable - 1     2     3     4     5 - Completely Acceptable

Scenario 2

Raju, who is 12 years old, works at a beedi (type of Indian cigarette) making factory in Tamil Nadu, India. A beedi agent loaned his parents 1,000 rupees (approximately 28.30 U.S. dollars) in exchange for Rajus labor. Raju makes 5 rupees a day for rolling 1,500 beedies. Theoretically, this money is deducted from the original loan (1,000 rupees), but due to his employers high interest rates, deductions for food, etc., and faulty accounting, the amount Raju and his parents have to pay off is actually increasing. He works for 14 hours a day, 6 days per week, and has been working like this for 5 years. He is regularly beaten by his agent when he slows down or fails to meet his quota each day. He now has back pain, stunted growth, and pain in his hands due to the hours he spends bent over at the factory and the repetitive rolling motion of his hands.

How acceptable is it for Raju to work, based on the information in this scenario?

Completely Unacceptable - 1     2     3     4     5 - Completely Acceptable

Scenario 3

Tim, who is 15 years old, works at a fast food restaurant of 15 employees in Oregon (in the United States) over the summer. His employer makes about $200,000 in gross annual sales. He gets paid $6.90 per hour and works 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. He works only during the summer, and therefore, goes to school at other times of the year. He does not work at night. He likes making the extra cash and enjoys the new responsibilities he gets when he works.

How acceptable is it for Tim to work, based on the information in this scenario?

Completely Unacceptable - 1     2     3     4     5 - Completely Acceptable

Instructions - Choose the most appropriate answer.

1. Do you think that child labor is a problem in the world today?

Yes     No     Don't Know/No Opinion

1a. If so, do you think that it can be solved?

Yes     No     Don't Know/No Opinion

2. Do you employ or know someone who employs child laborers?

Yes     No     Don't Know/No Opinion

3. Do you think that the increasing amount of urban areas around the world will increase exploitative child labor?

Yes     No     Don't Know/No Opinion

Instructions - Indicate the degree to which you support the following statements.

4. Child labor that does not interfere with the child's formal education is okay.

Totally Agree - 1     2     3     4     5 - Totally Disagree

5. If the parents of a child cannot support their child, then child labor is okay.

Totally Agree - 1     2     3     4     5 - Totally Disagree

6. If the child has safe working conditions, then child labor is okay.

Totally Agree - 1     2     3     4     5 - Totally Disagree

7. If the child has free time, then child labor is okay.

Totally Agree - 1     2     3     4     5 - Totally Disagree

Feel free to tell us more about your views on child labor in the space below.

Download the actual survey and take it! Discuss the answers with your friends and family.

Do you love lots and lots of numbers? Visit our Survey Results page to look at graphs, percentages, and other results that our team got for the survey.

To view the actual survey, with questions, click here

Want to find out more about child laborers? At the child laborers section, you can read real cases studies, like the ones described in the survey.