Abolishing Child Labor : Some Overlooked Ethical Issues

In preparation for the 1998 soccer World Cup, France banned the use of soccer balls made with child labor. As a result of that ban, Baden Sports, the company that supplied the soccer balls, closed down its Pakistani soccer ball operations, which used child labor, and moved production to China, where adult labor was employed. Many of the children who lost their jobs as a result of that decision became prostitutes or beggars. This paper discusses what ethical principles should be applied when determining whether child labor should be abolished or regulated