Child Trade-Off Theory : A Theoretical Discussion on the Structure, Causes, Consequences and Eradication of Child Labor

Children are the future of our dreams and guarantee of their prosperity and success but they are exploited in the form of child labor. Child labor is the employment of children who are too young to work for wages in field jobs that are unsuitable or unsafe for them. It is a fact that child labor has become a burden for every economy. Even though child labor is considered illegal in most societies, it is still a serious problem in a large number of nations. There are a number of factors which give rise to child labor. These include poverty, illiteracy, job opportunities, family provision and dissatisfaction with educational structure. By conducting an extensive literature review, this paper attempts to highlight all the major causes of child labor and their consequences. Furthermore this paper explores and postulates the Child Trade-off theory which discusses the trade-off between education of children and child labor. This paper also discusses factors which may play in the eradication of this problem