The Lion's Pride Volume 11 (Winter 2019) | Page 27

percentage of the child population, exceeding 50 percent in
some regions.
Some big companies abuse this problem and use child labor to make
their product, and poor families also force their children to work in these
factories to get some money. Some of these companies are Apple, Gap,
Nestle, Walmart, and H&M (Lamarque, 2016). As Lamarque (2016)
explains, “Despite global efforts and petitions from humanitarian
groups, there are still many major companies around the world that
employ child labour in order to make a profit. With overhead costs and
an increasingly competitive market to think of, many major companies
turn to young labourers in order to get their products made quickly, and
incredibly cheaply.”
If there are no decent jobs for young people who graduate from
school, families will not have much incentive to invest in their children's
education. Inadequate initial utilities, such as plumbing and electricity,
may result in children being given burdensome jobs, such as collecting
firewood for fuel and bringing in water.
Legislation on child labor describes and documents the duties of
governments to protect their children against child labor and helps them
achieve a common understanding of the definition of child labor.
Now I want to examine child labor specifically in Iran, my homeland.
About seven years ago, when I left my country, the economic and social