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Could child labor ever be acceptable if it's done consentually? (monyet.cc)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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While child labor is viewed negatively, apparently child labor and child slavery aren't the same thing, and child labor though it could still be exploitative/cruel in other ways, can be done voluntarily by the child, and with fair treatment/compensation/etc.

I suppose you could make the argument that any child labor opens itself up to problems, but could it be done responsibly? And if not, then at what age do we draw the line of labor being not ok regardless of consent?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It isn't commercial labor when an adult does their own chores (I think), as it's more related to the people in a household maintaining their own home. It likely wouldn't be labor for a child for the same reasons, though I'm not sure.

But it could start to look like labor when it's something that produces commercial value, for example, it's more like a 'chore' to water the vegetable garden in the backyard, but it's more like 'labor' to tend to 20 acres of farmland.

Excessive chores, though, could be prevented under child abuse law rather than child labor law, depending on how it's enforced. Doing all the household work voluntarily for no reason other than it's fun? Almost certainly legal. No video games until you clean the dishes? Probably legal. No food until you sweep, mop, dust, and shine every surface in the house? Probably abuse.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

And I mean, I would argue that household chores can be viewed as education. After all, at some point the children have to care for their own household and as such are good to learn routine cleaning, how to do dishes, how to shop and cook, how to crawl into a tiny tunnel to mine for gold and how to keep the garden tidy.

There are some people who are adults who are kinda clueless about some basic things and I think it would've been a good part of education to have them make household chores from childhood onwards.

Of course, this needs to be reasonable and age appropriate. So, I agree with the commercial aspect of it.