Since the early nineteenth century, when the great Britain began experimenting with different policies with the aim of controlling child labor, there have been numerous policies all over the world that have come up with the same mission. Despite the many years of struggle, the issue of child labor remains to be a major problem which calls for more measures to be taken.
The main aim of this particular paper is to discuss the issue of economic growth that has been seen to be the main cause of child labor especially in the developing countries.
Most developing countries in the world including some of the developed ones have been facing the problem of the intermittent employment where children get to work more than the adults. The phenomenon of the child labor usually gets to present some staggering large policy problems in a particular country. Most of the victims of the economic growth also get to face the issue of child labor policies. Just like any other policy that govern the nation, these policies are usually the drive to better overall growth of a nation.
Developing nations have remained victims to low levels of economic growth. Most of these countries are located in Asia, South America and the better part of the African continent. It is, therefore, important to unearth the causes that have made these nations slaves to reduced levels of economic growth. The most profound ethical dilemma surrounding poverty levels in the third world countries is more on the application of traditional cultural practices in the way they do their things. By holding unto this, it has become completely impossible for the nations to apply the technologies and other methods that have the potential to drive forth economic growth. The major ethical dilemma is whether these nations should let go of their traditions and embrace the postmodern ways of life in driving forth their economies. This paper unearths the various causes of slow economic growth in developing countries. The highlights to the possible solutions to the menace are also captured in brief with the major dilemma being on whether to digress away from the traditions and engage other methods to drive the economic growth.
Causes of Slow Economic Growth in Developing Nations
Inadequate resources
Resources are central to any development initiative. All factors of production right from land, capital and labor must be available to be used in economic development. The tight grip that these nations have on their traditional ways of life makes it difficult for them to create new resources to drive the economy. Most of the third world nations are underprivileged when it comes to the availability of financial resources to be used for development purposes. In Africa, most of the countries have a very low gross domestic product. The latest statistics puts Equatorial Guinea in the lead as the top country in Africa with the highest GDP standing at $ 32,500 per capita income per person per year. The least country on the least is Zimbabwe with the GDP rising at $ 200 per capita income per person per year. This is evident of how nations are lagging behind regarding the national economic growth. In addition to this, most of the developing countries are heavily dependent on agricultural produce as their main economic income. This is due to lack of other natural resources such as minerals and other oil deposits that characterize the developed nations. The resultant effect is that the affected countries have to trade their agricultural produce on the international market. The consequence is a significant imbalance in the balance of trade or payment since the global market is dominated by the developed nations who determines the terms and conditions of transactions (Olson, 1996).
The agricultural produce from such developed countries cannot compete favorably with those from Africa since they are highly subsidized hence cheaper. The latest round of World Trade Organization conference in Nairobi Kenya failed to come up with the solution to help increase the value and protect the agricultural produce from the developing nations of Africa and the better parts of Asia. This leaves these countries vulnerable to exploitation by the other countries during the international trade transactions (Krugman et al., 1995). There is alack of enough resources to enable the developing nations to engage in manufacturing processes which are lucrative and lead to speedy economic growth, unlike agricultural produce which is not only perishable but also of minute value.Therefore, there is a need to finding alternatives to boost the maximization of the use of the available resources in the developing world to boost their economies. It is impossible for a country to be dependent on agriculture yet expect high levels of economic growth which are the scenario in Africa among other developing nations of Asia (Krugman et al., 1995).
Political instability
Economic development is dependent on the political stability of a given country. Peace and security are priorities to the employers when it comes choosing the ideal place to invest their goods. It is like every entrepreneur to establish that there will be the business continuity of his or her investment due to a healthy political climate that promotes national peace and security. The political climate in most of the developing nation is unstable and marred with violence such as post-election violence. This is a significant threat to both local and foreign investment as there islack of peace that is necessary to promote business activities. Incidences such as the Arab Springs, the war in DRC Congo, the war in Burundi, the Syria crisis to mention but a few demonstrates the rot in the politics of the affected nations. There is no maturity in the democratic processes in these developing countries (Olson, 1996).
This is a total contrast to the scenarios in the advanced nations such as the United States where the levels of political stability are unmatched, and politics is completely separated from issues of economic development. The resultant impact is the slower economic growth in the African countries alongside other developing countries in Asia and South America. Once there is no investment in terms of opening up new corporate bodies both by the local investors and foreign private developers then there can be no adequate development to sustain a country. A sound political system will encourage or cultivate an environment that is conducive to the investors. Furthermore, it will also put in place sound legislations meant to protect both local and multinational business entities hence promoting their growth (Krugman et al., 1995).
It is critical for the affected countries to change the way they run their political affairs to ensure that peace and security exist through political stability that is an indispensable recipe for economic growth. This will have the positive impact of assuring the investors the sustainability of their investments and total protection from any political machinations. By this way, it will be easy to convince people both locally and abroad to invest in a third world country due to adequate security (Krugman et al., 1995). Without such changes where politics is meant to attract investors and stimulate economic growth then the present state of economic stagnation will continue to persists and even deteriorate due to lack of political support on development matters.
Inadequate technology
The major force behind increased levels of economic underdevelopment in Africa is technological deficiencies. There is a serious crisis when it comes to the application of technology in developing nations. This is partly responsible for the lack of exploitation of the various economic resources that are supposed to be used for growth and development. To begin with, there are significant quantities of mineral deposits in most of the African nations that are yet to be exploited. The reason is lack of the required technology used to in the extraction of such oil and mineral resources. They seek the western countries to intervene in extracting the resources using their better technology which will finally result in the unnecessary importation of these resources thus not benefiting the developing countries.An example is where oil in DRC Congo is taken abroad for further processing(Krugman et al., 1995). Others make the huge percentage of the mineral proceeds back to their countries hence leaving the developing nations poorer. In addition to this, most of the third world countries are still holding tight onto the traditional ways of doing things. They have totally been unable to embrace technology as a way of improving both efficiency of production and the quality of the products. This has resulted in slowed economic development among these nations. Furthermore, this has made most of the African nations to remain agricultural based nations with no capacity to engage in manufacturing practices. The high poverty levels make it difficult to have enough capital to develop technological infrastructure. Traditional methods cannot stimulate growth in the current regime (Krugman&Krugman, 1999).
It is an urgent call for the developed nations to come to the aid of the developing nations and help them develop the proper technologies that can be used for economic development. This can be achieved through the issuing of grants to this nations and giving them experts to teach them on how to operate the technologies installed. The necessary expertise must accompany technologyfor operation and maintenance. The scenario in the countries that are technologically underdeveloped is that they lack both the technologies and the people that can install and operate them. The only solution is for the first world nations to come in and assist their sister countries in achieving significant levels of technological development something that is possible. This will help in the unlocking of the main economic opportunities such as increased mining activities which will, in turn, stimulate the economies (Harris, 1987).
Increased unemployment levels
This is the cancer that is eating into the economic fabric of most of the developing nations. Unemployment is an accurate reflection of the decreased levels of economic activities in the affected countries. Unemployment is a product of lack of both local and foreign investment. No more business entities are being created to absorb the ever-increasing workforce. The rate at which the learning institutions are discharging graduates into the market is much less than the level at which the job market is absorbing them (Olson, 1996). The effects of unemployment are detrimental to any nations, and they have the full potential of hindering economic growth. An element of high dependency ratioexists where the unemployed overburden the few people who are in the workforce. The consequence of this is that there are low levels of investment as most of the incomes of these individualsare spent on the household needs such as foodstuffs and clothing. Also connected to this is that the government depend on taxes as the principal source of its revenue.
With reduced revenue income due to high levels of unemployment, the level of capital expenditure by the government is low. People are forced to put pressure on the available limited social amenities which by all standards cannot sustain the population. These numbers continue swelling as the populations in these nations continue to grow. For instance, in Nigeria with a population of about 160 million people, the rate of unemployment stands at 40 percent. This is unlike the United States, which has a population of over 300 million inhabitants with anunemployment rate of below 4 percent. It is impractical for a country to grow when the unemployment levels are unsustainable. There is lack of resources forself-employment which is also an effective way of getting people engage in income generating activities (Krugman et al., 1995).
It is prudent that the question of unemployment is addressed especially in the developing world. The consequences of unemployment such as increased criminal activities and insecurity are in themselves detrimental to economic development. Therefore,it is necessary to put strategies to tackle the unemployment menace that has proven to be an undefeated barrier to economic growth in the developing nations. With increased unemployment, investment levels are in negligible quantities, and this calls for immediate action for the sake of realizing economic stability in the affected nations (Harris, 1987).
Possible solutions to the issue of low economic growth in thethird world nations
Some measures can be adopted by the affected nations to curb the low levels of economic growth among them. Despite the respect for cultural traditions that these nations do have, it is better to let go of these traditional practices and embrace economy driving initiatives that are in step with the current generation. The first one is embracing technology. The government should invest in technologies that have the potential of improving the various industrial processes. This will result in theefficient production of quality goods that can be competitive both locally and internationally (Olson, 1996). Technology will unlock various investment opportunities such as enabling mining processes to take place, the use of power and solar energy in industrial processes among others. This is a worthy investment that should not be ignored at all costs since it has long term benefits effects. All the developed nations have their processes automated for the sake of achieving maximum efficiency and quality regarding the resulting products. The developed nations should help the affected governments to find a way of installing and operating the necessary technologies for the sake of stimulating economic growth (Krugman&Krugman, 1999).
Secondly, there is the need for the third world nations to embrace mature democratic practices. This will ensure that there is a well cultivated political environment that can woo both local and foreign investors. Security is important to any business environment, and it must be guaranteed at all costs. Furthermore, a sound political system will give birth to laws that are meant to promote and attract investment both at home and abroad. Environments characterized by political violence after each and every election repels investment opportunities, and it is proper to curb such a political malpractice (Krugman&Krugman, 1999).
Thirdly, it is significant to revise the academic curriculum at the tertiary institutions in that they match the market skills required. This mismatch is among the leading causes of unemployment. People graduate with qualifications that are irrelevant to the employment sector. This is a waste of resources including time as it will only increase the unemployment levels. Market skills and practical application of the acquired technical know-how is what the present market demands before employing anybody. It is on record that most of the academic curriculums in the third world countries do not match the requirements for the job market. This has continued to deepen the unemployment levels to the detriment of the economic growth of these nations (Harris, 1987).
Conclusion
The economic underdevelopment in the third world countries is a product of various factors. Such include the inadequate economic resources, increased unemployment levels, inadequate technology and hostile political environments. These among others have continuously deteriorated the economies of the affected nations. The key ethical dilemma is the overreliance on traditional ways of life as opposed to bringing on board practices that stimulate economic growth. Their result is that the economic growth of the third world countries has continued to advance in the negative direction or has stagnated. It is imperative for the solutions such embracing technology, revision of the academic curriculum to match the market skills and the creation of a conducive political environment to attract both local and foreign investors. Most of the world unemployment rates are contributed to by the developing nations who continue registering high levels of unemployment due to reduced levels of economic activities in those nations.
