I like to let her feed her interests, but I'm pretty uncomfortable with her going this direction. Sweatshops are cruel. And she's pretty sweet and innocent. When I tried to dissuade her she told me that this would help her be a better person and lean to do the right things, but in terms of material, this is definitely as dark as she's gone, which concerns me too. Thoughts about that?
Children work primarily because their labor is needed in poor societies, not because their parents or employers are cruel. There is child labor in many poor countries today, and banning it may make children worse off. Child labor will decrease as countries get richer.
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2014/02/child_labor_and.htmlWhy India's Ban Against Child Labor Increased Child Labor
by James Schneider
Econlog blog
If a country is so poor that many parents send their children to work, then it is unlikely to have the wherewithal to perfectly enforce a ban on child labor. When the wages of children go down, the poor families that depended on child income will become even more desperate. This might cause parents to have their children work more.
A recent paper shows that this is exactly what happened when India enacted the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986. The law banned children under 14 from working in many industries. After these rules took effect, the wages of children under 14 fell relative to those over 14.
