Child labor is condemned as immoral and exploitative. Unions were concerned about children competing with adult workers for factory work and thereby pushing down wages. Developing countries will be able to overcome the child labor problem only if there is sufficient local political support for imposing and enforcing strict regulation.
If the West would like to contribute more directly to the fight against child labor, supporting such education-focused programs is a promising way to reduce economic dependency on child labor and increase parents’ incentives for supporting child labor restrictions.