Apple knew a supplier was using child labor but took 3 years to fully cut ties
Was there ever a time where child labor was acceptable? Now I&#x27;m not in touch with all the logistics here, but if I were growing up in a country where I had the option of starving or sending my kids off to work I know what I would be choosing. Child labor occurred in my family as little as a generation ago.  My mother and her siblings all worked long hours in the field to raise crops with her family.  She seems to be thriving after being in a situation the west seems to deem as terrible.<p>Ideally children don&#x27;t have to work, ideally no one has to work - I do wonder if South Korea would be as democratic and free today if it weren&#x27;t for their child labor force as little as 80 years ago though and I do wonder if those children or families would&#x27;ve preferred the alternative to child labor.  Presumably they did not, since they volunteered their children to work for low wages.<p>I really do think we have to be mindful of judging other cultures against our rich western values. There are likely clear cases of child abuse that should be abolished - there are abusive cases of employment for all ages that should be abolished.  I do wonder if we&#x27;re too quick to judge child labor as a category in the west, though.