Child workers in Malta : critical perspectives on a new underclass

Abstract

The problem of "child labour" has, at least ever since the 19th century, surfaced and submerged in the eyes of public opinion and policy makers as a 'scourge' and 'a blot on the conscience of the developing countries' (Unesco Courier, 1973, p.7). Schildkrout (1980, p.480), reviewing a large number of Ethiopian studies which report on child labour during the industrial revolution, concludes that 'the exploitation of child labour in its most brutal form occurs during periods of transition from one mode of production to another, usually from the familial to the industrial one'. The reason for this is partly structural.