Across the world, there are children who work fifteen-hour shifts every day to earn just a dollar. They are just seven years old and trapped in a system little better than slavery. The country of Myanmar allows the abuse of these children's lives with their child labor laws. No child should be forced to work twice as many days as the average adult. No child should be forced to work for just a dollar a day. No child should be forced to work. This injustice can be stopped if the American people take concrete action to oppose child labor. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In Myanmar almost 33% of children aged 7 to 16 have jobs. British risk analysis firm Maplecroft ranks the country's child labor problem as the seventh worst in the world. “Many shops and restaurants have opened in the cities, which need a reliable and low-cost workforce. And many more people… have more disposable income, so they require more services, which also requires more labor.” (Hardy 12). Every day from 6am to 9pm, Soe Min Lwin takes orders, serves food and washes dishes at a tea shop in Myanmar's largest city, Yangon. Every night he climbs onto a wooden table and falls asleep. He is 12 years old and, earning just over a dollar a day, is his family's primary breadwinner. “When I'm not working,” he said softly, “sometimes my family is fine, but sometimes they're not. It depends on whether my stepfather can find work. He doesn't have a steady job." (Lwin 2). Since Myanmar began major economic and political reforms in 2011, more and more children have moved from the country's rural areas to the cities. “Child labor is a big problem,” he said, “but it is the result of poverty. The country is poor, so children have to help their families earn money. To address this problem, we need economic development, and that will take a long time." (Shein 14). By the mid-1800s, child labor was a major problem. Factory owners found a new source of labor to run their machines: children. The operation of powered machines did not require adult strength, and children could be hired cheaper than adults. In 1810, approximately 2 million school-age children worked 50 to 70 hours a week. Most came from poor families. When parents could not support their children, they sometimes entrusted them to a mill or factory owner. A child working in a factory might work 12 to 18 hours a day, 6 days a week, to earn a dollar. Many children began working before the age of 7. They took care of the machines in the spinning mills or carried heavy loads. The factories were often damp, dark and dirty. Some children worked underground, in the coal mines. Today, many children around the world are starting to want a break from school for the summer holidays. However, for millions of children around the world there is no “break” and no classrooms because they are forced to work. The term “child labor” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, potential, dignity, education and is harmful to physical and mental development. (Foreign Policy Blog 1). According to the most recent estimate from the International Labor Organization, approximately 215 million children – 127 million boys and 88 million girls – find themselves in situations of child labor exploitation. UNICEF tests 16% of children between the ages of 5 and 14.