I believe child labor is ethical under certain extreme circumstances. In the case of Pakistani Nike factories employing many children, it is quite apparent that Pakistan is a very impoverished country. When a country is that poor, I don’t think it should be up to the consumers of countries like America to decide whether or whether not a child in Pakistan is allowed to work. Children would need to know their rights – to know they could quit or get breaks, etc. It’s also hypocritical because almost every first world country has gone through a period of child labor. London in their wool factories, America in their coal factories, Japan, etc. Child labor is part of the transition from third world to first world, it allows for a transition from rural work to factory jobs and acts as a steroid for factory profits which then allows for infrastructure to be built and a successful enough economy to then focus on rights of children and getting them out of the factories. It’s a growth process. I am not saying child labor is the right thing to do, but it should be up for each country to monitor and not by product boycotters over seas.

http://www1.american.edu/ted/nike.htm