Like Mother, Like Daughter

The mother balanced a brick on her head, then one more, then one more. She had been in labour the previous day and had reported back to duty today. As the mother grimaced, her nine-year-old roused from the makeshift bed of hay beside her. Like her mother, the little girl wore an employee badge. She promptly picked up three bricks from the pile of rubble nearby, balancing them precariously but expertly on her small head.

Outside the brick factory, a well-worn sign read, “No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed for work in any factory”.