Pathway to Prosperity (P2P) is an organization developed to educate the general public on the role of child labor law enforcement as a key and non-negotiable feature essential to the development of modern, economically viable, and civilized societies.The inspiration for P2P was the pioneering research of John C. Drew, Ph.D. who first called the attention of political scientists to the neglected role played by the enforcement of child labor laws in the U.S. as the most convincing explanation for the origins and uneven development of the U.S. welfare state. Dr. Drew traced many of the most prominent features of modern society (things most of us take for granted) to the relatively recent implementation of child labor law enforcement in the 1900-1915 Progressive Era. Previous models of social and economic development, according to Dr. Drew, neglected to connect the dots that showed how the unintended consequences of child labor law enforcement ended up creating a compelling need for modern social programs including the first playgrounds, child and youth serving organizations like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, primary and secondary educational facilities, and early child welfare programs including Workers Compensation, Mothers’ Pensions and Social Security Insurance.[1] Dr. Drew’s research is critical in asserting the permanence of the welfare state once a social decision to eliminate child labor takes root.[2] As President Clinton said: “If you want them to go to school, if you understand those countries will never grow until they begin to educate their children, the girls as well as the boys…We have to start with the abolition of child labor.”[3]
Dr. Drew received the William Anderson Award from the American Political Science Association in 1989 for this work which is now published as a book. While serving as an Assistant Professor of Management at Hope International University in Fullerton, CA, Dr. Drew became interested in the feasibility of implementing child labor law enforcement in developing nations as a fresh and hopeful answer to the troubling persistence of poverty, illiteracy and disease in developing nations.
“The traditional model of development,” observed Dr. Drew, “simply assumes that modern institutions and prosperity emerge as a by-product of economic development. The child labor/child welfare model suggests the enforcement of child labor laws is the missing link in the development process.” The importance of the role of child labor law enforcement is a powerful explanatory variable for why democratic countries like India have lagged behind, while authoritarian (and corrupt) nations have suddenly prospered despite the predictions of social scientists tied to the earlier paradigm.
Governed by a five (5) member Board of Directors, Pathway to Prosperity is dedicated to introducing a new paradigm to shed light on the ultimate causes of poverty, illiteracy, and human-trafficking in the U.S. and in developing nations.
[1] Drew, J. “The Child and the American Welfare State,” in Howard Gensler, ed., The American Welfare System: Origins, Structure, and Effects. (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996), pp. 3-22.
[2] Barton, T. “Exploring Human Dimensions of Welfare Reform,” Journal of Intergroup Relations, Volume XXIII, No. 4, pp. 74-76.
[3] “Clinton Decries Forced Child Labor,” The Orange County Register, June 13, 1999, p. 20.
