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Child labour in Pakistan facts for kids

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Child labor in a Pakistan Shop
Pakistani children working in a shop.

Child labour is one of the major problems of Pakistan: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated in the 1990s, that 11 million children were working in the country; half of them were under the age of ten.

Causes

Child labor in Islamabad Pakistan
A Pakistani child labourer

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) suggests that poverty is the greatest single cause behind child labour. Pakistan has a per-capita income of approximately $1900. A middle class person in Pakistan earns around $6 a day on average. The average Pakistani has to feed nine or ten people with their daily wage. There is also a high inflation rate. As of 2008, 17.2% of the total population lives below the poverty line, which is the lowest figure in the history of Pakistan. Poverty levels appear to necessitate that children work in order to allow families to reach their target take‐home pay.

Government steps on child labour

A number of laws contain provisions prohibiting child labour, or regulating the working conditions of child and adolescent workers. The most important laws are:

  • The Factories Act 1934
  • The West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance 1969
  • The Employment of Children Act 1991
  • The Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 1992
  • The Punjab Compulsory Education Act 1994

Child labour remains one of the major problems afflicting Pakistan and its children. Pakistan has passed laws in an attempt to limit child labour and indentured servitude, but those laws are universally ignored. Some 11 million children, aged four to fourteen, keep the country's factories operating, often working in bad conditions.

In December 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor reported nine goods of which six are produced by child labourers in Pakistan. These include the making of bricks, carpets, glass bangles, leather and surgical instruments, as well as coal mining.

Efforts to reduce child labour

NGO groups against child labour have been raising awareness of the exploitation of children in Pakistan. Several organizations are working in Pakistan to reduce child labour. Factories are now registered with provincial social security programs which offer free school facilities for children of workers and free hospital treatment.

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