CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR IN PAKISTAN:
There are currently millions of workers like Shabana in Pakistan's garment industry who are being exploited and abused. In recent years, these unseen activists have been part of the national discourse on rare occasions, sadly, always for the wrong and often painful reasons.
DEMOGRAPHICS:
From 2005–2006, an estimated 37% of working boys worked in the wholesale and retail industries in urban areas, followed by 22% in the service industry and 22% in manufacturing. 48% of girls were employed in the service industry and 39% in manufacturing. In rural areas, 68% of working boys joined 82% of working girls. Girls accounted for 11% in the wholesale and retail industries, followed by 11% in manufacturing.
In Pakistan, child labor is probably most prevalent in the city of Multan, a major manufacturing hub for export goods.
For children working on brick kilns in Punjab, the Punjab Labor Department conducted a survey. According to the latest survey data, the department identified 10,347 brick kilns in Punjab and a total of 126,779 children were identified at these sites. The survey found that a total of 32,727 children were out of school. A total of 71,373 children were enrolled in government schools for school-going children, of which 41,017 were men and 30,356 women. A total of 13,125 children were studying in private schools. There were 7,438 males and 5,687 females. About 9,554 children were enrolled in non-formal educational institutions.
Reasons:
A Pakistani girl laborer
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has suggested that poverty is the single biggest cause of child labor. The per capita income in Pakistan is approximately 00 1900. The average middle class person in Pakistan earns an average of ڈالر 6. The average Pakistani has to feed nine or ten people with a daily wage. Inflation is also very high. As of 2008, 17.2% of the total population lives below the poverty line, the lowest figure in Pakistan's history.Depending on the level of poverty, it is important for children to be able to work for their families in order to earn a living.
The low cost of child labor provides manufacturers with a significant advantage in the Western market, where they reduce their competitors from countries that are prohibiting child labor.
RESEARCH:
According to research by Akhtar, Fatima and Sadaqat, the main reasons for child labor in the fishing sector off the coast of Balochistan were low quality of education, lack of employment opportunities and lack of development in the region. It was found that this particular province has high dropout rates and high literacy rates. Researchers believe that policies focused on improving education will help reduce child labor.
Government policies on child labor
Numerous laws include provisions regulating the working conditions of child and child laborers or banning child labor. The most important rules are:
- Factories Act 1934
- West Pakistan Shops and Establishment Ordinance 1969
- Child Employment Act 1991
- The Bonded Labor System Abolition Act 1992
- Punjab Compulsory Education Act 1994
- Child labor is one of the biggest problems for Pakistan and its children. Pakistan has passed laws in an effort to curb child labor and slavery, but these laws have been ignored internationally. About 11 million children between the ages of four and fourteen run the country's factories, often working brutally and in poor condition.
In December 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's list of goods produced by child labor reported nine items, six of which are manufactured by laborers in Pakistan. These include the manufacture of bricks, carpets, glass bangles, leather and surgical instruments, as well as coal mining.
Efforts to reduce child labor:
NGOs against child labor are raising awareness about child exploitation in Pakistan.Several organizations are working to reduce child labor in Pakistan. Factories are now registered with provincial social security programs that offer free school facilities and free hospital treatment for workers' children.
Save the children:
Save the Children is working with some of the sporting goods manufacturers represented by the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce, and the industry and their international partner brands, represented by the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry. The purpose of this joint effort is to ensure that children are not placed in the football section. Apple the Children (UK) contains information about child labor spread across major networks such as CBS.
Save the Children has also worked with the British Secretary for International Development in Sialkot on child labor projects. The 7 750,000 raised by the UK will be spent on education and training, as well as the establishment of credit and savings schemes in an effort to provide alternatives to bound individuals.
SPARC:
SPARC has conducted research in preparation for its publications, including three major books on child labor, juvenile justice and children's rights. The publications include its annual report "State of Pakistan Children", and the SPRC has included a large number of brochures.SPARC has repeatedly called on governments to upgrade their laws to set legal age limits for employment in Pakistan, although they have not been successful.
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