Child Labour

In Pakistan children are forced to work illegally in multiple industries. However, Agriculture is the largest sector that employs children to contribute to the family income. Rural sectors employ many children due to various social factors that fail to meet their lifestyle.

Despite constitutional provisions to abolish child labor. Many children remain exploited under hazardous work conditions. Due to paid labor, children abandon their studies to support their families. They are made to forego all the wonders of childhood by the ruthless world.

The leading cause of child labor in Pakistan is social inequality, lack of education and poverty. Children from the impoverished and rural parts of the world have no available alternatives such as teachers and schools.

Many rural communities lack adequate school facilities and the availability of schools. The low paying economy blooms with low cost, easy to hire, and child labor. Beside the unorganized agricultural sector, child labor exists in unorganized assembly, unorganized retails works and unorganized trade sectors.

Other factor of child labor includes the size of the informal economy, the inability of most Pakistani industries to scale up, lack of modern technologies and the structure and inflexibility of the market. The people of lower section sell their daughters belonging to 8 to 10 years of age as maidservants.

In Pakistan law of “Prohibition of Employment of Children” says, no child shall be employed to work in any of the occupations. This clear statement tells that this is illegal act to force a child to do work for money.

But, unfortunately these type of laws and regulations lack active and proper implementation and enforcement.