By Andaleeb Rizvi
Pakistan ranks second in the number of out-of-school children, while there are at least 12 million child labourers in the country, as per the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC).
Our country is also among the list of 46 countries that do not protect children from hazardous work, despite being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This means that 12 million children are being denied their right to childhood, let alone basic education.
According to the CRC, a child is "a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".
The problem lies within the legal system in Pakistan that does not have a standard definition of a child, creating many loopholes for exploitation.
Under the Majority Act 1875, a child is defined as a person under 18 years of age, while the Employment of Children Act 1991 defines a "child" as a person below 14 years of age and an "adolescent" as a person below 18 years of age.
Also, the Constitution of Pakistan considers the minimum age of a child as 14 years, and although the 18th amendment actually raised the minimum age up to 16 years, the labour laws were not amended, and contradiction continues.
As per Article 25(A) of the Constitution, the state now has to provide compulsory education to all children between the ages of five and 16 years, which means that a child can't be allowed to work before 16 years of age.
However, the law also provides certain exceptions. It says that no child has to be employed in any occupation, establishment or process defined as hazardous for children, except where such process is carried out by the family as a business or in any (training) school established, assisted and recognised by the government.
Which brings us to the Muslim law, where maturity is attained on reaching puberty, prior to which the parents or guardians have the authority to make decisions as per what they consider is in the best interest of the child; therefore, the child is unable to take a stand on any important decision affecting his or her life. It means the "wali" can decide things for a child. This results in many children being given into bonded labour, urban employment as house help and/or workers in the informal sector.
Any form of work that is keeping the child away from his or her childhood, their personal development or interferes with their schooling in any way, is considered child labour. However, it does not include helping parents around the house, assisting in (non-hazardous) family business after school hours and during holidays. Such activities contribute to children's development and their family's welfare; they provide them with skills and experience, and prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life.
These are the few rules one needs to know when employing the most vulnerable members of the society. In Pakistan, or rather in any developing country, child labour mostly stems from poverty. Which is why, as per estimates, of the 215 million child labourers around the globe, approximately 114 million (53 percent) are in Asia-Pacific, 14 million (7 percent) in Latin America, and 65 million (30 percent) in Sub-Saharan Africa.
At least 60 to 70 percent Pakistanis live below the poverty line, forcing people to send their children to work to make ends meet. This means that as long as the reasons for making children work exist, the issue of child labour cannot be resolved. However, the trend of forced labour has shifted towards urban centres.
In the urban centres of the country, countless out-of-school children are employed at home to take care of other children the same age. The child is often responsible for taking care of hazardous work, including ironing clothes, cutting vegetables, mowing the lawn or, in some cases, even cooking.
A major setback, apart from the muddled laws in Pakistan, is the lack of awareness among the general public regarding issues. People need to ask themselves if they are perpetrators of child labour, especially if they are employing children for any sort of work at home. If the work keeps the child away from school and is harming the child's health, both physical and psychological, it is child labour.
Child Labour in Pakistan
Province No of Children No of Economically
(5-14 years) Active Children
(5-14 years)
Punjab 22.63 1.94
Sindh 8.62 0.30
KPK 6.71 1.06
Balochistan 2.07 0.01
Total for Pakistan 40.03 3.31
Ratio of Child Labour
8.3%
0.5%
15.8%
3.5%
8.6%
Global statistics
unknown
22m
Sub-saharan africa
65m
Latin
American
14m
Asia-Pacific
114m
Pakistan ranks second in the number of out-of-school children, while there are at least 12 million child labourers in the country, as per the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC).
Our country is also among the list of 46 countries that do not protect children from hazardous work, despite being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This means that 12 million children are being denied their right to childhood, let alone basic education.
According to the CRC, a child is "a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".
The problem lies within the legal system in Pakistan that does not have a standard definition of a child, creating many loopholes for exploitation.
Under the Majority Act 1875, a child is defined as a person under 18 years of age, while the Employment of Children Act 1991 defines a "child" as a person below 14 years of age and an "adolescent" as a person below 18 years of age.
Also, the Constitution of Pakistan considers the minimum age of a child as 14 years, and although the 18th amendment actually raised the minimum age up to 16 years, the labour laws were not amended, and contradiction continues.
As per Article 25(A) of the Constitution, the state now has to provide compulsory education to all children between the ages of five and 16 years, which means that a child can't be allowed to work before 16 years of age.
However, the law also provides certain exceptions. It says that no child has to be employed in any occupation, establishment or process defined as hazardous for children, except where such process is carried out by the family as a business or in any (training) school established, assisted and recognised by the government.
Which brings us to the Muslim law, where maturity is attained on reaching puberty, prior to which the parents or guardians have the authority to make decisions as per what they consider is in the best interest of the child; therefore, the child is unable to take a stand on any important decision affecting his or her life. It means the "wali" can decide things for a child. This results in many children being given into bonded labour, urban employment as house help and/or workers in the informal sector.
Any form of work that is keeping the child away from his or her childhood, their personal development or interferes with their schooling in any way, is considered child labour. However, it does not include helping parents around the house, assisting in (non-hazardous) family business after school hours and during holidays. Such activities contribute to children's development and their family's welfare; they provide them with skills and experience, and prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life.
These are the few rules one needs to know when employing the most vulnerable members of the society. In Pakistan, or rather in any developing country, child labour mostly stems from poverty. Which is why, as per estimates, of the 215 million child labourers around the globe, approximately 114 million (53 percent) are in Asia-Pacific, 14 million (7 percent) in Latin America, and 65 million (30 percent) in Sub-Saharan Africa.
At least 60 to 70 percent Pakistanis live below the poverty line, forcing people to send their children to work to make ends meet. This means that as long as the reasons for making children work exist, the issue of child labour cannot be resolved. However, the trend of forced labour has shifted towards urban centres.
In the urban centres of the country, countless out-of-school children are employed at home to take care of other children the same age. The child is often responsible for taking care of hazardous work, including ironing clothes, cutting vegetables, mowing the lawn or, in some cases, even cooking.
A major setback, apart from the muddled laws in Pakistan, is the lack of awareness among the general public regarding issues. People need to ask themselves if they are perpetrators of child labour, especially if they are employing children for any sort of work at home. If the work keeps the child away from school and is harming the child's health, both physical and psychological, it is child labour.
Child Labour in Pakistan
Province No of Children No of Economically
(5-14 years) Active Children
(5-14 years)
Punjab 22.63 1.94
Sindh 8.62 0.30
KPK 6.71 1.06
Balochistan 2.07 0.01
Total for Pakistan 40.03 3.31
Ratio of Child Labour
8.3%
0.5%
15.8%
3.5%
8.6%
Global statistics
unknown
22m
Sub-saharan africa
65m
Latin
American
14m
Asia-Pacific
114m
