How Pakistan's Socioeconomic Issues are Contributing towards Child Labour | AS Your voice |

There is an age in our lives when the world is supposed to be soft.

 An age when our greatest worry is a scraped knee, and our safest place is hiding behind our mother's legs.

 But for millions of children in Pakistan, that age never comes.

Instead of a mother's hand, they feel the rough handle of a tool. Instead of a classroom, they have a factory floor. 

Instead of dreams of becoming a doctor or an engineer, their only dream is to make it through the day.

Today, I feel helpless. I feel a scream building in my throat because it feels like no one is talking about them.

 It feels like we have accepted this stolen generation as a normal part of life.

But it is not normal. It is a heartbreaking, soul-crushing injustice. 

And if we don't feel this helplessness, if it doesn't break our hearts, then we have lost a piece of our own humanity. This post is for them.

 The children who were forced to grow up too soon.

Child labour represents one of the greatest dangers for children's rights globally. 

It is a more critical problem in developing nations such as Pakistan where 12 million children are estimated to be victims of child labour. 

This piece will examine why Pakistan's socioeconomic issues have resulted in child labour by considering

 the intricate relationship between poverty, fewer opportunities, inadequate infrastructure, and social problems.

 It will also delve deeper into those underlying causes, discuss the impacts of child labor, and offer some possible solutions to this vital problem.

Causes of Child Labour | AS Your voice |

• Poverty as a Driver of Child Labour

Poverty is the biggest driving force of child labour in Pakistan. 

A cross-sectional study carried out in Karachi from April to June 2008, 

which established the relationship between poverty and child labour, revealed that poverty was the cause of employment of approximately 83% of the nation's children.

 Poverty is increasing as the World Bank estimated that by the end of 2023, 37.2% will live

 below $3.65 a day in poverty. The rate is slightly lower than the latest estimate in 2018, standing at 39.8%. 

However, once population growth is taken into consideration, there are nearly 3 million more poor individuals nationwide than in 2018.

 The unavailability of economic resources and poor access to social welfare programs compels families 

to suspend long-term economic survival plans for their children in favor of current economic survival.

Most impoverished families depend on their children for additional income and usually send

 them out to work as domestic servants. Presently, about 264,000 children in Pakistan work as domestic workers. 

 Traditional gender roles and cultural expectations usually limit girls' access to education

, which places them in household tasks or early marriage. 

This limits the opportunities for their education, ensuring their family's cycle of poverty.

The situation of Zohra Shah was highly controversial. 

Zohra was an eight-year-old child who was sent to work as a maid to earn money for her family. 

She was brutally attacked by her employers, which later resulted in her death. 

The girl's mother, Samina Abbas revealed that the decision to send her to work was the "biggest regret" of her life.

 The father of the girl lost employment, and his sons would not work, and Zohra was left behind. 

The father desired his children to study but could not maintain their schooling costs, books and uniforms. 

The school nearest to their village was located about 10 kilometres away, and it made it even more challenging to provide their education.

Pakistan's adult unemployment and underemployment rates are an explanation for the high child labour rates of the country. 

Pakistan's unemployment rate was 6.3% during 2020-2021. Nonetheless, this is less than the unemployment rate of 6.9 % during 2018-2019.

 The unskilled labour force, who comprise the bulk of the lower socio-economic groups, are compelled to accept exploitative working conditions because of a dearth of employment opportunities and poor wages.

 Among these are the employment of overtime without pay, withholding wages, benefits and leaves, and unhygienic working conditions.

 As payment, they are subsequently compelled to utilize their children as workers to augment the household income. 

This contributes to the child labour cycle since children are used as a means of income for various families.

• Inadequate Education Infrastructure | AS Your voice |

Pakistan's weak education infrastructure tends to limit access to compulsory education, which is a major reason for child labour.

 The relationship between education and child labour reduction is well-established and widely accepted by scholars, policymakers, and international agencies.

 By providing children with the opportunity to acquire new knowledge and experience, 

education helps deter child labour by providing children with the skills and tools they need

 to break free from the cycle of exploitation and poverty. 

The net primary school enrollment rate was 65.3% in 2018, as reported by the World Bank, meaning that the majority of children aged five to sixteen were out of school.

It is hard for children to seek education in poor communities because there are no schools, classrooms, or readily available basic school materials nearby. 

For financially-strapped households, the expense of the materials that accompany sending 

children to school, including clothes, textbooks, and transport, is what keeps them 

from enrolling their children in such schools.

Over the years, some of the cases and petitions in Pakistan have underlined the importance of the right to education. 

In Syed Nazeer Agha vs Government of Balochistan (PLD 2014 Balochistan 86), the Government of Balochistan was alleged to have defaulted on its duty

 of ensuring books are made available to students of government schools in

 contravention of the right of free and compulsory primary education under Article 25-A of the Constitution. 

The Quetta High Court realized that merely building schools and providing free textbooks was not enough to make children go to school; instead, an atmosphere that fostered learning was also necessary.

Another notable case is the Human Rights Case 19360-P (2013 SCMR 54), 

wherein the intervention of the Supreme Court brought about good in the school such as enhanced staff compensation,

 additional funding for the development of infrastructure, and settlement of administrative issues.

 These measures reflect the court's dedication to upholding the right to education 

under Article 25-A of the Constitution and compelling the authorities to implement it. 

These cases bring to light the central problem of the educational infrastructure: 

merely offering free education is not enough to cater to the right under Article 25-A.

• Lack of resources and funds | AS Your voice |

Pakistan's limited financial resources for tackling child labour can be attributed to its education system as well.

 The issue with educational institutions is that they need funding in the first place in order to provide comprehensive and effective education.

 Meanwhile, due to the rapidly growing international debt and the needs of other sectors in the budget, 

Pakistan's budget has been very unstable which provides very little for crucial sectors like education.

 Regionally, Pakistan stands last in terms of public spending in education with an estimated 1.7% of GDP for 2022-2023 fiscal year,

 an improvement over 1.4% the previous year. In 2016, 3% of GDP was allocated to Pakistan's education system, 

which was the highest ever, and it has been declining to the current 1.7%. 

Consequently, schools have to turn to the parents of the currently enrolled pupils to endlessly fund the school, 

which ultimately makes the cost of education substantial, opposing the notion that it is ‘free’.

• Weak Law Enforcement | AS Your voice |

In Pakistan, child labour is facilitated by incompetently managed law enforcement. 

Though there are laws against child labour, poorly trained enforcement officials, corruption, and ignorance of the laws on the part of the employers leads to the exploitation of a child's labour.

 This abuse of law enforcement drains the legal system of educational opportunities for minors.

 An example can be drawn from the Employment of Children Act, which made it illegal for children under 14 to work when it was passed in 1991. 

Yet, from 1991 to 2022, there has been no change in the 8.2% of 10- to 14-year-olds estimated to be in the work force, or the 2.05 million child labourers.

 Children can still be legally employed because child labour is also indirectly prohibited when the basic level of education is free and compulsory. 

This law, like the other child labour laws, exists fragmented across the country and is poorly financed.

 This undercut financing is the cause of such low provision levels of schooling that children are still being employed.

Addressing child labour in Pakistan is an important concern for… The Ministry of Human Rights in Pakistan is responsible for policy formation, program implementation,

 and coordinating all efforts to combat child labour and protect the rights of children.

 It is accountable for all child rights activities and further efforts are needed to curb child labour effectively.

Solutions | AS Your voice |

• Strengthening Legislation and Enforcing Laws

The establishment and implementation of effective legal and policy mechanisms are a significant measure in the battle against child labour. 

Even though Pakistan has enacted detailed laws and policies against child labour, 

the failure to implement them is the primary reason for its persistence.

There has been a rise of various provincial legislation enacted by the four provincial assemblies in the country. A number of laws have been enacted in a bid to prevent the practice of child labour. 

For instance, in the state of Punjab, the Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act 2004 places a positive obligation on the provincial government to 

create child protection institutions for 'destitute and neglected children', and to look after their welfare where their parents or guardians cannot do so, or if they are orphaned children.

 This category encompasses a number of children who are vulnerable to abuse, such as child labourers.

Pakistan must take a leaf from other nations like Egypt, 

which has come up with a National Action Plan to eliminate child labour by 2025. 

Pakistan too must take a cue from this. Egypt also organized an awareness campaign for over 40 families across different migrant groups in Cairo and 87 children. 

This was coordinated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Egypt to mark the World Day Against Child Labour, 

and aimed at raising awareness of children's rights while looking into means of preventing exploitation, maintaining environmental sustainability, 

and advocating for the importance of mental health and well-being for parents and children alike. 

These measures could be enacted in Pakistan to create awareness regarding the ill effects of child labour,

 and formulate a viable strategy (apart from law drafting) to counteract its incidence.

Guaranteeing Accessible and Quality Education

Through making high-quality education accessible, 

Pakistan can lower the total of children caught in child labour significantly by making sure they finish their primary schooling.

 This will need to involve a significant realignment of the share of the state budget that goes towards education.

 

Offering free and compulsory schooling to all children, 

including those from marginalized groups, ought to be at the forefront of Pakistan's agenda. This requires investment in teacher training and curriculum development, 

and educational infrastructure.

 With the presently low priority which is given to public sector education,

 Pakistan has to rethink and reprioritize its budgetary spending 

if it is committed to controlling child labour.

• Role of NGOs and International Organisations

Due to the state's failure to prioritise education, 

international and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have had to fill the gap. 

Their support and aid will need to be continued by being accessed by the state. 

For instance, the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) is Pakistan's

 foremost organization advocating children rights at a local level,

 which includes the struggle against child labour.

 SPARC collaborates with International Labour Organisation (ILO) to offer children's protection services in Pakistan.ILO 

advocates for social justice and internationally accepted human and labour rights. Ever since its establishment, 

Pakistan has played a pivotal and active role as an ILO member and 

has ratified 36 ILO conventions, of which eight are fundamental conventions. 

Two of these basic conventions include the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 

(No. 182) and the Minimum Age Convention (No. 138), 

which are essential tools for states to establish effective legal frameworks.

 In its report of 2018 on the Minimum Age Convention, 

the ILO Committee of Experts showed satisfaction with regard to certain legislative reforms in Pakistan. 

The government had communicated that it had tabled draft laws in the Islamabad Capital Territory, 

Balochistan, and Sindh provinces to introduce a minimum age of employment of 

at least 14 years and determine dangerous working activities. 

The Committee called upon the government to make efforts to have these draft 

laws enacted in all other provinces of Pakistan.

Also, the Committee requested the government to provide for the proper enforcement of these laws and for measures to prevent child labour in the whole nation. 

If law and order agencies act effectively, then this child labour can easily be eliminated.

 NGOs are trying to educate children and are combating child labour. 

By such compliance with the ILO's advice and ongoing dedication to the ILO's core causes, 

therefore, Pakistan can establish a sound legal and policy framework to prevent child labour. 

The engagement of support from NGOs and international agencies can help considerably 

enhance Pakistan's ability towards reducing its prevalence.

• Social Welfare Programs

In order to avert parents from resorting to forcing children to work, 

the government can provide income support programmes to poor families.

 An illustration of this is through the establishment of social protection programmes.

 Pakistan can invest in and establish adult skill development programmes,

 employment generation, and income support.

 Offering individuals unemployment allowances, vocational school and other such amenities 

would give an avenue to families to ultimately climb out of poverty by 

reducing financial pressures on families and decreasing dependency on child labor

. This will also involve realigning quite substantial budgets and creating a social protection plan.

• Capacity-Building

Enforcement and monitoring mechanisms have to be enhanced in Pakistan in order to effectively eradicate child labour. 

The government should finance training and capacity development of labour inspectors 

in order to detect and address child labour violations.

 Law enforcement agencies, civil society organizations,

 and communities can enhance the effectiveness of monitoring activities. 

Public awareness campaigns can be very effective in educating 

the public on the ill effects of child work and promoting social responsibility.

Pakistan can enact legislation, educate labor inspectors, 

and ensure follow-ups by monitoring and enforcement arrangements, amongst others.

 Pakistani government, similar to other developing nations like Nigeria, Fiji, Mali and Sri

 Lanka, can make an Action Pledge like it did in 2021. 

The action pledges of all these nations were towards scaling up and deepening the legal framework in the context of child labour. 

In Sri Lanka, it also raised the age of working to 16 and in Mali, 

the government intended to hire new labour inspectors,

 offer technical assistance to NGOs, and eliminate the worst forms of child labour in the nation. 

This is followed by a release of an annual report on work that has been done during the year.

Conclusion  | AS Your voice |

Child labour has been and remains a gigantic problem that Pakistan is finding it difficult to overcome.

 Comprehensive solutions like closing loopholes in the law, 

implementing the law, providing high-quality education,

 improved monitoring, involving NGOs and foreign organisations and

 learning best practices from other nations are needed to tackle this problem. 

A proper identification of the socio-economic issues that are besetting the country and are bound to result in child labour is also needed. 

By creating and applying the above solutions, Pakistan can strive to eliminate child labour. 

However, one should recognize the challenge in applying these solutions within the short-term future. 

Therefore, Pakistan has to try to create a long-term plan to eliminate child labour, 

as it entails a range of decisions to be undertaken at different levels of state bureaucracy.

3. Internal Links (more from “AS Your Voice”)

• The Importance of Education in Breaking Poverty Cycles
  
• Why Civic Responsibility Matters for Social Change
  

• Mental Health: The Silent Social Issue
  

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Child labour is not just a statistic it’s a story of broken dreams. 

Let’s raise awareness, support education, and be the voice these children need. 

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