Child Labour In Pakistan

Child Labour In Pakistan

What Child labour is?

Child labour is defined in ILO Conventions. It is work that children should not be doing because they are too young to work.

Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful.

Considerable differences exist between the many kinds of work children do. Some are difficult and demanding, others are more hazardous and even morally reprehensible. Children carry out a very wide range of tasks and activities when they work.

Child labour was employed to varying extents through most of history. Before 1940, numerous children aged 5–14 worked in Europe, the United States and various colonies of European powers. These children worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, mining and in services.

The worst form of Child Labour:

Whilst child labour takes many different forms, a priority is to eliminate without delay the worst forms of child labour as defined by Article 3 of ILO Convention No. 182:

(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;

(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;

(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;

(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. (according to ILO)

Child Labour In Pakistan:

Today Pakistan is facing a lot of social problems but some are very common in Pakistan, which

are destroying our society and also economy of Pakistan.

Child labour is a global issue. Child labour is one of the most common problems in Pakistan.   30% of our country’s total population is leading life below the poverty-line, in which the people are deprived of basic necessities of life like clothing, shelter, food,education and medication, the children of these people will be forced to become Labourers' or workers in order to survive.

Our people are not aware of the importance of education. Class-based education system is another reason for increasing child Labour as a result, child Labour is increase in rural areas.

The government has not put its laws into practice to stop child Labour in our country that’s why child labour is increasing day by day.

According to the national child labor survey, approximately 3.3 million children below 14 years are working as a labour in Pakistan. This includes both boys and girls — boys form 73 pc and the girls 27 pc of the child labour.

This scenario depicts how moderate Pakistani parents are letting their children to work as labourers in order to earn money and survive in this world.

As a result, the majority of children works overtime for Rs 50 to Rs100, which seems a matter of grave concern. What is required is that the government must take a step to solve this issue.

Awareness must be raised and parents should pay attention to the education of their children. Child Labour Laws should be strictly put into practice

Over All situation:

Child labour also is still common in many parts of the world. Estimates for child labour vary. It ranges between 250 to 304 million, if children aged 5–17 involved in any economic activity are counted. If light occasional work is excluded, ILO estimates there were 153 million child labourers aged 5–14 worldwide in 2008. This is about 20 million less than ILO estimate for child labourers in 2004. Some 60 percent of the child labour was involved in agricultural activities such as farming, dairy, fisheries and forestry. Another 25 percent of child labourers were in service activities such as retail, hawking goods, restaurants, load and transfer of goods, storage, picking and recycling trash, polishing shoes, domestic help, and other services. The remaining 15 percent laboured in assembly and manufacturing in informal economy, home-based enterprises, factories, mines, packaging salt, operating machinery, and such operations