Child Labor In Pakistan

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015 Last Modified: 01 May 2017

The factor of engaging a child below 15, to some work rather than sending them to school is called child labor. Child labor all over the world has increased speedily in the recent years. There is no exact information regarding child labor. In most developing countries of world, mostly children are working on the places that are auto mobile workshops, weaving industries, domestic servants, restaurants and in many industries in Pakistan. In other forms of work, it has seen that children are begging which they have to make for their masters.

Lack of awareness and illiteracy are the main causes between parents who avoid sending their children to school. Mostly child labors are from alliterate families. Mainly three forms of child labor are

Non-exploitative child labor mean any work done by a children which is hazardous, harmful for their health, or harmful for their mental, physical or social development and stop to get education. Some hazard conditions are working in mines, working with dangerous machinery and working with chemicals.

Hired child labor mean children which are preferred by employers because they are cheaper as compare to adult. In many works child labor are more active like they have more speed to do work and their eyesight is sharper than any adult person.

Bound child labor is performing in which owner give high interest loans to labors in exchange for long term work or when a person children or any family member takes a debt against any work.

Labor may also be categorized according to the nature of job. Domestic servants, the child worker who are working in carpet industry, the children who work on shops, canteens, general store as salesman, the children who are working in the workshop using light machines like tools, tailoring or embroidery and children who are working in heavy workshops tough labor that is light labor.

Children are working in different sectors of countries in different ways, types and in professions some of them are agriculture sector, cotton industry, flower industry , domestic labor, brick kilns, fireworks, cigarette rolling, construction, mining, forestry, manufacturing, retail and service industry, stone quarries, sugarcane, toys, slavery, child soldiers, jewelry making, news, sweatshops, restaurants, fishing, factories, carpets weavers, farm works, and trafficking.

"Child labor in Pakistan is the employment of children for work in Pakistan, leading to mental, physical, moral and social harm to children. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated in the 1990s that 11 million children were working in the country, half of those under the age of ten. In 1996, the median age for a child entering the work force was seven, down from eight years old 2 years prior. It was estimated that one quarter of the country's work force was made up of child laborers" (Wikipedia)

"Child Labor by Numbers are 218 million children worldwide are child laborers, 73 million working children are less than 10 years old, 126 million are estimated to work in the worst forms of child labor, one in every 12 of the world's five to 17 years olds, 8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labor, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities, 2.5 million children work in the developed economies, 22,000 children die every year in work-related accidents, 127 million working children are in the Asia Pacific region. Nearly one third of children in Sub-Saharan Africa work" (Child Labour Public Education Project)

"Child labor is a significant phenomenon, large in scope, and with very important social and economic implications. It takes a variety of forms, from children working on family farms or in family businesses to children engaged in sweatshop labor, prostitution, armed conflict, or other illicit activity. It also has serious implications on human capital accumulation and in perpetuating poverty and therefore is closely linked to progress against the MDGs, especially the goal of achieving universal primary education. Given the connections between child labor and schooling, the efforts of the Education for All partnership will not be fully successful without addressing child labor." (Gordon Betcherman, 2004)

"Child labor 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, and mining and in services such as newsies. Some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labor laws, the incidence rates of child labor fell."(encyclopedia)

"One-third of the working children are literate, which shows that mere completion of primary education is not an effective deterrent to child labor. School enrolment indicates that economically active children who are not enrolled in school (34.2 per cent) are higher than economically active children combined with school (13.2 per cent). This shows that enrolment is negatively correlated with the involvement of children in economic activity. Education attainment is low because of limited opportunities resulting from inaccessibility of schools; inability of parents to afford schooling costs; irrelevance of school curriculum to real needs, and restrictions on girls' mobility in certain parts of the country." (ILO, 2009)

"Child is not born for work rather to study, but wall of encumbrance either in financial term, economic term or in social term made him compelled for labor work. Understanding real economics of child labor can have better policy to tackle this issue. Asia has a large number of child domestic workers. These include children working as child minders, maids, cooks, cleaners, gardeners and general house-helps. The lack of information is major cause of not having thorough analysis of incidence and nature of child domestic workers in many Asian countries. However, there is not a significant reduction in child labor participation, especially in Asia." (htt12)

"Child labor has been acknowledged as a serious and challenging issue in the civilized societies around the globe. Its continued existence remains a source of concern for all segments of human society. Different socio-economic factors can be held responsible for the prevailing poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, lack of family planning, dissatisfaction about education system, absence of social security mechanism and many others. Now it is the responsibility of the government to provide children with their rights and to protect them from all sorts of exploitation, because the future of mankind and civilization lies in children. Their protection from physical and social hazards is a pre-requisite for proper development of children to ensure future progress and prosperity of mankind." (Khan)

Objective of the Study

The aim of this study is to determine the factors responsible for child labor in Pakistan and to find out the problems which affect the children to do work in early age in which all children are going to schools and play. Another aim if research is to know that what are the factors due to which a child in enforced to be a child labor in Pakistan. The objective of the study is to find out variables and factor due to which child labor occur or what are the causes behind child labor, why children do work in small age and the forms of the child labor in the country. The main three variables behind child labor are poverty, inflation and unemployment in the country which are somewhere cause of child labor. The primary object of this study is to estimate the effect of poverty, literacy, inflation and unemployment on the occurrence of child labor. So

HYPOTHESIS

The study would be based on following hypothesis; these hypothesis have been develop after reviewing the relevant literature

To analyze the effect of poverty on child labor

H1: Effect of poverty on child labor is significant

H1o: Effect of poverty on child labor is in-significant

To analyze the effect of Literacy on child labor

H2: Effect of inflation on child labor is significant

H2o: Effect of literacy on child labor is in-significant

To analyze the effect of inflation on child labor

H2: Effect of inflation on child labor is significant

H2o: Effect of inflation on child labor is in-significant

To analyze the effect of Unemployment on child labor

H3: Effect of Unemployment on child labor is significant

H3o: Effect of Unemployment on child labor is in-significant

Chapter # 2

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Child is a person 14 years and below.

Child labor is a permanent employment of children under the age of legal minimum. Worldwide total numbers of child labor (5-14 ages) are 250 million and almost half of them 120 million are working full-time.

"According to The ILO and the ETI Base Code state that a child is any person younger than 15 years of age, unless local minimum age law stipulates a higher age for work or mandatory schooling, in which case the higher age shall apply. If however, local minimum age law is set at 14 years." (Ethical Trade Insentive, 2012)

"According to the United Nations, a "child" is any person under the age of 18. Specific labor laws may consider people under the age of 16 children for legal purposes, and in some countries the cut off may be even lower, around 12 or 14. Statistics on this type of labor usually focus on children between the ages of five and 14, because many nations in which child labor are a problem have laws which allow people to work full time after the age of 14."(wise greek)

"Child labor 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, and mining and in services such as newsier. Some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labour laws, the incidence rates of child labor fell."(encyclopedia)

The worst forms of child labor. In all over the world there are an expected 218 million child laborers, which a in between the ages 5 to 17. A number of 126 million of these children work in hazardous conditions such as: Working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture, working with dangerous machinery, Forced and bonded labor, Armed conflict, Sexual exploitation and child pornography, illegal activities.

Gender differences in child work activities:

Activity

Gender differences

House cleaning

Only girls

Collecting ¬re wood/ dry cow dung to sell

Both boys and girls but more commonly girls

Cleaning

Both boys and girls

Cooking food

Only girls

Child care

Both boys and girls but mostly girls

Mini-bus conductors, household maids,

Mini-bus conductors are commonly boys, housemaids

Loading goods on pack animals for market

but commonly boys

construction child labour

commonly boys

Waiters, kitchen hands in restaurants

Both girls and boys engage in work in cuisine, cleaning dishes in restaurants

Apprentices in garages/ workshops

Only boys work as apprentices in garages

Working as a porter

Boys do more brokering, working as porters

Causes of Child Labor:

Poverty

Children work for a variety of reasons. The major reason is poverty. Poverty is the lack of food, shelter, money and clothing that occurs when people cannot satisfy their basic needs. Poverty can be understood only lack of money or most of them in terms of barriers in everyday life. At certain levels of poverty in developing countries, child labor could play a useful role in the economic survival, which increases national economic development.

The unequal attention of poverty between children compared to adults demands reason and attention. Child labor causes poverty because when a child is employed he takes a place of an adult job, so there is decrease in adult income in the industry. And when the child is without education and they do work so there is no possibility of escaping from poverty. Poverty in the country is the main cause of child labor which forces the parents to send their children to work. Poor Families which face the poverty force their children to work for extra income for their household's. Poor families like to have more children and when the income of an individual one in not enough then they force their little children to go for work anywhere they have. A large number of members represent a financial need for families suffering from poverty; parents are forced to send their children to work to earn extra income.

Lack of education

Between the poorer parts of society is also most important cause for children to start working before time. Necessary education is not free in all countries and in many countries it is not available for all children, especially in rural areas. So if there are schools in some areas there is poor education or where education is expensive parents observe no value in education field then due to this situation parents send their children to work rather than schools. Children are mostly encouraged to work by their parents. Uneducated and unaware people never think about child labor and they are also unaware of the dangerous physical and mental pain of children. When parents agree to their children to go work, it affects their chances to go school. Schooling problems also contribute to child labor. Many times children search for employment just because there is no access to schools. Even as the parents cannot afford for their children to be educated nor do they understand the importance of primary education in children lives. Or Due to insufficient educational facilities many families think that school won't help their children survive.

Gender inequity

Means gender differences which refer to inequality between persons due to gender. The encouragement of gender equality means give equal opportunities to boys and girls, and men and women. Social thoughts towards girls and women are most important cause of child labor effect on child to do work because women are not allowed to go outside from home for any work. The encouragement of equality between girls, boys, men and women. Child labor is work which subjects children to use and abuse.

Lack of unemployment

Lack of unemployment of adults and when the adults are not in position to do work like disable adults or ill adults or death member of the family.

Demand for child labor

Demand for child labor is increasing day by day for cheap labor which is also a cause of child labor. Market demand of child labor cause strong demand by many companies because they want to win large market share. So children are considered as a cheap source of labor which provides an opportunity to increase earnings. And Demand for cheap labor by contractor's means that children are often offered in the workplace of their parents. With limited margins of this type, such as contractors and farmers make game owners know that children can be exploited and forced to work for less than minimum wage.

Escape from home

This may also factor or cause of child labor. When a child escapes from home he may have many reasons like

Bad temper of the parents, because generally the insufficient salary of fathers provides lack of basic human needs to their families which create a frustration and anger in the members of family after that it turn to the attitude of fathers or head of family in harsh or strict due to which a child prefer to leave from the home in search of his own comforts, it might be physical or mantel. And when a child leaves the home he faces different problems of necessities so that why he have to do any work to survive.

Company of other children plays an important role in child grooming because the company of friend makes a child manner able and social. It is psychological fact that surroundings affect individual's behaviors and attitudes and the habits of child is also depend on the company of family and friends. Usually negative activities between the children create negative impact on child personality. Due to this sometime the passion of negative activities level become high and serious for a children future. In these situations the strictness from home and school enforce children to escape.

Behaviors of the teachers at schools also plays very important role in child life. Because teachers are the builders of nation. But in our society the way of teaching is quite harsh and the methods of teaching are also useless. Mostly children are punished physically for their minor mistakes which create unfriendly atmosphere then due to these type of behavior of teachers impact bad impression on children and force child to runaway. And after those majority children get negative feedback from home as well so they escape.

Attractions beyond the home also cause of child labor because it is the human nature that a person mostly tends toward those things which they don't have. And these types of want are found in children. In some cases due to some reasons parents are unable to provide the needs of their children so this also lead to child to escape for necessities.

Political Crises

Political crises and political issues Sometimes have caused violence, rallies, strikes, civil wars, terrorism and armed conflicts due to which there is a political and economic instability in the country so adults are unable to do work or jobs or in some other situations children have to do work for their needs.

Overpopulation

Large family sizes and over population are main factors which cause child labor. The basic cause of child labor is high population growth-rate, particularly in Third World countries. According to Wikipedia.org, "Pakistan has increased its ranking from 7 to 6th in the list of most populous countries of the world. The figures are based on a July 1, 2007 estimate by the UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs, Population Division.

Industrial revolution

Revolution in industries plays role for child labor. Sometimes multinationals prefer to use child labor in developing countries due to industrial revolution and these which encourages multinationals to use child workers which cause a negative impact on children. Due to all these reasons child labor recruited for less pay, they take extra work from them and there is no problem of union in industry as well. This situation is also difficult for adults to find jobs and send their children for work.

Impact on Child Labor:

Immature and inexperienced child laborers might be totally unaware of the short and long term risks involved in their work. Children who work frequently face serious health problems due to continuous work in hazardous conditions. The employers also don't care at all about child labor that are unhealthy and carry on working for long time with a tiny or no break. Child laborers are mostly without a basic education, regular social interaction, and emotional support from their family.

Lifetime physical and emotional hurt to the child. Their mental health also crushes. Mostly children face mental trauma when they reach to maturity.

Children that cannot find work to feed big families choice to begging on the streets and in many cases child labor also killed or become victim of prostitution. And in many cases children turn in to thieves only because they need rapid money on which their families are depended.

It also has a negative impact on the benefit of the country. Because these children do not get any education, and increasing literacy, and slow down the country's economic growth in general, reflecting the weakness of human development.

Girls who work as home servants away from their homes, sometimes in different Middle Eastern countries, are common victims of mental, physical and sexual abuses which cause shocking consequences on their physical condition.

Some circumstances which are faced by the child are dangerous workplaces, full time work in early age, loss of education and future opportunities, too much working hours subjection to verbal, physical, psychological and sexual abuse, limited or no pay, no way to get education, powerless to run away from poverty cycle they do work in streets in bad conditions.

Illegal Activities

Now a day's children have strong involvement in illegal activities like the production and trafficking of drugs. Trafficking is illegal activity of buying and selling of drugs in which a lot of children are involved. Mostly children may do these activities because they belief that this will give them money and status. Children who do this work take great risk of abuse and are addicted of drugs in early age. And then these children also doing other crimes like robbery, theft, mugging, hijacking, and the children may also do this for their gangs or for their family. These all activities by children are also done due to poverty. And also affect their mental and physical growth.

Hypothetical Model and Variables under Consideration

Literacy

Inflation

Unemployment

Poverty

Child Labor

LITERATURE REVIEW

(Dessy, 2003), "Shows the Harmful forms of child labor have an economic role: by maintaining wages for child labor high enough, they allow human capital accumulation in poor countries. Unless appropriate mechanisms are designed to mitigate the decline in child labor wages caused by reduced employment options for children, a ban on harmful forms of child labor will likely prove undesirable. Poverty alleviation techniques would eliminate that segment of the worst forms of child labor. A food-for-education program, however, might help boost support for a ban on harmful forms of child labor. Because it relaxes the liquidity constraint of the poor, this food-for-education program may induce more time spent at school, which may be sufficient to offset the negative effects of the sudden increase in the supply of child laborers We perform our analysis within a simple model of parental investment in children's education."

(Ebudhia) Wrote "Child labor is the worst from of child exploitation. It is widespread all over the world. About seventy-three million children belonging to the age group of ten to fourteen years are engaged in child labor all over the globe. Illiteracy of the parents, large families, need of additional income and poverty are the chief causes of the exploitation of child labor. Parents are indirectly responsible for this. Childhood is the foundation of one's career. At this stage, children should be sent to schools, not to work. Child labor lowers the wage rates of adult laborers. Employers exploit children due to their docile nature and their willingness to do monotonous jobs. They face health problems. Several programmed have been undertaken both at the national and international level to check and stop this practice. The people should also help the government in its efforts to tackle this problem."

(Sanjeeta) Wrote that, "Child labor is, no doubt, an evil that should be done away with at the earliest. The prevalence of child labor reflects very badly on society that is not able to stop this evil. But in a society where many households may have to suffer the pangs of hunger if the children are withdrawn from work, beggars can't be choosers. These families have to send their children to work, even if the future of these innocents is ruined, as that is the only choice open for them to survive in this world. Therefore, unless the socio-economic status of the poor families is improved, India has to live with child labor."

(Sparc, 2012) Said that, "Negligence on part of the government and parents, corporal punishment, poverty and poor law and order situation, especially in Fata, are the major factors behind child labor. After 18th constitutional amendment, child labor has become the legislative and administrative domain of the provincial governments," "Children are being abused verbally, physical and sexually in factories, homes and streets, while many of them suffer from fatal ailments," he said, adding that 85 per cent of child labor in the country worked in automobile sector. Working children were being used by militants in suicide attacks across the country. He complained that Child Protection Units in district levels were ineffective, and urged the government to conduct proper surveys to know facts and figures about child labor for necessary action by NGOs."

According to (ILO, 2002), "Despite the increasing commitment by governments and their partners to tackle child labor worldwide, it remains a problem on a massive scale," said Juan Somavia, Director-General of the ILO. "While there has been significant progress towards the effective abolition of child labor, the international community still faces a major uphill struggle against this stubbornly pervasive form of work that takes a tragic toll on millions of children around the world." It also says a lack of law enforcement, and the desire on the part of some employers for a cheap and flexible workforce worsens the situation. "The effective abolition of child labor is one of the most urgent challenges of our time and should be a universal goal."

(FASIH, 1998) The study has attempted to classify the supply side of determinants of child labor in Pakistan. The scholars have used the sample of 14,094 children from Punjab (Pakistan) in the age group of 5-14 years obtained from the child labor survey 1996. The study examines the supply side determinants of child labor by using the multinomial logit model. The study concluded that

The possibility of going to school increases at a decreasing rate

The children who join school with work remain in school for a longer period

The possibility of becoming full time child worker increase with age

The possibility of females children mostly in the labor force shows that females are 4.7 percent less likely to attend school

Children who have taken some technical or professional training are more likely to become child laborers and start work at an early age

Mother's literacy plays a positive role in schooling decision for female children. The girls who have literate mothers are 18 percent more likely to get to school moreover female children of literate mothers are 14 percent less likely to become child laborer

The period in life cycle of the head of the family of expected to have a important effect in the case of schooling work choice. The older the head of family, the more likely it is that the child attend school

Siblings of less than 4 years have negative effect on schooling and part time work and siblings in between the age group of 5-9 years has negative effect on part tome work."

According to (Tesfay, 2003), "Drawing upon the historical experience of advanced industrial countries, both legal restrictions and economic factors played a role in reducing child labour, although legislation appears to have been less significant. The process of industrialization may have initially increased the demand for and the scope of children's work, however the long run economic impact of the industrial revolution resulted in its eventual elimination. Thus an increase in the aggregate number of child workers is expected to be transitory. The declining importance of children in industry combined with increasing female wage rates and the rising price of child rearing inputs, all contribute to the rising cost of child quantity and the decline in child demand. Moreover, a decline in the economic value of children in the home and in agriculture will increase the cost of children, in turn, reducing the demand for them. These factors also reduce the cost of quality and increase the demand for these commodities relative to quantity. Thus, it is the long-run economic forces of technological change, rising income, the higher price of raising children and the corresponding declining relative cost of child quality that explain the changing economic role of children over time."

According to (Rena, 2006), "Education and child labor is the second Millennium Goal to achieve universal primary education before 2015. This is an objective based on the UNESCO Declaration on Education for All and is defined as ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling. The duration of primary education will vary from country to country with an absolute minimum of 5 years from the age of 7 to the age of 12. The definition of child labor foresees however that the education or vocational training should continue to at least the age of 14 or 15. In countries where primary education only includes 5 years, one will see a high number of economically active children in the age group of 12 to 14, many of whom will be child laborers. As stated earlier, education is seen a right for all children and as a way for individuals and societies to develop. Given economic development, the return to education is proven to be very high for individuals. However, many developing countries will not be able to meet this objective in the short time frame. Hence child labor will remain a serious challenge to the MDG. Child labor also affects school performance as children miss important lessons and fall behind academically. This creates a burden not only on the individual child but also on the entire education system."

According to (Khan), "That child is the demand of employers. Alongside factors which push children into earning money are others which pull children into the world of work. Cheap and well-trained with reasonably low wages paid to children are often a reason why employers prefer them to adult workers. Some children work unpaid, particularly as domestic workers, in conditions that would be denounced as "slavery" if they involved adults. Employers find children more obedient and easier to control. Unlike older workers, they are unlikely to initiate protests or form trade unions. Poor infrastructure is another factor that shows the practical difficulty of establishing a child's actual age in countries where the infrastructure may not be in place for e.g. systematic birth registration. This can disadvantage children in many ways. The role of education is also factor that children who receive little or no school education miss out on the knowledge that can create options for them later in life. Without it, they make less contribution as adults and are more exposed to exploitation and abuse. Not attending school is consequently both a cause and effect of child labor."

According to (Udry, 2003), "Lessons for policies that can move children from work to school is also a cause of child labor. He wrote that Child labor should be understood as the consequence of people coping with extreme circumstances. It is a result of current poverty and a cause of continued poverty for the children who sacrifice their education in order to work. It is a particularly insidious problem because its primary costs are long-delayed and realized by the child, while the benefits are immediate and directly affect decision-makers within the household.

The ultimate instrument for the elimination of excess child labor is the alleviation of poverty. The evidence is indisputable child labor as a mass phenomenon disappears when the population moves out of poverty. Dysfunctional financial markets are an important cause of child labor. Child labor would be dramatically reduced if parents could finance their children's exit from the labor force and entry into schooling from the increased future earnings of the child. Unfortunately, extremely well functioning credit markets are required to make this kind of transaction feasible. The lag between the investment in child education and the return to that investment in the adult labor market is measured in decades, not months. There is little immediate prospect for improvements in financial markets accessible to the poor in developing countries of the order of magnitude required for such long term transactions"

According to (PMC, 2002), "Non-governmental organizations have an advocacy role and can work with communities to develop local leaders who can then prevent children going into hazardous employment. Many non-governmental organizations also provide services for children who have been traumatized by child labor. The effects of labor on the health of child workers, which are not conducive to randomized controlled trials. The day to day misery of many child workers remains hidden. The scientific community has a key role in determining the consequences for children, bringing this misery to light, and exerting pressure to effect policy change. Certain groups of child workers, such as domestic servants, have been almost ignored. Researchers need to work in close cooperation with national and local government and non-governmental organizations if they wish to reach children who are difficult to reach, and change adverse working practices. Considerable scope exists for researcher institutions in economically developed countries to link with similar institutions in countries where most child lab our takes place. Research with child workers should be action based so that investigation goes hand-in-hand with better support services. The greatest power for change lies in the hands of international policy makers and national governments. A pilot initiative has been launched in Pakistan with support from the European Community and the International Labor Organization's international programmed on the elimination of child labor. The comprehensive programmed includes direct action with families, law enforcement, social and educational welfare, and the strengthening of non-governmental organizations. It remains to be fully reported."

According to (Nazir, 2011) "Doing labor jobs in an early age destroy their personality and keep them away from education and consequently they are deprived from a good future. Lack of parental education is another big reason which causes children to go out and work for earning a livelihood for their families. These children earn approximately 100 to 300 rupees a day and help their families to keep their life going. The most pathetic picture of the situation is that these children are completely unaware about the damage they are doing to themselves or their parents are doing to them. The violators of the law, who are employing children to run their business, should be punished with iron hands."

According to (Naseem), "History shows that replacement of child labor with universal education contributes towards economic growth. While education is pivotal for development, child labor depicts an under investment in education and thereby in the future of nation. The universal completion of free education of good quality has been identified as the key to economic growth. Hence, 246 million children are denied their right to education as long as they continue to work. One wonders the achievement of universal education in the presence of this huge child labor force which also hinders the human capital development, which in turn is responsible for low productivity and income. The positive relationship between reduced child labor, increased school attendance and economic growth is well recognized through research studies in the developed countries. Education has played important role in rapid economic growth of many countries in East Asia."

(JÄANTTI, 1999), said that "The objective of study is variation in rates of child poverty across nations. Children are generally more likely to be poor if living with a lone mother, but variations in rates of single motherhood are not an important reason for the variations in child poverty across countries. Children are in most cases more likely to be poor than another traditionally vulnerable group, the elderly, but also here there is large variation across countries. Clearly, income transfers and the other services of the welfare state are very important for the living standards of poor children. The database of the Luxembourg Income Study is used for the measurement and result suggest that policy-makers who are seriously concerned about the economic well-being of their countries' children, need to closely and critically examine the answer to this question: Which features of labor markets best protect the living standards of children?."

According to (Woldehanna, 2005), Gender inequality and rural/urban disparities plays important role as a cause of child labor. The underlying assumption of paper is that, because labor is abundant and capital scarce, new livelihood opportunities should be labor-intensive and agriculture-based. However, given imperfect labor and credit markets, the demand for labor may in the short term be met by involving children in either paid or non-paid work. Theoretically, child labor and educational participation are the result of household decisions shaped by poverty), labor and credit market imperfections, and parental education levels. However, while this poverty hypothesis suggests that there could be a positive correlation between expenditure/wealth and child schooling, liquidity constraints and imperfect labor markets may result in the opposite relationship. The empirical data is based on a household survey and analyses national-level data on Ethiopian child labor and education. And a sample of 3115 children between 7 and 17 years of age, a multinomial logit model of child schooling and labor was developed to assess the factors associated with child schooling and labor for rural and urban Ethiopia in selected regions. These quantitative findings were complemented by qualitative research. Conclusion is that there is an urgent need to consider the extent to which poverty reduction approaches are actually leading to an increase in child labor and/or caregiver's labor which may in turn have a negative impact on child education and general wellbeing."

"Child labor has assumed endemic proportions in Pakistan. Statistics are unreliable, but the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) last year estimated the number of Pakistani working children to be "realistically in the region of 11-12 million." At least half these children are under the age of ten. Despite a recent series of laws prohibiting child labor and agreement servitude, children make up a quarter of the unskilled work force, and can be found in virtually every factory, every workshop, and every field. As long as children are put to work, poverty will spread and standards of living will continue to decline. The worldwide population of children fewer than fourteen who work full-time is thought to exceed 200 million. But few countries have done less to abolish or to contain the practice than Pakistan. And fewer still have a ruling class that opposes workplace reform and human rights initiatives as vigorously. The median age of children now entering the Pakistani work force is seven. Two years ago it was eight. Two years from now it may be six. In the lowest castes, children become laborers almost as soon as they can walk. Toddlers, yoked teams of three-, four-, and five-year-olds who plough, seed, and glean fields from dawn to dusk work much of the nation's farmland. On any given morning the canal banks and irrigation ditches in rural villages are lined with urchins who stand no taller than the piles of laundry they wash for their wealthier neighbors." (khan, 2004)

Chapter # 3

CHILD LABOUR IN PAKISTAN

In Pakistan child labor is a serious social problem. The progress and future of the county is depending on an educated youth. And if a child is not exactly socialized then they will not be able to grow up as a confident and literate resident.

Children in developing countries also give more time to a family than they reduce as compared to their counterparts in developed countries. The use of child labor is really a basic evolutionary period in the development of a country therefore; child labor is a fundamental factor of survival in a developing country. Among all the problems Pakistan is also facing child labor. Pakistan spends almost one-third of its funds on the services and less than 2% on education of its children. Child labor is common in Pakistan in both rural and urban localities. It mostly exits in home-based industry. Pakistan is the sixth most populous in the world, where people 155800000 classified as low-income country among South Asian countries. Due to the large population in Pakistan it has one of the major labor and manpower resources in all over the world, which is the sixth largest in the world. The total labor of Pakistan in quantity 57.2 million, which is the ninth largest country in the world having human labor force, regarding agriculture 43% labor force is working, in industrial sector 20.3% labor force is working and the remaining 36.6% are working in other services.

Children lived in Pakistan are facing a lot of different serious issues from famine, health poor access to the education facilities and access to get the education. Due to poor people and their low position in the society leave these people as a victim to every day violence in the school and at home. Especially in this case girls are mostly affected due to traditional attitudes which stop them to go to school or to complete their education.

Numbers of child labor in Pakistan are increasing with fast speed and the condition of child labor in Pakistan is not good. However there are Pakistan child labor laws are placed in the country but nobody is performing on them due to corruption and poverty. Child labor is existent in all sections of the economy but the most important sectors are manufacturing, trade transport, construction, service, agriculture and households. The carpets, footwear, surgical in Pakistan are the main export sectors. Child labor in manufacturing sector is found in sports industry, small appliance industry, surgical industry, cottage industry, chemical industry, footwear industry, carpet weaving, food processing, packing, leather tanneries, work in iron shops, crockery and furniture shops. In construction sector child are found in steel shops and stone quarry. In transport industry child labor are found in auto workshops, loaders, cleaners and service stations. In service sector child labor are mostly found in restaurants, domestic servants, mechanics paper pickers, vendors, painters and embroidery shops.

Factors of child labor in Pakistan

Poverty:

A person is considered poor if the income level of person falls below a number of levels required meet the basic needs. This minimum level is generally known as poverty line.

Absolute poverty is a level of poverty as defined in terms of the minimal requirements necessary to afford minimal standards of food, clothing, health care and shelter. For the measure to be absolute, the line must be the same in different countries, cultures, and technological levels. Such an absolute measure should look only at the individual's power to consume and it should be independent of any changes in income distribution.

Relative poverty defines "poverty" as being below some relative poverty threshold. For example, the statement that "households with an accumulated income less than 60% of the median equalized household disposable income are living in poverty" uses a relative measure to define poverty. In this system, if everyone's real income in an economy increases, but the income distribution stays the same, then the rate of relative poverty will also stay the same.

"Poverty Every third Pakistani is caught in the 'poor' bracket i.e. some 58.7 million out of a total population of 180 million subsist below the poverty line. This includes more than half the population in the forever remote Balochistan, 33 per cent in Sindh, 32 per cent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 19 per cent in Punjab. These are daunting figures. But they are much needed for planning, especially when the government appears too embarrassed to release statistics related to poverty. The Sustainable Development Policy Institute, which has carried out this economic-mapping exercise, is justified in calling for the release of government figures and for a policy to combat acute poverty. These are facts which are being kept under wraps at great peril to the country." (Newspaper, 2012)

Literacy

Literacy means individual who can read and write. A knowledgeable educated person at age of 15 and over.

According to (Razaq, 2012 ), "Pakistan ranks 113th among 120 countries regarding literacy rate, which is projected to reach 60 percent till 2015 from the existing 55 percent." Literacy rate in Pakistan is also very low which cause child labor. Most people live in villages due to which they are unable to read and write. And they don't know the importance of education which causes that child who is not able to go to school work with their parents nor do something wrong which make trouble.

Inflation

Inflation is also cause of child labor which enforces poor people to send their children for work to earn more money to obtain their needs. Inflation means when there is a rise in prices of goods. The act of inflating a little or the state of being inflated. Or increasing prices and public in the fall of purchasing power of money. So when the things are expensive and poor people don't have resources to purchase their need it cause poverty and lack of money which cause child labor.

According to (Pakonomy, 2012), "A common man in Pakistan is finding increasingly difficult to survive in this era of highly increasing prices if general items. A person from middle group bracket and that from lower income group bracket is finding difficult to gain access to even the basic necessities a family needs for survival. Items like food, education, medical care, transportation have all seen a hike upwards in their prices. The financial lurch that has gripped Pakistan leaves nominally fixed income earners and pensioners in a complete distress. The consumer price index (CPI) was recorded to be 9.6 percent in July 2012 compared to 11.3 percent in June and 12.4 percent in July 2011."

Parental Illiteracy

When parents are illiterate they do not understand the need of education for their children which turns to child labor and they don't know that proper physical, emotional and cognitive growth is too much important for a child. When they are uneducated, they do not realize the importance of education for their children. This cycle continuous to generations because of no education in the family they can't earn sufficient income and find financial difficulty of family they send their children to work.

Over population

Most of the Asian and African countries are overpopulated. Due to limited resources and more mouths to feed, Children are employed in various forms of work. Due to the large size of family members small children need to do work for their necessities.

Unemployment

Unemployment or jobless usually occur when people are without work and looking or searching for work but would like to get full time employment. Many people are unemployed in Pakistan due to many reasons. When the adults of family are jobless then they mostly send their children to work.

Forms of Child Labor in Pakistan

Child labor found in Pakistan in many forms. Children are found working in new occupations because formal sectors are decreasing and informal sectors are increasing. Greater parts of child labor are working in agriculture sector among all numbers of child labor in Pakistan. Mostly children activities are animals care, grazing, fetching water, spraying, fertilizers, collection of firewood, spraying, cooking and caring of siblings etc. the survey was found in 1996, according to that there were eight times children are working in rural areas as compared to urban areas. In urban areas children working in variety of occupations like hotels and restaurants, fishing, loading and unloading of goods, shoe shining, begging and etc.

There are also some hazard works that are dangerous for children and harmful for their physical, sexual abuse or psychological. Hazard works are like works underwater, underground, in limit spaces, work with heavy and dangerous machinery or tools, work in unhealthy environment, and work in difficult situations, dangerous heights and work for long hours.

Child Labor in Carpet Industry

Rugs are the top export product in South Asia and for poor high employment sector. Children are paid half amount as compare to adult's wages. Mostly in this sector people are child worker are working whose parents take advance loans of carpet looms work are victims of debt bondage system. According to recent research in Punjab carpet weaving found that (5-14 age) over 107,000 children are working including 59 percent girls. Around 58,000 children are (15-17 age) are also working as carpet weavers. Due to over work children suffer from many physical problems like backache, joint pains, eyesight and respiratory disorders. According to another survey it was found that many school going students were being forced to work on carpet weaving industry due to shortage of finance.

Child Labor in Surgical Industry

Sialkot city of Pakistan is well known for the manufacturing of surgical instruments as well as exports of different items which include sports goods and leather wear. Children are in more involve at different stages of manufacturing of surgical instruments because this industry need quick fingers and fast work that is only possible by child. According to the survey 30 percent child labor are working in surgical industry out off all workers. And 15 percent work force of child labor is working in the surgical industry in Sialkot. Almost all workers in this industry are male and the main tasks done by the child labor are filling, polishing, fitting, cutting, grinding and riveting. Due to low level of care children in this sector face a lot of problems include injuries from machinery, respiratory illness from inhaling poisonous metal dust and burns from hot metal.

Child Labor in Domestic Service

Child labor in domestic service is very general and acceptable. It is considered as the worst form of work in all over the world. Domestic services are mostly in home and works include cooking, baby sitting, cleaning and other small works. Domestic works are mostly done by the female child labors. Due to the long working hours children do not go to school. Domestic child labor works in all areas of country. They also have to face different type of abuses in form of verbal, physical and sexual. The wages are long as compared to working hours. Children work in difficult conditions and bare safety and health hazards. These domestic works impacts on child growth and development. And there is no improvement in their personalities.

Child Labor in Rag Picking Business

A major part of child labor are involved in picking rags in major cities of country of Pakistan like Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad and Quetta. Hazards also connect with rag picking profession. Usually children work 11 hours a day.

Child Labor in Glass Bangle Industry

In Pakistan large number of children is employed in glass bangle industry. Region Hyderabad in Sindh province is recognized for producing reactive, stunning and excellence glass bangles. In Pakistan bangles are loved by women and in several cultures bangles are must for the married women. It is used in many occasions. So bangles are in high demand in all sectors of country. This industry is playing very important role for employment and one of the main financial activity in Hyderabad Region and support nearly 30,000 families. Industries for bangles production are concentrated in urban areas of Hyderabad and most work is carried out in houses. The wages of child labor are depending on the number of bangles they produce. This type of work is also dangerous for a child and considered as a hazardous work because there is lack of medical facilities, limited financial resources. According to the survey many children in this district are working in this industry as early as six years of age.

Child Labor in Begging Profession

A large number of children are found in this profession. There are two types of child baggers the first one who is doing this as a profession and the second one is a child who is doing as a supplier for any person. There is no solution of this problem. And this profession is growing day by day, there are no time limit boys and girls are doing this in almost all places and in many cases these child labor are working for other persons or for their adults who need more money due to any reason. This profession is not good for children life.

Child Labor on the Streets

Street children are enormous problem in Pakistan. Child labor is working in multiples of work such as newspapers, flower sellers, beggars, waiters, rag picker and shoe shiners etc. they have no time limit like other child labor who are working in factories and industries who go back to home at the end of day or after work but street children do at their own or according to their boss. It is estimated that 1.2 million Childs are working in the streets of Pakistan. And large number of children is found in main cities.

(Refworld, 2002) "In 1999, the ILO estimated that 15.9 percent of children between the ages of 10 to 14 in Pakistan were working. According to a 1996 national child labor survey conducted by Pakistan's Federal Bureau of Statistics, the majority of working children are boys. A majority of working children are involved in the agricultural sector, although the manufacturing, trade, and services sectors also utilize child labor. Children are also engaged in the manufacturing of soccer balls, surgical instruments, textiles and bricks, and work in automobile workshops, and tanneries. There are reports that some children and their families suffer under a system of debt bondage in the brick kilns. Children also engage in garbage scavenging and carpet weaving, and the smuggling of contraband and drugs."

"International Labor Organization (ILO) suggests poverty is the greatest single cause behind child labor. Pakistan has a income of approximately $1900. A middle class person in Pakistan earns around $5 a day on average. The average Pakistani has to feed nine or ten people with their daily wage. Further to that there is also the high inflation rate to contend with. As of 2008, 17.2% of the total population lives below the poverty line, which is the lowest figure in the history of Pakistan. Poverty levels in Pakistan appear to necessitate that children work in order to allow families to reach their target take‐home pay. On the side of the firms, the low cost of child labor gave manufacturers a significant advantage in the Western marketplace, where they undersell their competitors from countries prohibiting child labor, often by improbable amounts." (Mashpedia)