Child labor in Pakistan and its solution (2024)

FAQs

What is Pakistan doing to stop child labour? ›

The Government of Pakistan is committed to eliminating child labour. It has ratified core International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions related to child labour: the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No.

1938: The U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act restricted hours and types of jobs for individuals under age 16. 1973: The Minimum Age Convention, ratified by 172 countries, established the minimum age for employment with some exceptions.

Education provides children with the necessary knowledge and awareness so they are empowered to understand their rights and can recognize situations of labor exploitation. Children attending school know how to identify when they are being deprived of their rights and when to seek help.

Challenge. Children in Pakistan are vulnerable to many forms of violence (physical, psychological, sexual) and exploitation, including economic exploitation and child trafficking.

Pakistan has passed laws in an attempt to limit child labour and indentured servitude, but those laws are universally ignored. Some 11 million children, aged four to fourteen, keep the country's factories operating, often working in brutal and squalid conditions.

These jobs aren't only extremely hazardous; they keep millions of children out of school and stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty. UNICEF estimates that there are 158 million children working today. That's one in six children worldwide.

Poverty. 'Poverty is certainly the greatest single force driving children into the workplace. ' When families cannot afford to meet their basic needs like food, water, education or health care, they have no choice but to send their children to work to supplement the household income.

Minors must be at least 14 years of age to obtain a work permit. Work permits can be deemed by the school superintendent. A new work permit must be issued each time the minor changes employment. Within 3 days of termination of employment the work permit shall be returned to the issuing authority.

The federal child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) were enacted to ensure that when young people work, the work is safe and does not jeopardize their health, well-being or educational opportunities.

How many hours can a 16 year old work in Alabama? ›

No more than 8 hours per day No more than 6 days per week No more than 40 hours per week Not before 7am or after 9pm each day No more than 6 days per week No more than 18 hours per week Minors 16-17-18 years old who are enrolled in public or private school, may NOT work after 10pm or before 5am on an night preceding a ...

Frustrated reformers and legislators sought to outlaw child labor through a constitutional amendment. This, too, failed. An attempt by President Franklin Roosevelt to eliminate child labor via executive action through the National Industrial Recovery Act also was defeated when that law was found unconstitutional.

As we show, available evidence suggests that investment in expanding free education of good quality, extending social safety nets, improving the governance of labour markets and the functioning of family enterprises, and strengthening social dialogue and legal protections hold a great deal of promise for eliminating ...

Education was still too costly or unavailable. Access to food was still a primary concern, and their families still lived in poverty. So, the children found new, often more dangerous work, breaking rocks, pulling rickshaws, hustling on street corners — or in prostitution.

We recommend that the duration of work should not be more than four hours a day for a child with two days off per week. The labour employers should be communicated the guidelines of work and punishment should also be framed for those who do not follow.

The government has established laws and regulations related to child labor (Table 4). However, gaps exist in Pakistan's legal framework at federal and provincial level to adequately protect children from the worst forms of child labor, including the minimum age for work and for hazardous work.

As a federal policy, Pakistan's government has banned hazardous labor under age 14, military service under 18, and implemented compulsory education to age 16. In addition, Pakistan has legally abolished all child labor in forced or indentured servitude, something that did play a role in the nation's past.

Article 25(1) of the Pakistani Constitution states that “all citizens are equal before law and entitled to equal protection of law”. Article 37(a) of the Convention states that “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.