Children at work

The International Day Against Child Labour observed earlier this month is a reminder that far too many children are forced to work and earn money in order to augment family incomes or because small enterprises cannot afford to hire adults. According to statistics presented by the ILO, there are 168 million children around the world who work. Around 85 million of these children work in hazardous areas. This is millions and millions too many. While a growing number of countries are ratifying ILO conventions against child labour and companies are increasingly conscious of the need to eliminate work by children, the fact is that under the current circumstances, in our nation and in others, it seems likely that children will need to labour on for some time. While 3.3 million children under 14 are officially stated by Pakistan to be in the workplace, the actual figure could be significantly higher.

Worryingly, work by children in informal sectors – including agriculture and as domestic help – is not counted in these figures. The millions of children engaged in these spheres of unrecognised labour are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. It is also true that everywhere children work because they tend to be paid less than adults. The profits then are higher – but then so too are the costs. We need to find a way to break the cycle. Innovative suggestions such as promoting work opportunities for adult women in families who could replace children as earners within households have been suggested. The initiatives begun by international organisations and taken forward by local ones to offer education at the workplace have also gained ground. But far more is necessary to remove children from areas of work where they are at risk; in fact, from all areas of work. This includes mining, where regulation is poor, brick kilns, farm labour and many forms of factory labour. The health and lives of children are at risk every day because they must go out to work in order to help families survive. We have to find an alternative. We owe this to the children of our country and to the future of the nation which needs educated people if it is to climb above its present mountain of difficulties.