Causes of Child Labour
Child labor today is an outcome of a multitude of socio-economic factors and has its roots in poverty, lack of opportunities, high rate of population growth, unemployment, uneven distribution of wealth and resources, outdated social customs and norms, and a plethora of other factors. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the daily income of 65.5% of people of Pakistan is below 2 U.S. dollars a day. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, 47 million people in Pakistan are leading lines below the line of poverty, whereas the Social Policy Development Centre (SDPC) Karachi has stated in one of its reports that the ratio of poverty in Pakistan was 33% during 1999 that increased in 2001 and reached 38%. The ratio of poverty in the current year is around 30%.
Consider the point that if 30% of our country’s total population is leading life below the poverty-line wherein 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 Laborers or workers in order to survive. Another reason for Child Labor in Pakistan is that our people don’t have the security of social life. There is no aid plan or allowance for children in our country. The class-based education system is another reason for increasing child Labor; villages lack standardized education systems and as a result, child Labor is on increase in rural areas. The government has not put its laws into practice to stop child labor in our country. Employers after exploiting child Labor, extract a large surplus, whereas child Labor, despite increasing poverty, unemployment, and other problems, is pressed to do anything and everything for their livelihood and the survival of their families.
