Child Workers In Hazardous Industries in Pakistan

Abstract

This paper is the first systematic attempt at understanding the nature and extent of hazards faced by child workers in the construction and related industries, which perhaps are not only growing more rapidly but have far greater hazards than any other set of occupations in which children are employed. This study is based on a field survey of 400 child workers in 200 small-scale establishments in Lahore. Section I places the study in the overall perspective of child work in Pakistan. An estimate of the total number of child workers in the country is made, the latest legislation on child labour discussed and the working conditions of children in the major occupations are analysed. Section II is devoted to a discussion of the specific working conditions of children in the construction and related industries, based on gleaning the available secondary sources. In Section III the evidence of our own field survey which is focussed on the issue of hazards faced by working children in the construction and related industries is presented. The major hazards in addition to sexual abuse and employer violence against child workers are examined on the basis of quantitative data. The numbers of casualties resulting from each type of hazard and in each type of industry are indicated. An attempt is made to construct a standardised index of hazards so as to assess the degree to which a particular hazard is lethal. Similarly, a standardised “Danger Index” is constructed to enable us to assess the degree to which a particular industry is dangerous with respect to work safety risk and accidents. Section III also analyses the survey data on wages and age groups of child workers, the income of their families, their family status and employer education. The paper ends with Section IV with a discussion on a three fold policy response and action that needs to be urgently undertaken in view of the survey findings.