FINAL REPORT

ISLAMIAT AND PAKISTAN STUDIES

BBA - IV C
T OPIC : C HILD L ABOR

C ONTENTS
PAGE

I. Introduction (Child Labor) …………………………………………………....

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II. Child labor in Pakistan …………………………………………………………..

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III. Causes of Child labor …………………………………………………………..

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(Main things that causes Child labor) …………………………

IV. Islam and Child labor …………………………………………………………….

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V. A Child’s Right (Conclusion) …………………………………………………..

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 CHILD LABOR
What is child labor? Watching a young child working for fourteen hours a-day
is what is termed as child labor. Child labor refers to the employment of
children at regular and sustained labor. This practice is considered
exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many
countries. Child labor was utilized to varying extents through most of history,
but entered public dispute with the advent of universal schooling, with
changes in working conditions during the industrial revolution, and with the
emergence of the concepts of workers' and children's rights.

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) defines

“Child” as anyone below the age of 18, “Child labor” as some type of work
performed by children below age of 18. In many developed countries, it is
considered inappropriate or exploitative if a child below a certain age works
(excluding household chores or school-related work. An employer is usually
not permitted to hire a child below a certain minimum age. This minimum
age depends on the country and the type of work involved. Child labor is
basically speaking, work for children that harms them or exploits them in
some way (physically, mentally, morally or blocking access to education).

Child labor is still common in some parts of the world, it can be factory work,
mining, prostitution, quarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents' business,
having one's own small business for example selling food, or doing odd jobs.
Some children work as guides for tourists, sometimes combined with
bringing in business for shops and restaurants (where they may also work as
waiters). Other children are forced to do tedious and repetitive jobs such as:
assembling boxes, polishing shoes, stocking a store's products, or cleaning.
However, rather than in factories and sweatshops, most child labor occurs in

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the informal sector, "selling many things on the streets, at work in
agriculture or hidden away in houses far from the reach of official labor
inspectors and from media scrutiny." And all the work that they did was done
in all types of weather and was also done for minimal pay. As long as there is
family poverty there will be child labor.

CHILD LABOR IN PAKISTAN:

Child Labor is an important and a serious global issue through which all and
various countries of the world are directly or indirectly affected, but, it is very
common in Latin America, Africa and Asia. According to some, in several
Asian countries 1/10 manpower consists of child Labor. In India the number
of children between the ages of 10-14 has crossed above 44 million, in
Pakistan this number is from 8 to 10 million. In Pakistan children aged 5-14
are above 40 million. During the last year, the Federal Bureau of Statistics
released the results of its survey funded by ILO’s IPEC (International Program
on the Elimination of Child Labor). The findings were that 3.8 million children
age group of 5-14 years are working in Pakistan out of total 40 million
children in this age group fifty percent of these economically active children
are in age group of 5 to 9 years. Even out of these 3.8 million economically
active children, 2.7 million were claimed to be working in the agriculture
sector. Two million and four hundred thousand (73%) of them were said to
be boys.

It 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 plethora of other factors. 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 of child Labor in Pakistan is

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that our people don’t have the security of social life. There is no aid plan or
allowance for children in our country. 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, are pressed to do anything and everything for their livelihood and
the survival of their families.

Child Labor is a complex problem which demands a range of solutions. There

is no better way to prevent child Labor than to make education compulsory.
The West understood this a long time ago. Laws were enacted very early to
secure continued education for working children; and now they have gone a
step forward, and required completion of at least the preliminary education
of the child before he or she starts work.

CAUSES OF CHILD LABOR:

The main causes of child labor include poverty, unemployment, and excess
population. Among these, poverty is the primary cause of child labor. You
must have observed that poor families have more number of children, so it
becomes very difficult for them to survive on the income of only one family
member which is also quite less. So they make their small children their
source of income. They make their children work in factories, shops, even
selling items on streets. Some parents even carry infants on the streets to
earn money from begging. There are very bad effects of child labor for our
society, which forces some children to steal things from others in order to
satisfy their daily living. Many small girls are even made to indulge in
prostitution. Some percentage of child labor also comes from harassment by
parents, step-parents or relatives.

There are many cases of child labor where a child has to work against the
repayment of a loan which was taken by his father who was unable to pay it
off. This is called as 'bonded child labor'. Bonded child labor normally
happens in villages. Such children work like slaves in order to pay the loan
taken. Not only poor families, but some well established business families
also put their children into business at a quite young age instead of making

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them complete their education. Over Population: Limited resources and more
mouths to feed.

Some key point which plays a vital role for the causation of child
labor:

ILLITERACY : Illiterate parents do not realize the need for a proper physical,
emotional and cognitive development of a child.

POVERTY: Many a time poverty forces parents to send their children to

hazardous jobs.

URBANIZATION: Export industries in the developing world employ child

workers, particularly in the garment industry.

ORPHANS: Children born out of wedlock, children with no parent and

relatives, often do not fint any one to support them. Thus they are forced to
work for their own living.

WILLING TO EXPLOIT CHILDREN: This is at the root of the problem, Even if a

family is very poor, the incidence of child labor will be very low unless there
are people willing to exploit these children.

UNEMPLOYMENT OF ELDERS: Elders often find it difficult to get jobs. The

industrialists and factor owners find it profitable too.

There are various organizations which are fighting against child labor by
helping children and imparting education among that part of society from
where majority of the child labor comes. Poor families should be given
knowledge about family planning/control so that they are not burdened by
children. It would be advisable not to keep small children at home for taking
domestic help in daily household chores. Let us all take some step in this
direction so that we can bring smiles to many faces and make this world a
beautiful place for a child to live in.

ISLAM AND CHILD LABOR:

According to Islam, It is one of the basic rights of children that they enjoy
their childhood. They are not to bear the responsibilities of adults while they

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are still so young. This will have a negative influence on them, for it deprives
them of enjoying a very important period of their lives. Children are to play
and have child-centered fun and education. Special attention is to be paid to
developing the talents of children and guiding them well in that respect. It is
not lawful to deprive some children of education because of their poverty
and having to work to earn their livelihood and support their families. This
problem led me to establish a society for patronizing the talented.

A child may help his father in cultivating his farm if his father is a farmer, or
in some work in his workshop if he has one. It is lawful for children to help
their fathers in these respects and similar ones so long as this will not be
over exhausting for them.

There is another case in which child labor is lawful: that is, when their
families are so poor and they cannot afford their basic needs. In such a case,
a child may work, but his work should be appropriate to his age and within
his physical capabilities. In other words, a child in that case is not to be
overburdened with tasks beyond his capabilities as a child."

As for child labor, tasks assigned for children under 13 years should be within
their physical abilities; if not, it may over exhaust them, and this may
negatively affect their health. If the work is appropriate for a child to do and
he can do it without getting overburdened, there is no harm in his doing it.
Furthermore, we sometimes find that some children are more capable of
doing some work than adults themselves. There are many examples in that
regard.

The point is that it is unlawful to employ children in exhausting fields that are
beyond their physical abilities, or to make them work all the day without
having any kind of fun. It should be taken into account that children, by
nature, are inclined to play and enjoy their time."

Employing children in hard and dangerous labor falls into the category of
inflicting hardship and harm, even done unintentionally or through
ignorance. If we say, as explained by Islam, that inflicting harm is prohibited,
it follows that commissioning children with hard labor is therefore not
permitted. Islam does not expect humans to undertake difficult tasks, as
clearly manifested in the Quranic verse: “He has chosen you and has not laid
upon you in religion any hardship.” [Al-Hajj (Pilgrimage); verse: 78] The
Almighty Allah also said: “Allah desires for you ease. He desires not hardship
for you.” [Al-Baqarah verse: 185] He also said: “Allah tasks not a soul beyond
its scope.”

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A CHILD’S RIGHT (CONCLUSION):
Once children reach the age of comprehension and learning, parents must
provide knowledge that may develop their offspring’s intellectual
capabilities. Children need such guidance so they can recognize the various
aspects of life surrounding them and know how to deal with and approach
them. Such knowledge must help children understand that they are part of a
collective society and that they cannot live isolated from others.

Since the seeking of knowledge is a religious duty in Islam, parents are

expected to provide education to their children as they take their first steps
in life. Negligence in carrying this out compromises the parent’s
responsibility, leading to possible further negligence later on for their
children. Once the foundation is lost, nothing remains to build on afterwards.
It is reported that Imam Ali bin Abi Talib said: “Teach your children things
you did not learn when you were their age for they have been created for a
time that is different from your time.”