Photo: Collected
The population of children in Bangladesh is around 40 million. Among the total population of children in the country, an estimated 77,203 more children have turned bread-earners in nine years in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) study says around 1.78 million children are trapped in child labour in Bangladesh and 1.07 million of them are engaged in hazardous work.
The percentage of working children has risen to 8.90 per cent in 2022, in comparison to 8.70 per cent recorded in the 2013 survey. The number of children engaged in different works has reached around 1.7 million.
The survey said 38,008 children, aged 5-17, and are working in 40,525 establishments that are involved in the five most hazardous sectors, out of the 43 classified as hazardous by the government. Nearly 98 per cent of them are boys, it found.
Engaged in hazardous work, the children are being exposed to physical injury, mental distress, limited educational opportunities, perpetuation of poverty cycles, social exclusion and violations of their rights as children.
However, children's involvement in hazardous work has decreased significantly. The number of children aged between five and 17 engaged in child labour increased to 1.78 million in 2022 from 1.70 million in 2013, according to the data collected from February 5 to May 5, 2022.
The survey highlighted that child labourers earn a monthly average of Tk 6,675, but there are 2.01 million children involved in domestic work, mostly females, many of whom do not receive any wages.
Data from the Establishment-Based Sector-Wise Working Children Survey-2023 revealed that of the five most hazardous sectors, 24,923 work in motor vehicle maintenance and repair; 5,281 in footwear manufacturing; 4,099 in iron and steel casting; 2,805 in personal and household goods repair; and 898 in fish, crustacean, and mollusc processing and preservation.
Nearly two-thirds, or 64.3 per cent, of child labourers involved in hazardous work reside in urban areas within the specified sectors. Across the five sectors, children work for an average of 9.4 hours per day.
Around 20 per cent are exposed to hazards such as fire, hot appliances, or dangerous electrical equipment; 31.1 per cent are employed in occupations where breathing is restricted due to dust, fumes, or gases; and 14.8 per cent work extended hours under the sun without break.
As per the survey, over half (51.4 per cent) of establishments compensate child labourers with monthly wages of Taka 5,000 or below, while 28.7 per cent pay wages of Taka 10,000 or less.
The status of the child population is appalling, awful and distressful. The children are exploited by employers, masters and even their guardians. The policymakers, society managers, NGOs and community-based organisations must make additional efforts to save the children from falling into a distressful situation.
Messenger/Disha
