The survey’s findings serve as a stark reminder: despite decades of policy promises, more than 1.6 million children in Sindh remain trapped in labour, deprived of schooling and exposed to dangerous work.

A major new government-backed survey has revealed that more than 1.6 million children across Pakistan’s Sindh province are engaged in child labour, with nearly half working in hazardous and exploitative conditions that violate national and international child-protection standards. The findings, released through the Sindh Child Labour Survey 2022–24, represent the first comprehensive assessment of child labour in the province in nearly three decades — and have sparked widespread concern among child-rights advocates, educators and policymakers.

The survey, carried out by the Sindh Labour Department in collaboration with the Sindh Bureau of Statistics and supported by UNICEF, marks the first province-wide exercise since 1996. While the proportion of children in labour has nearly halved since the earlier baseline – a relative decline that the government has highlighted – the absolute numbers remain deeply troubling, especially amid rising concerns over education dropouts, rural poverty and economic inequalities.

According to the report, Sindh has a total child population of around 12.5 million, of whom 13.1 per cent are currently engaged in labour. In interviews, officials noted that while the percentage has reduced from the 20.6 per cent reported in 1996, the overall number of working children remains high due to the province’s rapidly growing population.

Province-Wide Survey Reveals Alarming Child Labour Trends

The survey paints a stark picture of children forced into work at a young age, often depriving them of schooling, safety and basic childhood freedoms. The data reveals that children between 10 and 17 years old are the most vulnerable, with more than 50.4 per cent of working children in this age group reportedly engaged in hazardous activities.

These include strenuous agricultural labour, work involving sharp or heavy tools, exposure to extreme weather, handling of livestock, and other unsafe environments. Many children are employed in small workshops, or as roadside mechanics, in brick kilns, construction sites and as domestic labour – all sectors known for weak regulatory oversight.

The findings indicate a systemic failure in enforcing the Sindh Prohibition of Employment of Children Act and other labour protection laws. Child-rights organisations argue that although legislative frameworks exist on paper, poor implementation, corruption, lack of inspections, and insufficient penalties allow child labour to thrive unchecked.

Officials involved in the survey say the fresh data will help the province design targeted interventions. However, they also acknowledge that child labour is deeply rooted in socioeconomic realities and cannot be eradicated without addressing underlying household poverty.

Hazardous Work, Poverty and Lack of Schooling

Poverty remains the single largest driver of child labour in Sindh, the report confirms. Data shows that one in three of the poorest households – 33.7 per cent – have at least one working child. Many families rely on their children to supplement household incomes, especially in rural areas where adults often struggle with seasonal employment, low wages and mounting debt.

Increasing economic pressures since the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation, and climate-related impacts on agriculture have further pushed families to send children out to work.

The educational consequences are equally severe. Only 40.6 per cent of child labourers attend school, compared to 70.5 per cent of children who are not working. School dropout rates spike sharply as children grow older – a trend experts link to increased household responsibilities and limited access to secondary schools in rural regions.

Teachers and child-rights campaigners warn that the widening education gap threatens to create a “permanent underclass” of children denied opportunities for social mobility. The report also notes that child labourers are significantly more likely to experience psychological distress, with 20.1 per cent showing symptoms of depression.

UNICEF representatives have emphasised that eliminating child labour requires a holistic strategy – one that combines social protection, family income support, access to quality education, and enforcement of labour laws.

Rural Districts Bear the Highest Burden

The survey underscores sharp geographic disparities across Sindh. Rural districts record child labour rates multiple times higher than those in urban centres, pointing to uneven development, limited job opportunities for adults, and poor school infrastructure.

District-wise data shows the highest prevalence of child labour in:

• Qambar Shahdadkot – 30.8 per cent
• Tharparkar – 29.0 per cent
• Tando Muhammad Khan – 20.3 per cent
• Shikarpur – 20.2 per cent

These areas are characterised by high poverty incidence, dependence on subsistence agriculture, and limited access to formal schooling. In contrast, major metropolitan districts such as Karachi report a much lower child labour rate of 2.38 per cent, though child-rights groups caution that under-reporting of informal domestic labour may mask the true situation.

Experts say these disparities reveal the urgent need for district-specific interventions. “Child labour is a development issue as much as it is a legal one,” one researcher involved in the survey told Dawn. “Wherever education is weak and poverty is high, child labour is inevitable unless supported by strong social welfare systems.”

Experts Call for Urgent Policy Enforcement

Civil society groups, including the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), have urged the Sindh government to use the survey findings as a blueprint for immediate action. They argue that isolated initiatives – such as sporadic inspections or awareness drives – will not succeed unless embedded within a comprehensive and sustained strategy.

The Sindh government has announced plans to revise labour laws, expand social protection schemes and strengthen provincial inspection mechanisms. Some new measures include the formation of a special task force, enhanced monitoring of workshops and factories, and community-level awareness programmes about child rights.

However, activists warn that political will and sustained funding are essential. Without these, progress could stall – as has happened with previous anti-child-labour campaigns.

Many experts emphasise the need for conditional cash transfer programmes, improved rural schooling, transportation support for students, and vocational training initiatives to ensure that families are not forced to choose between survival and education.