This is part two of Eshanee Singh’s international report. You can see part one here.
UNICEF and child labour in Bangladesh
Child Labour in Bangladesh
A 2024 UNICEF report describes the prevalence and nature of child labour in Bangladesh. It concludes that despite progress, child labour in Bangladesh persists, and the country is not on track to achieve Target 8.7, eradicating child labour. Measuring only economic activity, it shows a decline in prevalence of child work and child labour between 2003 and 2013, but the rate of child labour remains stable and significant at 4.4%. Most working children in Bangladesh remain in informal employment where they do not have access to proper employment benefits or rights associated with formal work. Children in informal labour work long hours in unhealthy conditions and without receiving proper wages. Children in manufacturing and services sectors work an average of 43 hours per week, while child labourers in slums work an average of 64 hours a week and earn less than US$2 per day.
CLARISSA and the leather industry
A 2024 research study on the worst forms of child labour in Bangladesh details the landscape of the Bangladeshi leather industry and analyzes why child labour is so prevalent. The study was a 5-year research program, entitled CLARISSA (Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia), which focused on identifying issues and promoting evidenced informed, innovative solutions to child hazardous and exploitive labour in Bangladesh and Nepal. Of the 880 workers surveyed, from 158 small leather enterprises in the informal economy, 27% were children. The leather industry in Bangladesh is a highly toxic environment for all workers, let alone children. The chemical usage is higher than levels set by international standards, trace chemicals are found in finished leather products and cancer-causing toxic waste is discarded in waters and surrounding areas. Not only are children working in this toxicity, but they are also living there or living within a very small radius of the toxicity. Child labour is found in the manufacturing of leather gloves, shoes, moneybags, jackets and belts. Child labour is also found across the supply chain at various levels. Evidence was drawn directly from listening to children’s accounts of their experiences in Bangladesh’s leather industry. Children recounted carrying heavy loads, manually dyeing leather using chemicals, working under the hot sun, operating dangerous cutting tools and heavy machinery without safety measures. The study identified children doing heavy work in dangerous temperatures; children were on roofs drying and tanning leather on roofs for hours at time with no trees or any other shade, no clean water to drink and were not afforded bathroom breaks. Particularly for girls, they could not afford to take a bathroom break because it was a source of danger as the facilities were open and exposed. The study also identified that some activities may not seem hazardous at face value, but they can become hazardous; for example, when the workday starts the risk may be low, but after cutting 1000 pairs of gloves, the repetitive strain from using sharp tools becomes much more dangerous.
Why Bangladesh is a child labour hot spot
But why is Bangladesh a hot spot for child labour in Bangladesh? A 1997 ILO study identifies the push and pull factors for child labour in Bangladesh. In 1997 the ILO and UNICEF undertook a rapid assessment of child labour in Bangladesh at a time when the country was facing external pressures on the issue of child labour, particularly in the ready-made-garment industry. The assessment breaks down child labour in Bangladesh by age and sex, living conditions and special categories of working children, including hazardous labour. While the factors were assessed in 1997, they are still very relevant and applicable to present child labour.
Push factors: poverty, disasters and lost schooling
Push factors are the factors which create conditions that compel children to engage in labour or work. Poverty is the strongest push factor compelling children to earn a livelihood for themselves or their families. Natural disasters often lead to families losing all property and crop, becoming destitute and pushing children into the labour market permanently. If there is no cultivable land or any scope of employment, children are forced to migrate to urban areas without their families. Children often drop out of school or do not attend school because they cannot afford the incidental fees relating to school, including clothes, stationery and books. Attending school also stops children from earning and further reduces a family’s total income. If poverty is strong and exists for a long period of time, it becomes difficult or impossible for children and their families to escape child labour.
Pull factors: employer demand and informal work
Pull factors are the factors which attract children to engage in the labour force. These factors are identified as economic or psycho-social in nature. Urban economies, compared to rural economies, create more economic opportunities. Also from the employer’s side, there is an implicit demand for child labour. Children can be paid only a fraction of an adult’s salary for the same amount of work, children are easier to manage, they do not form trade unions, they accept longer working hours and rarely protest against poor working conditions. The CLARISSA study found that an employer may allocate relatively ‘light’ work to a child because they can pay less for unskilled labour. The study also found that irrespective of the employer’s knowledge, children may be working with chemical drums, cutting machines and moving in and out spaces where adults are spraying chemicals. This may be caused by an employer’s lack of willingness to train and educate child labourers to ensure they do not learn skills that will increase their chances of employment mobility.
Health shocks and debt as drivers of child labour
The CLARISSA research study also identified poor health as the biggest driver of poverty. A family may experience a health crisis which leads to financial catastrophe, which in turn leads to children having to work. A family member may experience sickness, disability, an accident, injury or death, which are accompanied by exorbitant medical bills and interest payments, leading to increased family debt. The only way to manage the situation is for children to work.
What you can do now
Child labour in Bangladesh is driven by poverty, hazardous informal work, and employer demand for cheap, unprotected labour. The data and stories in the UNICEF, ILO and CLARISSA research make clear that awareness alone is not enough—children need action.
Take action today:
- Share this post and the linked reports with your networks, classrooms, and faith or community groups to build informed concern about child labour in Bangladesh.
- Support organizations working on child labour, education, and health in Bangladesh by donating, inviting them to speak, or partnering on campaigns that address both poverty and employer practices.
