By Mir Afroz Zaman, POBNEWS24, Dhaka Mar 15, 2024 : There are 3.54 million child laborers aged 5-17 years in Bangladesh. Among them, 17 lakh 60 thousand children are out of labor. And 17 lakh 80 thousand children are engaged in labor. 10 lakh 70 thousand children are engaged in hazardous work. Among the hazardous workplaces, the largest number of children are employed in automobile workshops. These data have come out in Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) ‘National Child Labor Survey 2022’. The results of the survey were announced yesterday at the BBS auditorium in Agargaon of the capital. 30 thousand 816 farms were selected from 1 thousand 284 primary sample (PSU) in the survey
According to the survey, there are 2.73 million child laborers in rural areas and 8.10 million in urban areas. The number of children engaged in child labor (at the time of survey) is 13 lakh 30 thousand in rural areas. The rest are employed in urban areas. On the other hand, the number of children engaged in risky child labor in rural areas is 820 thousand. The rest are engaged in urban areas.
The survey also highlights the demographics of children aged 5-17 years. The number of children of this age in the country is 3 crore 99 lakh 60 thousand. 55.2 percent of them are 5-11 years old. School attendance rate of 5-17 years working children is 34.81 percent.
According to the survey results, 82 percent of child laborers live in their own homes. 33.3 percent of child laborers are engaged in the productive sector. 23.6 percent work in agriculture, forestry and fishing. The average monthly income of child laborers is 6 thousand 675 taka. Besides, there are 20 lakh 10 thousand child domestic workers, who are not paid.
The Government of Bangladesh has officially recognized 43 sectors as vulnerable. BBS selected five sectors for the survey from the risk list announced by the government through discussions with various stakeholders.
According to the results of the survey, there are 40 thousand 525 companies in five risky sectors. The number of child laborers aged 5-17 years in these institutions is 38 thousand 8 people. 97.5 percent of them are boys and 2.5 percent are girls. Among the vulnerable sectors there are 898 child laborers in dry fish production, 5 thousand 281 in leather footwear manufacturing, 4 thousand 99 in welding or gas burner mechanics, 24 thousand 923 in automobile workshops and 2 thousand 805 in tailoring or clothing sector. 35.7 percent of children working in these sectors live in rural areas and 64.3 percent live in urban areas.
According to the survey, about 19 percent of male children and 7.7 percent of female children carry heavy loads. About 8.1 percent boys work at extra height. Among girls, this rate is 3.3 percent. In collaboration with ILO, BBS conducts this survey in Bangladesh in their own way.
