Bangladesh has a significant child labor problem, with over 7 million children aged 5-17 and 4.7 million aged 5-14 working. Most child laborers work in agriculture. Poverty is a major driving factor, as families rely on children's work for income. While Bangladesh has laws establishing minimum ages for work and prohibiting hazardous child labor, enforcement is lacking. Recommendations include improving access to free education, vocational skills training, awareness campaigns, and enforcing existing child labor laws and regulations.

2. Child labor situation in Bangladesh
and its future impact

3. What is child labor
child labor situation in Bangladesh
Laws against child labor
Recommendation
Enforce mechanism

4. Child labor refers to the employment of children
in any work that deprives
children of their childhood,
interferes with their ability
to attend regular school,
and that is mentally, physically, socially or
morally
dangerous and harmful

5. Ages 5-11:
• At least one hour of economic work or
28 hrs of domestic work per week.
Ages 12-14
• At least 14 hours of economic work
• or 28 hours of domestic work per week
Ages 15-17
• At least 43 hours of economic or
domestic work per week

6. Key statistics
Working children, aged 5-17
7.4 million
Working children, aged 5-14
4.7 million
Child laborers (according to definition, below), aged 5-17
3.2 million
Children engaged in hazardous labor, aged 5-17
1.3 million
Child domestic workers1
421,000
Percentage of children (aged 5-14) engaged in child
labor (2006)2
12.8 %
*All other statistics from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics,
Report on National Child Labor Survey, 2002-2003

7. Working
child
Poor
family
Unsafe
home
environ
ment
Poverty
& child
labor
Unhealth
y breadwinner
Lack of
educatio
n
Fig: vicious cycle of poverty & child labor

8. Child labor in the world

9. Child activity
Schooling
Employment
Both
neither

10. Poverty
Illiteracy
Family breakups
Rapid population growth
Adult unemployment
Lack of minimum wages
Early marriage
Lack of knowledge by parents about education

12. Bangladesh is a third world developing
country. Because of its developing child labor
abounds in Bangladesh. It has the largest
number of child workers in the world. Child
labor is a deterrent to schooling. Most child
laborers in Bangladesh work in agriculture.
Domestic servants in child-age in many cases
have a massive amount of labor.

13. Some special laws in Bangladesh
Labor Act 2006 (Bangladesh)
sets the minimum age for work to 14 years & 18 years for
hazardous work. Also, light work for children between the
ages of 12 - 14 years is defined as non-hazardous work that
does not impede education..
The Employment of Children Act, 1938:
This Act applies only to those occupations that relate to
transport of passengers, handling of goods and processing
work. A child is defined in this Act as a person under the age
of 15 years and this Act prevents them from working
in the transport of passengers and handling
of goods by road, railway or any sea port.

14. Child labor in Bangladesh Laws
Name of the acts or ordnance
Child
child act 1974
Up to 16 years
child act 1933(pledging of labor)
Up to 15 years
employment of child act 1938
Up to 15 years in case of railway transport and
carriage of goods in port.
tea plantation labor ordnance,1962
Up to 12 years in case of hazardous
occupations
Up to 15 years
factories acts,1965
Up to 16 years
shop and establishment,1965
Up to 12 years
road transport workers ord,1961
Up to 18 years

15. The Children (Pledging of Labor) Act, 1933:
Section 5
Employment of children below 12 years is prohibited
in the following works…like Tobacco, Carpet ,Cement
manufacturing/bagging ,Cloth printing, dyeing and
weaving, Manufacturing of explosive fireworks and
matches, soap manufacturing, Tanning, Wool cleaning
Section 66
No child who has not Completed
14 years shall be required or
allowed to work in any factory

16. The Children Act, 1974
This law enacted to consolidate and among the existing
laws relating to the custody, protection and treatment of
children and trial and punishment of young offenders.
Section 44 of part (IV) of the Act is relevant for child labor.
Section 44
whoever secures a child ostensibly for the purpose of
manual employment or for labor in a factory or other
establishment, but in fact exploits the child for his own
ends, with holds or lives on his earnings, all be punishable
with fine which may extend to taka one thousand.

17. a.
ILO Minimum Age Convention 138 (C138), 1973
b.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1990
c.
ILO Worst Forms Convention 182 (C182), 1999
d.
International Program on Elimination of child labor

19. Case laws/precedents regarding child labor law issues
in Bangladesh are not available. No law has
defined ‘hazardous’ or worst forms Not many
cases have been filed challenging the violation of
child labor laws.
Bangladesh has signed and ratified the UNCRC and ILO
convention no. 182. For implementing the
provisions of the convention in Bangladesh some
amendments are required to be made in existing
laws or a new law needs to be enacted.

21. Enforce mechanism
•
•
•
•
•
•
Formulation of Pragmatic Strategy
Education
Monitoring and Evaluation
Health and Nutrition
Legislation Enforcement
Prevention of Child Labor and Safety of Children
Engaged in Labor
• Social Awareness Raising and
• Social and Family Reintegration
• Motivation

22. Recommendation
• Basic primary education should be free as far as direct
costs & school books free up to high school level by
govt.
• Vocation skills training ,quality of skills trainings could
be an attractive option to working children and their
families.
• To improve the level of awareness in family and society.
• To prevent child labor we should strictly maintain the
laws, acts established by our government.
• We have to increase productivity and thus the incomes
of parents

23. Conclusion
EACH

26. Thank you