Child Labour in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC): Exploring Causes and Consequences

Abstract

Child labour is still a key socio-economic challenge in Bangladesh, especially in urban areas where poverty, migration to urban areas, financial security of the family and informal employment opportunities push children into labour market. The study explores the reasons, working conditions and effects of child labour in three sectors namely restaurants/hotels, garment factories and workshops/garages in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). It is a mixed method study which uses quantitative and qualitative information. Structured questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and field observations were used to gather primary data from 150 child workers. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed by means of frequency and percentage distributions; and by thematic analysis. The results show that the main cause of child labour is the poverty of the family. Of the respondents, 34.7% said the main reason for working was family poverty and 25.3% said they worked to earn family income. The vast majority (84.0%) said that they earned income to pay for their household's needs. There was also significant disruption of education with 59.3% of respondents reporting that they had left school and 28.0% that were studying. The working conditions were often sub-optimal, 37.3% of the workers working 9–11 hours while 22.7% were working more than 11 hours per day. In addition, 58.7% had suffered an accident or injury in the workplace, and 68.7% said that there was no safety equipment available. There's also been a high rate of workplace abuse. Education, health, psychology and future development were determined as some of the serious impacts of child labour. Based on the study, it is concluded that child labour in DNCC is strongly linked to the poverty, the household's financial hardship, the lack of school attendance, unsafe working conditions and lack of protection. It suggests improving the effectiveness of poverty reduction programmes, extending educational opportunities, strengthening the enforcement of the labour laws, enhancing labour inspection, providing employment opportunities for parents, and promoting cooperation between government agencies, NGOs, educational institutions, employers and local communities in promoting child protection.