Hidden hazardous child labor as a complex human rights phenomenon: A case study of child labor in Pakistan’s brick-making industry

Figures & data

Table 1. Selected relevant works and reports and findings

Author/Year	Title	Findings
Basu and Van (1998)	The economics of child labor	An important theoretical paper that argues that poverty is the main reason for child labor
		The theoretical model has received considerable empirical support in later works by several scholars
Basu (1999)	Child labor: Causes, consequences, and cure, with remarks on international labor standards	Social norms have an impact on the prevalence of child labor. In this sense, the social context becomes an important reason for continued child labor
Cathryne et al. (2004)	Child labor and global view	Poverty is a major cause for child labor
Edmonds (2008)	Child labor	Poverty, lack of available credit for families with child labor, low return on schooling, labor intensive and low technology production processes can be reasons for child labor
Akarro and Mtweve (2011)	Poverty and its association with child labor in Nombe District in Tanzania	Poverty as an important reason for child labor
Jafarey and Lahiri (2005)	Food for education vs. school quality: A comparison of policy options to reduce child labor	There is a positive relationship between low quality education child labor
Burra (1995)	Born to work: Child labor in India	Illiteracy among parents can lead to lower educational levels in child workers and perpetuate child labor cycle
Kifle et al. (2005)	The rapid assessment study on child labor in selected coffee and tea plantation in Ethiopia	Large family size is also a cause of child labor and this may be linked with poverty
Emerson and Souza (2003)	Is there a child labor trap? Intergenerational persistence of child labor in Brazil	The generational aspect of child labor in which adults who had been child laborers are more likely to make their children child laborers
Guha-Khasnobis et al. (1999)	Seen but not Heard? Dealing with child labor	Lack of government funding leading to lack or availability of education and infrastructure for education and labor intensive and low technology production processes is an important reason of child labor
Swinnerton and Rogers (1999)	The economics of child labor: Comment	High levels of inequality between the rich and poor increases child labor
Dessy and Vencatachellum (2003)	Explaining cross-country differences in policy response to child labor	High levels of inequality between the rich and poor and lack of availability of credit to poor families is an important cause of child labor
Fors (2012)	Child labor: A review of recent theory and evidence with policy implications	Inequality of opportunity between the different classes has a positive relationship with child labor
Nardinelli (1982)	Corporal punishment and children’s wages in the nineteenth century Britain	Competition in industries on labor cost and stiff competition leads to greater use of child labor
Brown et al. (2003)	Child labor: Theory, evidence and policy	Physical dexterity of child workers allows them to do tedious but low skill work better
ILO (2013)	Toil in soil- impact of work at brick kilns on health of children and youth	An ILO report that looks at child labor at the brick kilns in 5 districts in Pakistan and documents health, safety, and psychological issues for child workers
Khair (2005) [ILO study]	Child labour in Bangladesh: A forward looking policy study	An ILO study that focuses on how much child labor, as an issue, has featured in policy discourse in Bangladesh. The main purpose of the study is to identify the gap between the reality of child labor and policy-making. The report also finds several economic, physical, and psychological detrimental effects of child labor
Khan and Lyon (2015) [ILO Study]	Measuring child’s work in South Asia: Perspective from national household survey	An ILO report that provides an overview of the prevalence and peculiarities of child labor in South Asia. Finds that there is extensive child labor in the South Asian region. The report also finds that most of the child labor in South Asia is absorbed in agriculture and situations in which children work within family units. The report also looks at educational and gender dimensions of child labor
ILO (2011)	Buried in bricks; A rapid assessment of bonded labour in brick kilns in Afghanistan	An ILO report that studies the nature, extent of bonded child labor in the brick kiln industry in Afghanistan. The report finds that bonded child labor is largely the result of cycle of debt, vulnerability, and dependence of poor families
Kambhampati and Rajan (2006)	Economic growth: A panacea for child labor?	This study uses National Sample Survey of India and find that economic growth increases child labor. This finding raises questions regarding the link between child labor and poverty and adds more context in which inequality may be an important reason for the perpetuation of child labor
Basu et al. (2010)	Child labor and household wealth: Theory and empirical evidence of an inverted-U	The study finds that poverty is a cause for child labor
Webbink et al. (2013)	Household and context determinants of child labor in 221 districts of 18 developing countries	Lack of resources increase child labor
Webbink et al. (2015)	Child labor in Africa and Asia: Household and context determinants of hours worked in paid labor by young children in 16 low-income countries	Poverty and low level of paternal education positively affects child labor
Agenor and Alpaslan (2013)	Child labor, intra-household bargaining and economic growth	Social norms, cultural values, and poor access to infrastructure impacts child labor
Srinivasa Reddy and Ramesh (2002)	Girl child labor: A world of endless exploitation	Inadequate educational infrastructure, low quality of education, and irrelevant education has a negative impact on child labor

Table 2. Socio-demographic information on interviewees

Interviewee category	Number	Socio-demographic facts
Child workers	2 (Male)	Both child workers were in their mid-teens and had been working at the kilns with their parents for 7–8 years
Women workers (mothers)	2	Both women had their children working with them from early ages. Both women workers had only worked at the kilns
Men workers (fathers)	6	Most of the male workers were in their mid-thirties to mid-forties. They represented their families as heads of the family. All had their children working with them. A majority of these workers/families represented religious minorities (Christians). Majority had been working at the kilns for more than 25 years. All, except one who used to be a subsistence farmer, had always worked at the kilns
Kiln owners	4 (Male)	Two of the four kiln owners were also officials of the local chapters of the kiln owners’ association. All interviewees were represented higher castes (Jatts) and were well to do with local influence.
NGO workers	2 (Male)	Both NGO workers represented The Bonded Labor Federation of Pakistan. Both represented middle to high level of management
Labor Department Government of Punjab	2 (Male)	Representing the government’s view, both officials were middle level management
Worker association	2 (Male)	Both represented the Federation of Kiln Unions Punjab. Both represented top-level management within the Federation

Table 3. Characteristics of child work and child labor

		Light work <14 h/week	Regular work ≥ 14 & ≥ 43 h/week	Worst forms of child labor^a
Age	15–17
	12–14
	5–11

Source: Adapted from Altai Consulting (2008).

^a As enumerated in ILO Conventions 29 and 82 this broad category includes slavery, debt-bondage, forced recruitment for armed conflicts, trafficking of children, child prostitution, child pornography, and procuring or offering a child for illicit activities.

Table 4. Structures and aims of institutions linked with the kiln industry

Institution	Structure	Purpose
Government Labor Department	Present at all levels, i.e. from federal to the district and precinct levels	Regulate the brick-kiln industry by enforcing existing laws. Protect the rights of, provide social services to workers, and kiln-owners alike. In sum, maintain a level playing field where no stakeholder can exploit the other
	The Government of Pakistan is a signatory of the ILO Convention (182) on worst forms of child labor and Employment of Child Act (1991)
Labor Unions [Bonded Labor Liberation Front]	The Bonded Labor Liberation Front had a comprehensive tiered structure at every level from the national to the division levels. It was also part of the national coalition of bonded labor, which is a partnership of 27 workers’ unions from all over Pakistan	Educate workers about their rights, mobilize workers, organize workers into unions, promote collective bargaining, protect their worker interest, and provide legal help to workers
NGOs	Well-organized and tiered presence at the district and provincial levels with coalitions at the national level	The mandate of the NGOs is straight forward and overarching, i.e. eliminate child labor and debt-bondage
All Pakistan Kiln-owners’ Association	A comprehensive tiered structure at every level, i.e. National, provincial, division, district, and local levels	Protect the interest of the kiln-owners, represent their concerns at different forums, and foster good relationships between the owners and the workers. The association condemns bonded labor and child labor and is a member of Anti-Bonded Labor Committee instituted by the government. The association also is a member of vigilance and minimum wage committee
	Each level has presidents and general secretaries
	In the province of Punjab, there are approximately 10,000 kilns and overall in Pakistan, this number would be about 15,000. All are a member of the association

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