Child labour in Bangladesh

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2023)

Child labour in Bangladesh is significant, with 4.7 million children aged 5 to 14 in the work force in 2002-03.^[1] Out of the child labourers engaged in the work force, 83% are employed in rural areas and 17% are employed in urban areas.^[2] Child labour can be found in agriculture, poultry breeding, fish processing, the garment sector and the leather industry, as well as in shoe production. Children are involved in jute processing, the production of candles, soap and furniture. They work in the salt industry, the production of asbestos, bitumen, tiles and ship breaking.^[3]

In 2006, Bangladesh passed a Labor Law setting the minimum legal age for employment as 14.^[4] Nevertheless, the enforcement of such labour laws is virtually impossible in Bangladesh because 93% of child labourers are employed in the informal sector such as small factories and workshops, on the street, in home-based businesses and domestic employment.^[5]

Despite the prevalence of child labour in Bangladesh, there has been an increase in legislation against child labour.^[6] Bangladesh has ratified, the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (C182). In addition, the country also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.