Factors Determining Child Labor

Empirical Evidence from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Bibliographic Data

ID22201482
AuthorsSikandar Sikandar (0000-0003-1577-7907, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan), Sanaullah Panezai (0000-0003-1460-1790, University of Balochistan), Shahab E Saqib (0000-0003-0326-5197, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Said Muhammad (0000-0001-9777-0957, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Bilal Bilal (0000-0001-9335-7233, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan), Imran Khan (0000-0002-2069-7410, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan)
Year2022
Volume6
Issue1
Pages123-143
Publication date2022-04-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChanging Societies and Personalities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2587-6104 • E-ISSN: 2587-8964
PublisherUral Federal University (PUBLISHER • RU)
DOI10.15826/csp.2022.6.1.166
OpenAlexW4281707909
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited31

Children are forced to work when their families face financial pressures due to poverty, illness, or the loss of jobs. There is, however, still a perceived lack of research on the key factors contributing to child labor in Pakistan. This study examines the determinants of child labor in Mardan and Nowshera districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province of Pakistan. A total of 200 households were interviewed. A semi-structured questionnaire was developed to collect data from the family heads whose children are in child labor. A stepwise-regression model was adopted to explore the strength of the relationship between independent variables and dependent variable. The dependent variable was the child labor ratio and the independent variables were the socio-economic and demographic’ characteristics such as age, education, family size, parents’ occupation, the number of adult males and females, family income. The findings show that the family size was the most important determinant of child labor. Likewise, the number of adult females, parents’ occupation as daily wages labor, and the parents’ age had a positive influence on the extent of child labor. However, the number of adult males, family income, and parents’ education had a negative relationship with the extent of child labor. The questionnaire survey had shown that families considered poverty to be the main reason behind child labor, unemployment was the second reason and the third was number of dependent females within the families. Therefore, the government may target these families from lower socio-economic backgrounds to disseminate information about family planning and also include these people in the current governmental program to help them financially

Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Family income · Khyber pakhtunkhwa · Poverty · Socioeconomics · Unemployment · Variables · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Energy and Environment Impacts · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology

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