Child Labor

Our research study aims to examine and establish the relationship between child labor and some variables such as education, poverty, gender, population below 15 and GDP per capita. The literature supports the fact that poverty and lack of access to quality education at reasonable price leads to child labor and that gender discrimination also exists in this phenomenon. GDP per capita and child labor exhibited a negative relationship according to literature whereas population under 15 and child labor has a positive relationship. The possible hypotheses of our study are:

H1: Poverty is a determinant of and is positively associated with the phenomenon of child labor.

H2: Lack of access to education is a determinant of and is positively associated with the phenomenon of child labor.

H3: As per gender, female children are more indulged in child labor as compared to male children.

H4: Child labor deteriorates children health (positively related with illness/injuries)

H5: Child labor is negatively associated with GDP per capita of a country.

The study aims at examining the validity of the above mentioned hypotheses.

The data used would be both quantitative and qualitative in nature and the research would base its study on secondary data. The sources of the data the study utilizes include- United Nations (UN), Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), International Labor Organization reports and PEC. The tools used for the research methodology include case studies, articles, research studies and documentation and the sample includes all the children below 15 years of age in Pakistan.

A lot of research work has already been done on the topic of child labor exploring its various dimensions. The purpose of this study is to add to the already