Jordan records unsettling number of child labourers

Jordan

Published: 2017-11-04 15:47

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 18:12


Children must be 16 before they can legally work in Jordan. (Photo by Nader Daoud)
Children must be 16 before they can legally work in Jordan. (Photo by Nader Daoud)

Child labour has become more prevalent in Jordan over the past few years, according to Head of the Jordan Labor Watch, Ahmad Awad.

In an interview with Roya TV, Awad said that out of the 75,000 child labourers in the Kingdom, 80% are Jordanian, and 20% are Syrian and from other nationalities.

Sadly, 12% of all child labourers are girls.

Children in Jordan are not allowed to work if they are under the age of 16. However, statistics by the National Child Labour Survey (2016) showed that kids as young as five-years-old are being made to work in the Kingdom.

Many families living under the poverty line send their children out to work because they can’t afford to send them to school, Awad explained.

There are 151.6 million children across the world in child labour. Of those, 72.5 million are performing life-threatening hazardous work.

The following graphs display more detailed information about child labour in the world.

*The graphs were created by the International Labour Organization, based on results from their report “Global estimates of child labour: Results and trends, 2012-2016.”

 

 

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition