Exploring the Prevalence and Characteristics of Child Labor in District Haripur, Pakistan: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT

With an emphasis on comparing data from April 2018 to April 2023, this longitudinal study investigates the prevalence and features of child labor in the district of Haripur, Pakistan. Individual information including age, family income, geography, and family type were looked at, along with common factors like father's occupation, education level, type of job, and reasons for child labor. Before selecting a sample for this study, an informal survey was conducted in the three tehsils of Haripur, Ghazi, and Khanpur. Workshops (street hawkers and brick-kiln workers) were the main businesses, stores, restaurants, and other establishments in these tehsils that employed children. The business district was left out. The sample respondents were chosen from a range of occupations, primarily from retail, dining, and other businesses (such as street vendors and bricklayers). The interviews included kids from various socioeconomic and professional backgrounds. The data for this study were collected over the months of March and April in both 2018 and 2023 using a pre-tested interview schedule. After being gathered, the data was then entered into the statistical program SPSS. In order to enter the variables into the software, the variables were formed, their scales were established, and the necessary values were set to each variable. The analysis was supported by the construction of frequency tables, and the study was descriptive. It also gathered the frequency for each of the research's following objectives. The results show that child labor increased significantly in the Haripur district between April 2018 and April 2023, with a larger frequency in the Ghazi and Khanpur tehsils. The study also shows that the fundamental causes of child labor, poverty and lack of access to school, have mainly not altered over time. These findings demonstrate the pressing need for policies and actions to address the problem of child labor in the district of Haripur.

        Keywords: child labor, longitudinal study, socioeconomic background, poverty, lack of access to school, policies, action, descriptive analysis