† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

Children at Higher Risk

Some children from Pakistan are kidnapped or sold into organized begging rings, domestic servitude, gangs, and sex trafficking in Iran. Traffickers also force Afghan, Iranian, and Pakistani children into drug trafficking, drug and contraband production, and smuggling of goods in the border areas. Natural disasters have increased Pakistani children's vulnerability to child labor. Stateless children, many of whom are ethnic Bengali born in Pakistan, as well as Afghan and Rohingya children, are vulnerable to child labor in the fishing industry near coastal areas due to a lack of identity documents that limits their access to government services. Afghan children may engage in scavenging, whereas Pakistani children with disabilities are used for begging, exposing them to criminal organizations. Moreover, non-state armed groups reportedly kidnap children as young as age 12, coerce parents with threats to turn over their children, and recruit children forcibly from madrassas—Islamic religious schools—to spy, fight, and carry out suicide attacks.

Barriers to Education Access

The Federal Ministry of Education has estimated that 26 million children in Pakistan were out of school in 2024. Insufficient internet coverage in rural areas, especially in the merged tribal districts of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, hampers children's access to learning. Many other children, including those with disabilities and experiencing poverty, face barriers to education, including societal stigma, inadequate and inaccessible facilities, a lack of trained teachers and transportation, school fees, corporal punishment, and sexual abuse, all of which may deter them from attending school. Children from minority ethnic groups, including native speakers of Sindhi, Pashto, Saraiki, Balochi, and others, have difficulty accessing education, which is offered in Urdu and English. Non-Muslim and Ahmadi Muslims are sometimes denied enrollment in schools because of their religious identity. Stateless children, including ethnic Bengali children born in Pakistan and some Afghan and Rohingya children, cannot access school due to lack of identity documents. Sexual abuse of children in madrassas is also of significant concern. Reports suggested that 230,000 children in Sindh lost access to schools due to monsoon flooding during the reporting period.

In March 2025, Pakistan ratified three key labor-related international standards, including the ILO Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labor Convention, 1930, the Maritime Labor Convention, as amended (MLC, 2006), and the Labor Statistics Convention, 1985 (No. 160), strengthening labor protection for workers in Pakistan, including minimum age for children. In February 2025, the Pakistan National Assembly passed two bills to strengthen human trafficking laws in the country, the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants (Amendment) Bill, 2025, but they have not yet been assented to by the President and are therefore not in effect. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons (Amendment) Act 2025 would increase penalties for trafficking in persons and add “organized beggary” to the list of crimes related to trafficking.

The Employment of Children Act does not set a minimum age for light work and sets the minimum age for hazardous work at just age 14. Other than prohibiting hazardous work, the Employment of Children Act does not specify the activities school-age children may undertake; children under age 14 are permitted to work up to 7 hours a day, including a rest hour, for up to 6 days per week, which is not in accordance with international standards limiting light work for children under age 15 to 14 hours per week; and provisions do not specify conditions of light work so as not to prejudice attendance at school. The minimum age for work is age 14, which is younger than the compulsory education age of 16. The federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provincial minimum age for work laws do not extend to work outside of establishments, such as domestic work. In addition, the minimum age for hazardous work at the federal level and in Balochistan Province is less than age 18, which does not meet international standards. While the federal government and the four provinces have identified hazardous occupations and activities for children, hazardous work prohibitions do not cover brickmaking, for which there is evidence that children are exposed to environmental health hazards, or child domestic work, for which there is evidence that children are exposed to physical abuse. Punjab limits domestic work for children ages 15 to 18 to part-time work that is not likely to harm their health, safety, and education, but does not prevent children under age 18 from engaging in this work. Although laws in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh Provinces prohibit children under age 18 from working in underground mines or above-ground quarries, federal law—which also applies in Balochistan—does not prohibit children ages 15 to 18 from working in mines, and there is evidence that children in Balochistan are engaged in coal mining, in which they are exposed to hazardous substances, underground work, and lethal accidents. 

Research was unable to locate laws explicitly establishing a minimum age for voluntary state military recruitment or prohibiting the compulsory recruitment of children by the state military, though Pakistan currently does not have military conscription. The federal and provincial governments in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have not enacted laws that prohibit the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict by non-state groups. In addition, federal and provincial laws in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provinces do not prohibit the use of children in illicit drug production and drug trafficking. Moreover, as the minimum age for work is lower than the compulsory education age, children may be encouraged to leave school before the completion of compulsory education.

In 2024, it is unknown how many labor inspectors conducted worksite inspections or whether child labor violations were found at the federal level or in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. It is also unknown how many investigations into suspected child labor crimes were conducted, prosecutions were initiated, or perpetrators were convicted either at the national or provincial levels. However, Punjab inspectors conducted 82,000 child labor inspections under the Punjab Restriction on Employment of Children Act and 5,700 inspections under the Punjab Prohibition of Child Labor at Brick Kiln Act 2016, finding 1,209 violations, including 511 child labor violations, filing 1,565 First Investigation Reports, and making 441 arrests. The Sindh Labor Department reported it has 128 inspectors, conducted 50,000 inspections, and initiated 120 cases of child labor violations in court. However, research could not determine the number of prosecutions initiated based on the First Investigation Reports, arrests, or results of court cases.

‡ Program is funded by the Government of Pakistan.

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