Child Labor at District Level: A Case Study of Rawalpindi

Child labor is one of the problems that occur as a result of responses to the economic problems faced by vulnerable children. Keeping in view the theoretical background of existence of child labor across the world, the study analyzes the incidence of child labor from Rawalpindi city of Pakistan. It also empirically investigates the household demographics and incidence of child labor. The earning and participation functions were estimated for a sample of 150 children. All the coefficients and overall model was observed to be statistically significant. The major determinant of child labor is poverty. Age of the child has a positive impact on participation decisions: The older the child, the more probable he is to go to work. The ownership of asset has shown a negative impact on participation decisions. The study proposes that several income support measures should be provided to poor households as an instrument for reducing child labor.