Published in June 2026 by UNICEF and the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) Pakistan, this synthesis report consolidates the findings of household-based Child Labour Surveys (CLS) conducted across Pakistan’s four provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) between 2019 and 2024. Utilizing the internationally recognized SIMPOC methodology on a combined sample of nearly 200,000 households and over 500,000 children aged 5–17, the report estimates that approximately 9.77 million children are working in Pakistan, with 8.61 million falling under province-specific definitions of child labour and 6.61 million engaged in hazardous work.
The findings reveal that agriculture remains the dominant industry for child labour across the provinces, whereas wholesale and retail trade leads in the more urban ICT. Poverty and low parental education consistently serve as the strongest drivers of child labour, which competes directly with schooling and is linked to high rates of work-related physical injuries, illness, extreme fatigue, and symptoms of depression. While structural gender inequalities show that boys are far more likely to work, girls carry a disproportionate burden of household chores and face a higher risk of never enrolling in school.
Finally, the report highlights how uneven legal safeguarding—due to provincial fragmentation in minimum age thresholds, permissible hour limits, and hazardous work lists—complicates cross-provincial data interpretation, underscoring the urgent need for multi-sectoral policy action across education, social protection, child welfare, and labour laws to eradicate child labour.
Check out the full report: Pakistan Child Labour Surveys Evidence For Action
