Poor education, influx of Syrian refugees fuel rise of hardships
Since 2007, instances of child labor in the Kingdom of Jordan have more than doubled, according to a new report conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) along with the Center for Strategic Studies and the Department of Statistics at the University of Jordan.
The survey, which was funded by the US Department of Labor, looked at children between the ages of five and 17 from more than 20,000 different households representing all 12 governorates of Jordan, including the Za’atari camp for Syrian refugees.
According to the ILO, in 2007, there were roughly 33,000 child laborers as opposed to now when there are 69,661 children working.
“Around 75,000 children are working and nearly 70,000 can be classified as child labor,” Insaf Nizam, ILO Chief Technical Advisor and director of the survey, told The Media Line. “What is worse is that nearly 45,000 of those children are working in hazardous conditions.”
Child laborers are most often found in agriculture and trade, followed by the construction and auto repair sectors. Most work under hazardous conditions being exposed to chemicals or pesticides and heavy machinery. “Child labor is not a choice for the child because if there were options, they would choose to be in school. Even if there is no direct coercion, circumstances force the child to work,” Nizam said.
Economic hardship coupled with the flood of refugees and lack of access to proper education has contributed to this increase. “The situation in Syria and the economic situation (in Jordan) have forced families to let their children go to work,” Linda Alakalash, Director of Tankeem Fields for Aid in Jordan, told The Media Line. “Secondly, I think the poor situation in schools, and education in general, including crowded classes, has forced children to leave school and go to work.”
It is mandatory, and free, for children to go to school in Jordan up until tenth grade. It is also illegal for children under the age of 16 to work.
“They take young children who are not legally allowed to work and those children work an average of 7.61 hours a week. You can assume that most of those hours worked are under hazardous conditions,” Nizam said.
Those business establishments found to be employing children are fined and closed for a period ranging from two weeks to one month.
In 2011, Jordan adopted The National Framework to Combat Child Labor, which seeks to combat child labor with the help of the Ministries of Labor, Education, and Social Development.
“It is a framework that organizes all of the activities and outlines the parameters of the policies and legal aspects to combat child labor in Jordan,” Dr. Musa Shteiwi, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, told The Media Line. The framework probably needs to be looked at again after the survey.”
“Child labor is not just the responsibility of Jordan, but the government needs to employ a more systematic approach to eradicate the problem,” Shteiwi said. “The child protection unit needs to be better supported with an inspection unit. Secondly, child labor is related to education. So, the Ministry of Education has a responsibility to monitor more and follow up with children who drop out of school.”
According to the survey, the ILO’s objectives are to reduce student drop-outs, improve work conditions, and eliminate child labor.
Jordan is ranked 46th out of 163 countries by the KidsRights Index, which ranks countries based on a child’s right to life, health and education.
Katie Beiter is a journalism intern at The Media Line.