8.6 million children in Pakistan are engaged in child labour, and 6.6 million are working in hazardous conditions that threaten their health, safety and future.
The report Pakistan: Child Labour Surveys, Evidence for Action, launched by UNICEF and the National Commission for Human Rights provides critical evidence to strengthen policies and investments that keep children safe, support their learning, and protect their rights.
Across all provinces, poverty, limited educational access, and hazardous work environments interact to sustain child labour, particularly among older children belonging to rural, low-income households, especially where head of household is also not educated
UNICEF Champion for Ending Child Labour, Amiraan, reminded us at the launch that every child deserves the opportunity to learn, dream and build a better future, calling for collective action to tackle the root causes of child labour to ensure a childhood free from exploitation.
These results demonstrate that most working children are employed in situations that violate provincial regulations and international standards. Provincial patterns show substantial differences in both scale and severity. While prevalence varies by province, hazardous and harmful forms of work are widespread and affect children in every region. The CLS results point to several common patterns:
Punjab carries the greatest burden with 6.68 million working children (18.6% of all children), of whom 6.04 million (16.9%) are in child labour and 4.64 million (13%) are in hazardous work.
Sindh accounts for 1.87 million working children (12%), including 1.61 million (10.3%) in child labour and 1.16 million (7.4%) in hazardous work.
Khyber pakhtunkhwa follows with 922.3 thousand children (11%) working, 745.2 thousand (9%) in child labour, and 631.5 thousand (7.6%) exposed to hazardous conditions.
Balochistan records 274 thousand children (5.1%) working, 201.4 thousand (3.7%) in child labour, and 165.4 thousand (3.1%) in hazardous work.
Islamabad capital territory (ICT) has comparatively lower levels, with 22.9 thousand children (3.6%) working, 15.2 thousand (2.4%) in child labour, and 14.5 thousand (2.3%) in hazardous work.
Legal and definitional differences matter. Provinces apply different minimum ages, hour limits, and hazardous work lists, influencing measured prevalence-but all broadly align with ILO Conventions 138 and 182. ICT remains an outlier and requires updated legislation. Poverty is the strongest driver. Across all provinces, child labour is consistently concentrated among the poorest households and those with low parental education. Gender inequality is structural.
Boys are far more likely to work and fall into child labour, including hazardous work. Girls are more likely to be out of school, with a higher proportion having never attended school. They also face a disproportionate burden of
household chores.
Schooling and child labour are tightly linked. Children in child labour are more likely to have dropped out or never enrolled at all, while also working longer hours. Poverty and lower education reinforce one another. Poor households face a
need for household members to work to make ends meet. Once children begin working, they are less likely to stay in school. These lower education levels are in turn linked to poverty, both now and likely in the future for children who drop
out of school.
Children in child labour experience high rates of injury, illness, fatigue, and depression, with a range of 32 to 58 per cent of children aged 5-17 in child labour across the provinces suffering injury or illness from their work.4 Mental health is also a concern with a range of 19 to 32 per cent of 10-17- year-olds in child labour across the provinces reporting symptoms of depression.