Child Poverty and Child Clubs: Making time to learn, play and act for change

Bangladesh has made much progress in socio-economic development however widespread poverty and inequalities persist, with about 32 million children continuing to live in poverty out of a total of 63 million children. Children from very poor households have limited opportunities for education and their other rights, such as play and many are engaged in different types of hazardous labour. Social norms coupled with economic hardships mean that child labour is a common, widely accepted reality for children. Poverty is directly linked to child labour, as children from the poorest households are much more likely to be engaged in child labour than from wealthier households. In these families child labour is an integral part of the household’s coping strategy as parents tend to rely on the income generated by their children’s labour for the household’s basic survival. On the flipside, employers tend to prefer to employ children because they can be paid less but are more compliant than adults.

When children are forced to work, they are more often than not denied their rights to education, play and leisure. Working under harmful or hazardous conditions can also pose real risks to their health and development. This has been a persistent reality for children in Bangladesh. Reading this briefing to learn more about poverty and child labour in Bangladesh and the work Save the Children has been implementing under Child Sensitive Social Protection (CSSP).