Peer-reviewed article
From Paper to Practice: Why Child Labour Laws Fail in Bangladesh
Farija Akther ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines why child labour remains widespread in Bangladesh despite the existence of legal frameworks like the 2006 Labour Act and 2010 National Child Labour Elimination Policy. Millions of children work in dangerous conditions in the informal economy, including farms, domestic work, and small enterprises. The research identifies that laws fail due to resource scarcity, corruption, and social norms, and argues that addressing child labour requires tackling underlying poverty, governance failures, lack of education, and global supply chain issues rather than legal reform alone.
Key points
- Millions of children in Bangladesh face dangerous work in the informal economy despite legal prohibitions
- Bangladesh has comprehensive child labour legislation (2006 Labour Act and 2010 National Child Labour Elimination Policy) but enforcement is inadequate
- Key barriers to enforcement include scarcity of resources, corruption, and entrenched social norms
- Root causes of child labour include extreme poverty, poor governance, lack of education, and complex global supply chains
- A multi-stakeholder approach addressing root causes and developing viable alternatives is needed
Limitations
The document provides a policy analysis but does not present empirical data on the prevalence or characteristics of child labour, nor does it evaluate specific interventions with measurable outcomes. It describes the problem and barriers but offers limited evidence on the effectiveness of potential solutions.
Abstract
Although the government has promised to follow international norms to fix the problem, child labor is still a challenge in Bangladesh. Millions of kids face dangerous and unfair occupations especially in the informal economy, e.g., farms, housework, and small companies. Bangladesh Labour Act of 2006 and the National Child Labour Elimination Policy of 2010 are both significant pieces of legislation but these are not enforced properly due to scarcity of resources, corruption, and entrenched social norms. Current study analyzes the prevalence of child labor despite presence of legal framework. Governance laws will never achieve their effect until they deal with the confluence of extreme poverty, poor governance, lack of education, and complex global supply chains. The study highlights the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach to address the root causes of child labor, enhance enforcement and develop viable alternatives to child labor.