Over one million children across Bangladesh are currently engaged in dangerous and exploitative forms of labour, despite years of government pledges and international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child work. New assessments by UNICEF and the International Labour Organization (ILO) show that hazardous child labour persists at alarming levels, threatening the health, education and future of the country:s most vulnerable young citizens.
At just 11 years old, Antu Mia begins his day before dawn, walking to an engineering workshop beside the Moghbazar railway line in Dhaka. Since the age of nine, he has been engaged in welding and metal work, his small hands gripping heavy tools as sparks fly. “I can:t hear properly anymore,” he says, cupping his ear as if to catch a distant sound. The constant pounding and grinding of the machines have damaged his hearing. He lives with his mother and younger sister in the Peyarabag slum of Moghbazar, after leaving his parents: home at age nine; his mother supports the family by working as a domestic help. Antu:s story is unfortunately far from unique. Across Bangladesh there are more than one million children engaged in hazardous child labour - work that places their health, safety or moral development at risk. According to UNICEF:s 2025 analysis, the rate of hazardous child labour among children aged 5-17 fell from 3.2 % in 2013 to 2.7 % in 2022 - equating to some 1.07 million children. Meanwhile, the broader rate of child labour (ages 5-17) in Bangladesh has actually slightly increased from 8.7 % to 8.9 % over the same period, while the proportion of working children rose marginally from 4.3 % to 4.4 %. These trends suggest that while a degree of progress has been made in reducing the most dangerous forms of child work, the overall tide of child labour remains stubbornly resistant to change - and the gap between what is legally prohibited and what happens in practice remains wide, especially in the informal economy.
Hazardous Work: What It Means and Why It Matters: The ILO defines hazardous work for children as work “which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.”
In Bangladesh, hazardous child labour includes children working in extremely risky sectors such as brick-making, stone crushing, informal steel and metal workshops, fish-drying, garment or leather production in informal settings, and waste-collection or recycling. A recent medical study disclosed that around 95 % of child labour in Bangladesh occurs in the informal sector - where government oversight is weak - and that children often work long hours, carry heavy loads, are exposed to dangerous machinery or toxic dust, and suffer physical injuries, impaired development and poor schooling outcomes.
For example, Antu:s noise-induced hearing loss is a predictable consequence of welding in an unprotected environment with no ear-protection, long hours, lack of breaks and zero regulatory enforcement.
Global data underpins the severity of the challenge: the 2025 ILO-UNICEF global report estimated that 138 million children worldwide are in child labour, of which around 54 million are in hazardous work. Thus Bangladesh:s figure of about 1.07 million children in hazardous work is situated in this broader global crisis, albeit as part of a concentrated national problem with distinct national drivers.
The Numbers in Bangladesh: Mixed Progress: Bangladesh has made some commendable steps over the past decades: increasing school enrolment, expanding in-kind and cash supports for vulnerable families, and gradually changing social norms around children:s schooling.
According to the national child labour survey of 2022, Bangladesh still has approximately 1.7 million children engaged in child labour, of which around 1.1 million are involved in hazardous work. The United Nations in Bangladesh. This suggests that the 1.07 million figure from 2022 (hazardous work) may already be conservative, and the real burden may be higher when factoring in informal/unofficial sectors.
Key findings include: Hazardous child labour rate among children 5-17: 2.7 % in 2022, down from 3.2 % in 2013. Overall child labour among children 5-17: 8.9 % in 2022, up slightly from 8.7 % in 2013. In the 2019 UNICEF-MICS survey: 11.3 % of children engaged in child labour, hazardous work, or both (ages 5-17). These numbers show the decline in hazardous work is modest, and the broader child labour count remains persistent.
Root Causes and Sectoral Drivers: Several underlying structural and immediate factors are fuelling child labour in Bangladesh: Poverty and Economic Vulnerability, Families facing acute income, shortfalls often rely on additional earnings from children. Researchers have found that adult illness, loss of parental income, hidden schooling costs, and poor returns on education push children into work.
Informal Economy and Weak Regulation: Approximately 95 % of child labour in Bangladesh occurs in the informal sector - small workshops, street trading, and domestic service, home-based manufacturing- where labour laws are hard to enforce. For example, the Export Processing Zones are exempted from certain unannounced inspections, limiting oversight.
Schooling Gaps and Hidden Costs: Even when schooling is formally accessible, indirect costs (exam fees, transport, uniforms) or poor school quality make work an attractive alternative for families. The link between schooling and child labour is clear: when schooling access or quality drops, child work rises.
Sectoral Demand for Cheap Labour: Children are employed in risky sectors because they constitute cheap, pliable labour: in metal-work, brick kilns, fish-drying units, garments in informal settings. For instance, children like Antu in welding workshops are exploited because they are less likely to complain. COVID-19 and Economic Shocks: School closures, adult job losses and household shocks during the pandemic pushed many children into work, and recovery remains incomplete.
Voices from Stakeholders: Perspectives and Calls to Action: When reached for comment, Sharmin S. Murshid, Adviser for Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs, told The Daily Industry: “We are preparing to introduce a realistic law soon to prevent child labour.”
Meanwhile, ILO Bangladesh Representative Gunjan Dalakoti emphasised the urgency of long-term, sustainable initiatives: “Permanent, long-term and sustainable initiatives are essential to eliminate child labour.”
Professor Salma Akhter of Dhaka University pointed to parental awareness and economic alternatives as key ingredients: “Offering sewing machines, small loans, or job opportunities to family members can help reduce child labour.” She added: “If work is unavoidable, children should be placed in safe environments where education and skill-building are ensured. Child labour cannot be eradicated overnight - it requires long-term planning, implementation and collective effort.”
The impact of child labour - especially hazardous work - is profound: Physical and mental health: Children working in dangerous environments suffer injuries, chronic illness, hearing loss (as in Antu:s case), musculoskeletal damage, and toxic exposures. A study of children in the informal sector around Dhaka found multiple health problems among children engaged in hazardous work. Education and skill-deficit: Time spent working reduces school attendance, concentration, and performance. Children may drop out entirely or never gain foundational skills.
Perpetuation of poverty: Without education or skill-building, these children have limited future career prospects, leaving intergenerational poverty unbroken. Economic development cost: For Bangladesh as it seeks to move up the value chain in manufacturing and services, a large pool of under-skilled youth undermines competitiveness. Violation of rights: Work in hazardous conditions denies children their childhood, right to play, rest and development.
Government and Policy Landscape: Bangladesh has ratified key ILO conventions and has a legal framework aimed at proscribing worst forms of child labour. The 2022 National Child Labour Survey shows that the nation is nonetheless far from elimination of all child labour. Enforcement remains a major gap: children working in informal sectors are outside the purview of many labour laws; inspection bodies often lack resources; penalties are low; unannounced inspections are rare; data is limited.
What Needs to Happen: Recommendations & Strategic Actions: Given the scale and complexity of the issue, a multi-pronged strategic approach is needed. Based on stakeholder comments and international guidance: Strengthen regulation and enforcement, Expand labour law coverage to include informal sector and home-based work, Introduce robust mechanisms for unannounced inspections, including in export processing zones, Increase penalties and ensure timely legal processing for child labour violations, Provide economic alternatives for vulnerable families, Cash or in-kind transfers to households under condition of children:s school attendance, Micro-credit, livelihood programmes, sewing machines, small business support for parents/guardians, Expand social protection to reduce sudden shocks pushing children into work, Enhance access and quality of education, Ensure free, accessible, quality primary and secondary schooling, Address hidden costs, absenteeism, drop-out risks, Link schooling with vocational skills for older children to incentivise staying in school, Focus on re-integration of children dropped out due to work
Where Bangladesh Stands: A Critical Moment: As Bangladesh prepares to graduate from the least-developed-country (LDC) category and aims to move into higher-value manufacturing and services, the durability and skill of its workforce will matter immensely. Children working today are tomorrow:s lost human capital.
The country:s modest decline in hazardous child labour (from 3.2% to 2.7% in 9 years) is welcome - but the slow pace means elimination will not be achieved by the 2025 target. The rise in the overall child labour rate to 8.9% suggests that while the worst may be declining, large numbers of children continue to be engaged in work (not always hazardous but still harmful to childhood, school and development).
