The topic I have chosen is: Child Labor in Bangladesh. The questions that I will attempt to answer include: What is the general overview of the situation of child labor in Bangladesh? Has the situation improved or worsened? What are some of the facts, figures and statistics on child labor in Bangladesh? How is child labor used in Bangladesh?

The United States Department of Labor webpage titled Child Labor and Forced Labor Reports: Bangladesh provides a wealth of information and a general overview of the child labor situation in Bangladesh. The website was found using a web search. This source provides general information on child labor and identifies the types of products and industries where child labor is used. This source provides specific answers to the question about what child labor is used for in Bangladesh.

The article Child Labor ‘rampant’ in Bangladesh factories, study reveals by Michael Safi contains a specific example of one child’s actual experience in Bangladesh. This source was found using a web search that specifically searched for trusted international news reporting agencies such as Al Jazeera and The Guardian. This source answers the question about an actual experience of an individual.

The article Occupational choices of working children in Bangladesh by Imam M. Alam, Shahina Amin and Janet M. Rives provides numerous statistics on the industries in which children work in Bangladesh. This article was found by searching in the academic database EBSCOhost. This source shows that there is a great deal of scholarly research done on specific topics related to child labor in Bangladesh.

The .pdf title Child Labour in Bangladesh published by UNICEF provides many statistics as well as background information on child labor in Bangladesh. This source was referenced by a number of other articles and websites and was found using an internet search. This particular source also includes information about the definition of child labor. There is also information on legal issues, child labor and education, and various other related issues.

There are 7.4 million working children aged 5 to 17 (Child Labour in Bangladesh). In 2006, 12.8% of children aged 5-14 were engaged in child labor (Child Labour in Bangladesh). According to Alam et al.. “most children work in the informal sector where formal sector’s jurisdiction and regulations are absent” (4982). Alam et al. also found, “boys are more likely to work in the informal sector (compared to the formal sector) if they are in school, come from richer families, have educated fathers and live in rural areas” (4989). Bangladesh’s clothing industry is a 30 billion dollar industry (Safi). According to Safi, a factory collapse in 2013 killed 1,135 people. According to the United States Department of Labor, the industries that are involved in child labor in Bangladesh include cigar rolling, bricks, dried fish, footwear, furniture, garments, leather, poultry and textiles (“Child Labor”). In Bangladesh, “the types of hazardous work prohibited for children do not cover garment production and fish drying” (“Child Labor”).

All of these sources paint a grim picture about the child labor situation in Bangladesh. A large portion of the country’s youth are engaged in this type of oppressive activity, and the situation does not seem to be getting better. There have been attempts to fix legal issues associated with child labor, however, these do not seem to be fixing the problem. Each of the sources that were examined seem to focus on the same side of this issue through reporting on the prevalence of child labor, offering the accounts of individuals, and providing a discussion on what has been done to address the issue.

After conducting the research, child labor is a very important issue in Bangladesh. It is also an issue that has very severe consequences. Child labor often keeps children from receiving an education, which puts the country further behind. I have learned the exact magnitude of the problem as well as the legal, social and economic effects of child labor in Bangladesh.