Why do young workers suffer many times the injury rate of adults? We cannot answer this question without first understanding how children of poor families, such as those making bricks, become child laborers. We are learning that the process of transitioning into work starts early in life, at the same time as children are learning language, culture, religion, and morality. This lead to the development of a worldview that legitimizes child labor in the eyes of its victims, also tends to overlook or accept the health risks it entails. Yet emerging data indicate that, in addition to the excessive physical loads the children are expected to carry, there is the heavy psychological load of responsibility towards younger siblings and disabled family members. This load is not diminishing as child labour rates overall are increasing. Current research being undertaken with underprivileged communities in Pakistan is exploring potential points of intervention, for example, determining to what extent children are ‘socialized into work’ by their parents and siblings or alternatively by their own experiences and mistakes, as well as the factors which provide positive reinforcement. It seeks points of intervention from the regulatory angle as well. Why are basic health and safety laws so widely ignored? The upheaval of COVID 19 on top of a steady trend toward increased global production and communication are putting pressure on both young workers and those who employ them. Health professionals must document the effects of these changes on young workers’ health and design counter-measures that are adapted to local social environment.
Unfree and at high risk: Understanding child labour and occupational risks from the viewpoint of those involved