to value themselves when it comes to equality with males in the family. This is expressed in the distribution of food between female and male household members as well as in females' lack of decision-making power regarding education, health, marriage, family-planning etc. (Habib 1997).
of eyes and skin during chilly picking and eye and throat sore during pesticide spraying were widely reported by the children. The study reveals that a majority of children are unhappy with their current work but they do not have alternatives due to heavy burden of debt on their families. They are aware of economic and social sanctions that they will have to suffer if they leave the work. Debts ranging from PKR5,000-100,000 tie them to their employer along with their parents and siblings. The wish to change their occupation and the desire to get education was widely voiced by the children. However, they know that their dreams would never come true until they pay back a debt, which has often been already inherited by their grandparents
Significant gender gaps in education and health indicators are the result. For instance, in rural Punjab and Sindh, the average female adult literacy is 24 percent and 14 percent respectively, as compared to 56 percent for men in both provinces. The cotton-growing districts of Punjab are at the bottom of the provincial ranking of female literacy. Overall, access to and achievements in schooling are lower in the cotton belt as compared to the respective provincial averages. Whereas 55 percent and 52 percent of boys drop out of school before completing primary school in rural Sindh and Punjab respectively, the figure is as high as 88 percent and 72 percent for girls in these two provinces. Tables A3a and A3b in the Annexure also highlight the wide gender gap in access to education that widens with age. This discrimination is legitimised by the assumption that investment in girls' education is wasted as they will leave their parents' household and are unlikely to enter the paid labour market.
Box 2: Child Labour in Pakistan Estimates of child labour in Pakistan vary widely. Hussain (1985, quoted in Hussain 1998) calculated 14 million child workers, which made 40 percent of the child population of the country at the time. Cochrane et al (1990) estimated 31 percent child labour force participation for boys and 7 percent for girls in the age group 10-14 years. Sathar (1993) assumed a range of 19-25 percent of male children and 22-32 percent of female children working in the country. Forced and bonded child labour can be found in all sectors of the economy. However, bonded labour is most widespread in agriculture, particularly in the interior of Sindh and southern Punjab where land distribution is highly inequitable. Bonded labour in agriculture often emerges from historically hierarchical relationships between landlords and peasants. These relationships are reinforced by contemporary agricultural policies, which give landlords privileged access to land, resources, and credit. In many cases peasant children inherit the debt and, thus, the working conditions of their parents. According to a recent study (Bokhari, forthcoming), agricultural work done by children constitutes hazardous work with no safety measures. Children are exposed to multiple health risks due to the presence of hazardous substances in agricultural work. In addition, they have to face dangerous animals, insects and objects during their work. Snake bites, poisonous insects, injuries by agricultural tools, itching/bruises during carping, burning
97
.
Tables 4a and 4b indicate that the population in cotton-cultivating regions have a poorer health status than the provincial and national rural averages. Interestingly, whereas Punjab's immunisation ratio is higher than in Sindh, infant mortality is also higher. Poor conditions regarding water and sanitation aggravate the abovementioned health hazards due to pesticide exposure. Only a minority of the population in the cotton growing areas has safe access to water and sanitation. Piped water is available to less than a fifth of the population of the cotton belt (Figures 8a and 8b) and the majority does not have toilets in their households. This induces new health risks. Water-related diseases, such as diarrhoea, hepatitis, dysentery and malaria are among the main causes of death in Pakistan. They affect the vulnerable, such as children, most Table 4a: Health status in main cotton-growing districts in rural Punjab, 2004/05 (%) RY Khan B’pur Vehari Females sick/injured 8 12 9 Males sick/injured 7 11 7 Infant mortality rate (per thousand) 89 80 90 Immunisation coverage 40 18 61 Sources: Federal Bureau of Statistics (2006a); SDPI/WFP (2004)
M’garh
Lodhran
Kh’wal
Punjab
7 5
8 8
9 9
6 6
91 21
89 35
91 44
52
Table 4b: Health status in main cotton-growing districts in rural Sindh, 2004/05 (%) Sanghar Ghotki Khairpur N’shah Females sick/injured (%) 4 10 6 6 Males sick/injured (%) 4 5 6 6 Infant m ortality rate (per thousand) 36 61 45 43 Immunisation coverage (%) 12 18 18 12 Sources: Federal Bureau of Statistics (2006a); SDPI/WFP (2004)
H’bad
Sindh
Pakistan
7 8
8 8
8 7
47
-
-
45
32
41
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