Amman, 19 November 2025
Children in Jordan are facing an increasingly alarming
reality shaped by expanding poverty and the declining quality of public
education, two factors pushing a growing number of them into the labor market
at the expense of their right to education and protection. Despite numerous
official and non-official initiatives to curb the phenomenon, the root causes
remain largely unaddressed, with no comprehensive solutions targeting the
structural drivers of child labor.
اضافة اعلان
In a statement issued on the occasion of World Children’s
Day, observed annually on November 20, the Jordan Labor Watch, affiliated with
the Phenix Center for Economic Studies, emphasized that current efforts
primarily focus on penalizing non-compliant employers and reintegrating
children into schools. Meanwhile, they fail to address the underlying causes of
child labor, chiefly poverty and the weak learning environment in public
schools. The Watch added that the reduced appeal of public schools in recent years,
due to overcrowding, shortages of qualified staff, and inadequate safe learning
environments, has pushed many children to drop out and seek work, particularly
among families facing mounting economic pressures.
Labor Watch explained that available qualitative indicators
point to a notable increase in child labor compared to the 2016 statistics,
which documented around 75,000 working children in Jordan, including 45,000
engaged in hazardous work. This rise coincides with poverty rates reaching 24
percent according to government statements and 35 percent according to the
World Bank, in addition to unemployment reaching 21 percent.
The Labor Watch stressed that widening poverty and declining
household income are the primary drivers pushing families to send their
children to work. This trend has been reinforced by austerity-driven economic
policies, an increased reliance on indirect taxation that erodes household
purchasing power, and stagnant wages that fail to keep pace with rising prices,
factors that have collectively worsened living standards for large segments of
society.
Labor Watch warned that child labor carries severe long-term
consequences. Beyond depriving children of their rights to education, play, and
healthy development, it also contributes to the emergence of new generations of
poor and unskilled workers, undermining sustainable economic growth and
deepening intergenerational cycles of poverty.
The statement emphasized that effectively combating child
labor requires comprehensive policies grounded in strengthening economic
protection, improving the quality of education, and ensuring equitable social
services that prevent families from slipping into poverty.
Labor Watch recommended addressing the economic and social
drivers of child labor, particularly poverty, unemployment, and low wages, while
revisiting tax policies to reduce excessive reliance on indirect taxes that
burden low-income households. It also called for improving public basic
education, strengthening the attractiveness and safety of school environments
to reduce dropout rates, and expanding social protection programs.
The statement concluded by stressing that protecting
children from early labor begins with fair and integrated policies that address
poverty, education, and social protection simultaneously, ensuring that every
child in Jordan enjoys the right to learn and grow in a safe and dignified
environment.
