Child labor includes working children who are below a certain minimum age. This practice has been going on since long and is one of the worst forms of child exploitation. According to recent estimates, one in four Afghan children aged seven to 14 is engaged in some form of work. The decision to send children to work is influenced by a combination of factors. Poverty is an obvious contextual factor that dominates the decision-making of all households in the study.    

According to statistics provided by UNICEF, there are an estimated 250 million children aged 5 to 14 years employed in child labor worldwide and this figure is continuously increasing. This evil is not only affecting under-developed and developing countries, but developed countries are also facing this though the rate is comparatively very less. Child labor in Asia accounts for the highest percentage of child labor (61%) followed by Africa (32%). According to International Labor Organization (ILO), if child labor will be banned and all children get a proper education, the world's total income would be raised by nearly 22% over 20 years, which accounts for more than $4 trillion. Banning child labor will help in boosting the economy of a country.

Child labor is an issue of growing concern in Afghanistan and the world over. Child labor victims in Afghanistan, mostly work in illegal remote mines and other sources for at least 12 hours a day since mining a major source of income for poor families, they then force their children into it for money, food and other basic commodities. Child labor is most concentrated in Asia and Africa, which together account for more than 90 percent of total child employment. Though there are more child workers in Asia than anywhere else, a higher percentage of African children participate in the labor force.

 Previously the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSMD) reported that human struggles transfer Afghan children abroad through illegal means and many of these children are abused by the mafia and smugglers on the routs toward the foreign countries. According to the Ministry of labor and social affairs, last year 259 cases of smuggling were registered during the last years, which said that the trend is growing and is strongly threatened the Afghan children.

Eliminating child labor is one of the biggest challenges fro the upcoming government that needs immediate attention. Child labor not only causes damage to a child’s physical and mental health, but also keep him deprive of his basic rights to education, development and freedom. Keeping the gravity of problems in consideration the government of Afghanistan must take immediate steps for alleviating the child labor on war footing.