Morocco Has High Level of Child Labor: HCP

By Rania Tazi

Casablanca – Morocco still sees high levels of child labor, including dangerous jobs. The dire conditions of these jobs make working a daily risk to the children’s health, safety, and innocence.

On June 12, International Child Labor Day, The Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP) published an analysis of their study, which was part of their 2015 national investigation on employment.

In 2015, 193,000 children aged 7 to 17 had already worked or were still working a dangerous job. This number represents almost 60 percent of all employed children, and almost 3 percent of all Moroccans in that age range. Of these 193,000, 75.3 percent are aged between 15 and 17. According to the study, boys are more likely than girls to be involved in risky labor, as they comprise of 78 percent of the concerned children.

The HCP further noted that his phenomenon is quite commonplace in rural areas. Almost 55 percent of working children in rural areas are subject to unsafe employment, which totals about 154,000 children. Working children in rural areas are most often involved in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors, which make up 76.4 percent of all dangerous employment. These children are 66 percent non-full time workers and 20 percent full time employees.

In urban areas, 39,000 children work unsafe jobs, which make up 86 percent of all working children in urban areas and 1.1 percent of all children living in urban areas. Children living in these areas work mostly in manufacturing and handicrafts; however, the most dangerous jobs involve the construction and public works sector, with 93 percent of children working those jobs exposed to hazards. In these urban areas, 50 percent of working children are full time employees, 27.7 percent apprentices, and 15 percent home helpers.

In addition to their hazardous occupations, the majority of the children concerned have never had a traditional education, with 9 percent having received no education whatsoever, 19.3 percent educated while working, and 71.7 percent of whom had quit school altogether.

The HCP noted that the rate of dangerous work in Morocco is 2.9 percent. This puts the kingdom below the world average of 5 percent, and far from that of sub-Saharan Africa, which lies at 10.4 percent.