KABUL: Up to one-fifth of families in Afghanistan have been forced to send their children out to work as incomes have plummeted in the past six months with an estimated one million children now engaged in child labour, according to a humanitarian organization Save the Children.
A survey of 1,400 households across seven provinces of Afghanistan found that 82 per cent of Afghans have lost income since the collapse of the former government and transition of power last August, with 18 per cent reporting they had no choice but to send their children out to work.
According to Save the Children's analysis, if just one child in each of these families is being sent to work, then more than one million children in the country are engaged in child labour.
More than 80 per cent of those surveyed reported a loss of income, with a third (34.8 per cent) having lost all of their household income, and a quarter (26.6 per cent) having lost more than half. Families living in cities were hit hardest, with half of the families in Kabul saying they had lost their entire income.
The huge spike in prices caused by the economic crisis has left many families unable to afford food. About 36 per cent of families reported that they are purchasing food in the market on credit, and 39 per cent are borrowing food from better-off families.
As families sink further into debt and poverty, 7.5 per cent said they were begging or relying on charity to feed their families. Last month, Save the Children reported that the number of dangerously malnourished children visiting its health clinics had more than doubled since August.