AMMAN, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Motaz, a 16-year-old boy living in Jordan's capital Amman, is just one of many working children in the kingdom. With his family facing economic hardships and struggling to make ends meet, Motaz and his four siblings are all required to take jobs to support their household.
"I earn around 5 Jordanian dinars (about 7 U.S. dollars) daily on the weekend as a day laborer," Motaz said.
He expected to earn even more in the upcoming three-month summer vacation to assist with the family's rent and other expenses. "I will do whatever job I can find because I need the money myself ... also to pay the rent and for whatever I can help with," Motaz told Xinhua.
To rein in the expected rise in child labor during the summer months, Jordan's Labor Ministry is ramping up inspections and enforcement measures.
According to the ministry spokesperson Mohammad Al-Zyoud, in the first quarter alone, 7,539 establishments were inspected, with 68 cases documented, 40 fines issued, and 43 warnings given.
Several awareness-raising sessions were also held to educate the public and employers on compliance with the provisions of labor law and related regulations and instructions, Al-Zyoud added.
Despite being one of the world's first countries to ratify international conventions related to the protection of children from economic exploitation, child labor remains a challenge in Jordan.
Afflicting both local underprivileged families and refugees living in the country, poverty, unemployment, and economic woes have become the most compelling factors that drive children into the workforce at an early age, said Amjad Khaleel, an economic news analyst at the Jordan Press Foundation.
For Um Hosam's family, who took refuge in Amman from Syria's Daraa province, the need for extra income led to her youngest son, Samer, finding a job in a grocery store. The 12-year-old boy earns 3 or 4 dinars per day to help support the seven-member family.
"My husband has diabetes and has been unable to work. I asked Samer to find a job to help support the family as we need money," Hosam told Xinhua.
According to the government, there are 1.3 million Syrian refugees in Jordan, many of whom rely on their children's additional income, even very small amounts of money, to help support households and cover living expenses.
"We need more comprehensive measures beyond punitive actions. We need to address the root causes, which requires more efforts to cure unemployment," Khaleel said.
However, with an unemployment rate of 21.4 percent at the end of 2023, addressing the root causes of child labor in Jordan remains a pressing issue and a big challenge.
Jordan's labor law prohibits the employment of minors aged under 16 and the involvement of those under 18 in hazardous, strenuous, or health-damaging jobs. ■
