Iran is witnessing a steep rise in child labor, particularly in urban centers like Tehran, as economic hardship intensifies and state protection systems continue to falter. On the World Day Against Child Labor, June 12, we shed light on the tragic situation of child laborers in Iran.
In May 2024, Soudabeh Najafi, a Tehran City Council member and head of its Health Committee, described the presence of children working on the streets as a “serious red flag” being ignored by authorities. In an interview with Shargh Daily on May 14, 2024, Najafi warned that the number of child laborers in Tehran had noticeably increased in recent months and that “children’s presence on the streets is a crisis that must not be normalized.”
Najafi explained that the issue is being addressed in a fragmented manner by multiple institutions—including the Welfare Organization, Tehran Municipality, and the Governor’s Office—without unified oversight. “The main perpetrators of child labor in the city are those who take children from their parents and then deploy them for work under harsh and exploitative conditions,” she said.
The clerical regime avoids giving accurate statistics regarding the number of children involved in child labor. Moreover, occasionally, officials announce false statistics to downplay the gravity of the situation.
However, eight years ago when poverty was not so prevalent in Iran, Nahid Tajeddin, member of the mullahs’ parliament, said, “Some experts on urban economic problems put the number of child laborers in Iran between three million to seven million.” (The state-run Tasnim news agency, September 27, 2017)
In January 2024, Iranian legal scholar Seyed Naseri, in an interview with ILNA News Agency, emphasized that the number of girls among child laborers has risen dramatically. Naseri explained that because of the stigmas and lack of visibility, working girls are often excluded from public data, even though they are frequently employed in high-risk informal work and are especially vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse.
Economic Collapse and Increased Vulnerability
Economic hardship is a key driver of child labor. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has reported in its December 2023 briefing that Iran’s inflation and unemployment rates have pushed many families into poverty, forcing children to seek work to support their households.
The ILO’s regional representative, Fatimah Hassan, stated in a press release on December 20, 2023, “economic collapse in Iran is pushing more children out of school and into hazardous work, violating their fundamental rights.”
Data from the World Bank, released in March 2024, shows that the poverty rate in Iran has surged to 35%, with the hardest-hit being urban slums and border regions hosting many refugees. This economic pressure disproportionately impacts girls, who are often forced into informal labor, early marriage, or domestic servitude.
Unofficial estimates indicate that 80% of the population in Iran lives below the poverty line.
Failures of the Welfare and Social Protection Systems
Iran’s Welfare Organization and other social institutions have struggled to respond effectively to the rising crisis of child labor and abuse. In a June 2024 report by Human Rights Watch, government agencies were criticized for failing to implement coordinated child protection policies or adequately fund shelters and social workers.
According to the Welfare Organization’s data, cited in an official statement released on May 30, 2024, only 12% of child laborers identified by social workers receive any form of assistance or rehabilitation. The organization cited budget constraints and bureaucratic fragmentation as major obstacles.
Conclusion
The surge in child labor, exploitation, and abuse in Iran starkly exposes the brutal failures of the Iranian regime. Rather than protecting its most vulnerable children, especially girls, the regime has abandoned them to poverty, violence, and exploitation. This crisis is not accidental but a direct consequence of the regime’s catastrophic economic mismanagement, systemic corruption, and deliberate neglect of social welfare.
For years, authorities have prioritized repression and control over genuine care, allowing child labor to flourish unchecked. The regime’s fractured institutions and lack of political will have created a toxic environment where millions of children suffer daily, forced into labor, sexual abuse, and destitution.
This report lays bare the regime’s moral bankruptcy and highlight the urgent need for the international community to hold Tehran accountable for its ongoing crimes against children.
