A study in Saudi Arabia has concluded that child labor in the Kingdom amounts to 1.54 percent of the child population. The study, the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia, commissioned by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and conducted by Dr. Mohammad Abdullah Al-Naji, showed that the Eastern Province tops the list in child labor at 2.3 percent, followed by Makkah, Madina, Asir and Riyadh, respectively. Salient social characteristics in common among employed children included the low professional and educational standards of the parents, the large size of the family, inadequate support for children by their families and low levels of achievement in schools. The study also indicated that economic issues are the primary driving factors for child labor, followed by other factors that include free time, emulation, dropping out of school and domestic pressure. Some 2,000 Saudi children surveyed in the study were either personally interviewed by Naji or asked to fill out questionnaires he designed. The survey of streets, schools and workplaces revealed that children are mostly employed in the business area, followed by agriculture. Naji wrote in his conclusions that Saudi Arabia enacted a number of legislations on child labor, including that the minimum employment age is 13 in all areas, with the exception of family businesses and domestic labor, as well as animal herding and raising or in agricultural projects that do not manufacture their own products. Article 32 of the Children's Rights Act also stipulates a six-hour working day, with time off for rest. It also says that children are not to work for five hours straight or at night. Furthermore, employment of children in strenuous or hazardous jobs is prohibited, and child labor in general should be voluntary, not compulsory. The law also says a child's work should not interfere with his or her schooling or be harmful to the child's health, either physically, mentally, spiritually, morally or socially. Naji also said that the regulation specifies penalties for those employing children below the age of 13, and that civil service regulations do not allow employment of anyone below the age of 18. Articles 37 and 38 of the law are a showcase of the Kingdom's attention to children and minors. They stipulate that minors should not be subjected to torture, abuse or harsh penalties, and that they should have access to physical and psychological rehabilitation and re-integration into the community. Quoting reports published by UNICEF, Naji said that in 1989, the number of children employed worldwide was nearing 250 million, aged between five and 14. UNICEF's reports add that these children are taken advantage of and employed under inhumane conditions. “Some 100 million children toil in jobs which threaten their health all the time,” said Naji. “According to a report released by the International Labor Office in 2002, third-world countries alone have 50 million children working in various vocations with a hazardous influence on their health.” On the findings of the survey conducted in the Kingdom on child labor, Naji said that the psychological well-being of employed children was higher than that of unemployed children. As for the social adaptation of children regularly attending school (employed and unemployed), it was higher than that of employed children who do not attend school regularly. According to the study, the interviewed children said that work does not pose hazards to the physical health of children and that employed children are working voluntarily and are satisfied with their work. __
