Spatial Variation of Child Labor in Al-Rifai City

Abstract

   The phenomenon of child labor has drawn attention in Iraq as a social issue since the early 1990s, accompanied by economic, social, and political conditions. The living and economic. situations have deteriorated in various forms due to the halt in the development process. Despite this, the country has not yet seen effective policies to find a radical solution to the problem of child labor.

   The study aims to explore the reality of child labor in the city of Al-Rifai to understand its scale, spatial variations, and the main factors and reasons for the spread of this phenomenon, as well as to propose solutions and remedies. The study relied on the descriptive-analytical method to achieve the research objectives, distributing a questionnaire to 148 participants and interviewing the working children surveyed to collect information and data. Statistical methods were employed to distribute and analyze this data, revealing the spatial differences and variations of the studied phenomenon, leading to solutions and remedies. The research concluded with several findings, including the concentration of working children according to their workplace in the eastern district at a rate of ( 32), in addition to finding a correlation between the educational level of the parents of working children. The number of illiterate fathers and mothers was ( 95), which affected the lack of job opportunities, increased unemployment, and drove children into the labor market at an early age.