A sociological study of trash picker children in Faisalabad city,Punjab,Pakistan

Trash picking lias become an increasing phenomenon of urban mforinal settlements and one of the major exploitative and vulnerable forms of child labor in pakistan. this paper focuses the factors influencing the perpetuation and existence of trash picker children (tpc). it also examines their social activities and health problems within the socioeconomic context. the study was conducted in 10 katchi abadis/slums of faisalabad city,punjab,pakistan. a sample of 250 tpc aged 7-18 was taken to explore the study objectives. descriptive (frequency distribution) and inferential (chi-square) statistics was applied to analyze the study sample. the study found that 72.0 percent of tpc were illiterate while 52.4 percent were belonged to the changar caste. about 41.2 and 22.8 percent of tpc responded that they involve in trash picking to get meal twice a day and secondly want to continue their forefather occupation respectively. different variables like nuclear family structure,larger family size and low family income play an important role in the life of tpc. similarly,causes of trash picking are found to be significant (p=0.000) with household monthly income and the number of family members. it is suggested that education should be free and hunger should be addressed properly to meet their food needs.