By Own Correspondent

A report by the United States (US) Department of Labour titled 2021 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (in) Zimbabwe says 40,4 percent of children aged five to 14 were working to supplement their families’ incomes.

The developments come on the back of worsening economic situation which has seen the acceleration of Informalisation of the economy where the income levels are indecent and generally survivalist.

The country also endures a distressful poverty situation with records showing that poverty in the country affects 76, 3 percent of Zimbabwean children living in rural areas as of 2020 while roughly 74% of the population lives on less than US$5, 50 a day and the average wage per month is US$253.

Half of Zimbabwe’s people live below the food poverty line and about 3,5 million children are chronically hungry.

In 2019, two million Zimbabweans had no access to safe drinking water due to the impacts of drought.

“Zimbabwean children living in border towns are trafficked to South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia, where they become victims of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour in domestic work,” the report read.

“Some families recruit rural children, especially orphans, to work in cities, often with promises of education or adoption. Such children are subject to domestic service or are forced to work in mining. Girls, as young as 11, are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation, particularly along major transit corridors and in mining areas,” the report said.