Children are paid as little one third of an adult workers wages and receive no employment support, making them very attractive to unscrupulous employers.
One Iranian social worker told the state-run INLA news agency: “Because of economic downturn and deterioration, an increasing number of children are sent to the unofficial job market.
“Since the beginning of this year, due to an exceptional rise in the cost of living and insufficient wages, the demand for child labor has increased.
“Accordingly, since the beginning of this year more children of poor families have left school and entered the workplace.
These children often provide financial support for families where the adults are unable to work, he said.
He added: “A working child’s income ordinarily ranges from one-third to one-half of an adult worker.
“The minimum wage for an adult worker is 487,000 Tomans, but a child worker earns between 160,000 and 250,000 Tomans, and in most cases this money is paid to the child’s guardian.
“The harder the child’s job is, the more he gets paid, but their income never equals that of an adult worker, although they often do the same jobs side by side.
“Contrary to public perception, children also do tiring and difficult work in unofficial, rural workshops.”
Under current laws, employing children under 15 is a crime, the social worker said, adding: “This is why working children do not receive any work insurance or social support while they are at work.
“Since working children are considered cheap labor, in most cases the employer does not care about their skills and expertise and fires them once they reach the legal age to work.”
A child’s wages only increase when profiteers use them to cover up illegal acts, the social worker said.
Until a decade ago, street children were rare in Iran – which has a long tradition of charity for the poor, aid programs and strong family connections.
Analysts in Iran believe that the regime spends as much as 40% of its budget for on military equipment, its intelligence and security apparatus, its nuclear weapons program and exporting terrorism to countries in the region.
These policies have caused inflation well over 50% and unemployment of 30%. Recent statistics show that as many as three million, or 22%, of Iranian children under the age of 18 are not attending school. At least half of these children are estimated to be in the work force.
The mullahs have destroyed the country’s human resources and through plundering the country’s enormous wealth and forced the people into poverty.
All the problems in the country, including poverty, corruption, theft, and drug addictions are all rooted in the mullahs’ regime and the only solution is to overthrow the dictatorship and establish democracy in Iran.