Tanzanian law prohibits children from undertaking heavy or dangerous work, yet the reality is different: 19% of girls and 23% of boys between 5 and 14 are involved in child labour according to UNICEF. Often families have no alternative means of income to enable them to send their children to school.
It is not uncommon for children to work up to 17 hours a day, six days per week on plantations or in gold mines. For this they receive half the wage of an adult. They are unable to go to school and are particularly at risk of violence and abuse. They are stuck in a vicious circle of poverty and lack of education they can barely escape from. Child prostitution is also a big problem in Tanzania.
