Old age labour like child labour and other societal injustices is a human tragedy that is common in Pakistan of which we are not generally cognizant of. Having been the ultimate result of poverty, poor governance, day-to-day increase in prices and societal injustices, the number of old age labour is growing each year. One can witness that men and women aging above 50s and 60s are seen involved in a number of low paid menial jobs. At the twilight of one’s age when having been inhibited by lack of stamina, strength and vigour where one needs and is entitled to retirement comfort and benefits, they are actively engaged in earning bread and butter for their survival. For majority of them, belonging to poor and illiterate strata of society, there is no end to the hardship.
A larger category of old age labour is the one which is uneducated and has been engaged in it since childhood or young age. Having been forced to labour in early days of their lives, very few reach a stage where in old age they have comfort. Some of them may be lucky enough to achieve prosperity in business or through petty means or even by educating their children. For example, a daily-wage labourer with three kids was involved in labour until his youngest child, a daughter, who did her M.Com, told him not to work anymore. “I wanted to educate my two sons, but my wages did not allow me to do so, so they left after matric and one became a policeman and the other a tubewell operator. My daughter did M.Com and got a job in a bank,” the man said.
He believed that if his children had not been educated, there would have been no escape for him from labour. “I did construction work on daily-wage. Not finding a job could have been havoc for me and would have left my children without two times meal,” he added.
He was thankful to God that he did not have to work in old age, while many of his colleagues were still doing labour. In early or later youth one can face miseries of labour and get used to it, but in old age it becomes painful. But one has no choice. There are no old-age benefits in our society with growing urbanization, inflation and immigration making the poor poorer. Majority of them in the rural areas of the NWFP and Balochistan are happy to send their children to Madrassahs where at least they can get food, shelter and free education.
I met an old man of over 65 trashing stones into pieces along a road side. This man with grey hair and wrinkled face was engaged by the contractor for Rs200 a day in hot humid weather. When asked about the reason for the hard work in that old age he said: “My small piece of land was unproductive due to drought and I along with my two sons am forced to earn livelihood for the family.”
He like thousands was without any formal education and technical skills to engage himself in place where less labour and more wages was required. He agreed that his wife being a few years younger than him moved to the city to work as a domestic help in a businessman’s house. He was in hot waters due to the drought calamity which left his family to work. When asked whether the government had provided them with relief goods and packages, he replied, “In paper they do but on ground it is opposite and even if given are not enough to keep the pot boiling.”
A lady of the same age was engaged in two to three household jobs including mopping of the whole house floor. From each house she received more of less Rs1,000 a month. She was under-nutrition and suffered from asthma but was forced to do labour as she came from a very poor family and her son had four children and worked as a peon in a university. She wanted to rest and relax in that old age but had to support his kith and kin under circumstances for more or less four hours each day. She is a case study. She came from a traditional conservative family where working for young females was a taboo, but stricken by poverty, she was asked to support the family as the young female members could not go out. She was under compulsion to do household in surroundings. One can see a large number of elderly tribal ladies working as domestic help in various houses. “If I had been educated, I would have been spared the hardship at this age. I don’t have any pension and skill to support myself or my family. I at times feel a burden on them. I realize how important is female education. Education and literacy is, nonetheless, important for men and women,” she said.
The growing cost of life in our society is witness to the fact that many overage persons, having retired as clerks, typists and accountants in urban areas are engaged in part-time jobs which they might have not done otherwise. A retired accountant told me about the fact being solely accountable for his job in market.
“I am working neither to engage myself nor being in love with my profession. I want to enjoy the remaining life watching TV or reading newspaper, but it is due to insufficient income that I am fatiguing myself in this old age. To him, old age labour was a curse and tragedy. We are unlike retired generals and bureaucrats who get employed in multinational firms and NGOs.”
Old age labour being common mostly in underdeveloped countries is a human tragedy. It has been common in Pakistan with its number growing each year due to inflation, urbanization and poor governance.
