https://tankie.tube/videos/watch/4bd017ea-77d1-457d-a0f0-77422c87ea7d With its gleaming new shopping malls and high-rise apartment blocks, Yangon has become the symbol of Myanmar’s rapid economic growth. Yet in its poorest neighbourhoods, 85 percent of households are borrowing money from loan sharks, just to cover their basic living expenses. As families struggle to make their repayments, many send their children out to work. Aung Thet Paing’s mother decided to take him and his brother out of school and put them to work as rubbish collectors after her debts began spiralling out of control. They now spend their days searching for plastic bottles and tin cans that they can trade in for cash. Myanmar has one of the worst rates of underage employment in the world. The government estimates that there are 1.3 million child labourers, many of whom are working to help pay off their parents’ debts. 101 East travels to the slums of Yangon to meet the families drowning in debt and those making money from their misery. Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:48:30 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://tankie.tube https://tankie.tube/lazy-static/avatars/3ba3ff73-a8b6-49c9-add8-9653ef090c7f.webp https://tankie.tube/videos/watch/4bd017ea-77d1-457d-a0f0-77422c87ea7d All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://tankie.tube/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.