Children of the Conflict: Afghanistan In the crowded city of Kabul there is a growing population of approximately six million children who have dropped out of school to work and support their families. These children work hard every day to earn 10 cents for each plastic bag, running between cars after pedestrians. The girls dress up as boys so they can go and sell plastic bags and earn a few Afghanis to get bread to feed the family. The United Nations estimates that there are around fifty thousand street children in Kabul alone. Most of these street children cannot afford an education because their fathers are unemployed or died in one of the wars (Haidary). Data showed that in 2002 there were thirty-eight thousand street children, but that number is now estimated at sixty-thousand. There are many different reasons why this massive increase occurred. Many refugees from Iran and Pakistan have been forced to leave their homes. Furthermore, the fathers would have been injured or died in the war. Therefore, orphaned children have no choice but to contribute to the support of their families. Children have found many other ways to earn money besides selling plastic bags. They learned to repair bicycles, work for shoemakers or beg for alms to obtain the aromatic smoke that wafts to ward off the devil from people passing by (Haidary). In Kabul there are many unemployed people living in poverty, most of them are war refugees. Afghanistan is known to be one of the poorest countries with forty million residents living below the poverty line. However, after the US invasion, the number of street children decreased and they began to go to school full time. According to data from the Ministry of Education, seven million children were registered...... half of the document ......thunger.org/countries/asia/afghanistan?gclid=CKCko8Xn4L0CFecWMgodzGwAAA>. >.AFGHANISTAN: Poverty forces children to leave school to work. Rep. April 14, 2014 "USA." Save the children. 2014 Save the Children. April 14, 2014 .Hall, Keith. “Greater government spending will not reduce poverty.” News from the United States. January 29, 2013. USNews & World Report. 14 April 2014 “Tell us what you think of GOV.UK” Establishing stability in Afghanistan. 12 December 2012. 14 April. 2014 .