A recent survey by Caritas Bangladesh revealed that 58.2 percent of children living in slums and on the streets lack birth certificates, leaving them excluded from education, healthcare, and social safety programs. The study, conducted in 2025 across Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Rajshahi, covered 667 street children and 1,246 slum-dwelling families. It found that 91.7 percent of these families are outside government social protection schemes, and over half of the children are not attending school.

Officials from the Registrar General’s Office acknowledged that floating and addressless families face major challenges in birth registration despite daily progress nationwide. Caritas representatives described the lack of birth certificates as a human rights crisis, noting that many parents do not know their national ID numbers, making registration nearly impossible. They also highlighted weak coordination between health facilities and registration offices, which prevents newborns from being registered.

Caritas recommended simplifying registration for parentless children, introducing hospital-based registration, and expanding conditional cash programs to improve child welfare and education access among marginalized groups.