What is child labour?
Nearly 1 in 10 children are subjected to child labour worldwide, with some forced into hazardous work through trafficking.
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Economic hardship exacts a toll on millions of families worldwide – and in some places, it comes at the price of a child’s protection.
Roughly 160 million children were subjected to child labour at the beginning of 2020. This accounts for nearly 1 in 10 children worldwide. Almost half of them are in hazardous work that directly endangers their health and development.
Children may be driven into work for various reasons. Most often, child labour occurs when families face financial challenges or uncertainty – whether due to poverty, sudden illness of a caregiver, or job loss of a primary wage earner.
The consequences are staggering. Child labour can result in extreme bodily and mental harm, and even death. It can lead to slavery and sexual or economic exploitation. And in nearly every case, it cuts children off from schooling and health care, restricting their fundamental rights.
Migrant and refugee children – many of whom have been uprooted by conflict, disaster or poverty – also risk being forced into work and even trafficked, especially if they are migrating alone or taking irregular routes with their families.
Trafficked children are often subjected to violence, abuse and other human rights violations. For girls, the threat of sexual exploitation looms large, while boys may be exploited by armed forces or groups.
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What is child labour?
Child labour refers to work that children are too young to perform or that – by its nature or circumstances – can be hazardous. Unlike activities that help children develop (such as contributing to light housework or taking on a job during school holidays), child labour causes harm to a child’s health, safety or moral development.
In its most insidious forms, child labour can amount to slavery or practices similar to slavery, including the sale and trafficking of children. In some places, children may be forcibly recruited into armed conflict, used in the production and trafficking of drugs, or offered into prostitution.
What kind of work is considered hazardous?
Hazardous work refers to work that, by its nature or circumstances, is likely to harm children’s health, safety or moral development.
This includes anything that exposes children to physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
It’s work that occurs underground, underwater, at treacherous heights or in confined spaces – often with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools. It’s work in an unhealthy environment, where children may be exposed to hazardous substances or processes, or to extreme temperatures or noise levels. And it’s work under particularly difficult conditions, like labouring long hours or overnight.
How common is child labour?
Child labour remains a persistent problem in the world today. The latest global estimates indicate that some 160 million children were engaged in child labour at the beginning of 2020 – accounting for nearly 1 in 10 children globally.
Nearly half of all children engaged in child labour – 79 million – are in hazardous work that directly endangers their health and safety.
Child labour is most prevalent in low-income countries, yet more than half of all child labour occurs in middle-income countries.
Globally, child labour is also more common in rural areas, with most child labour taking place in the agriculture sector.
Where is child labour on the rise?
Global progress against child labour has recently stagnated: The proportion of children in child labour remained roughly unchanged since data were collected in 2016. Similarly, the percentage of children in hazardous work has also persisted.
But global estimates mask large variations across regions. In both Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, child labour has trended downward in percentage and absolute terms. Similar progress in sub-Saharan Africa has proven elusive: This region has seen an increase in the number and the share of children engaged in child labour. Now, nearly 87 million children in sub-Saharan Africa are in some form of child labour – more than the rest of the world combined.
Are boys and girls subjected to different kinds of child labour?
Globally, involvement in child labour is more common for boys than girls at all age groups. Boys are more prone than girls to work in construction, mining and manufacturing, while girls in child labour tend to be in services, including domestic work.
Roughly 63 million girls and 97 million boys worldwide are estimated to be in child labour, according to the latest data from early 2020. The gender gap grows with age, and boys are about twice as likely as girls to be in child labour by their mid-teens (15 to 17 years old).
But these comparisons come with a caveat: The definition of child labour does not include household chores in children’s own homes, where girls shoulder a disproportionate burden of this work across most societies. When child labour is expanded to include household chores for 21 hours or more each week, the gender gap shrinks by almost half.
What forms of child labour are most common?
Most child labour – for boys and girls alike – continues to occur in agriculture. Some 70% of the children engaged in child labour worldwide are working on farms or in other agricultural activities. Many of them are young children.
Another common trend is the share of child labour occurring within families. Around 72% of child labour takes place within the family unit, primarily on family farms or in small family enterprises. Despite common perceptions of families offering a safer work environment, family-based child labour is frequently hazardous – likely to harm a child’s health, safety or moral development.
What are the greatest risks associated with child labour?
No matter where or how it occurs, child labour restricts children from their most fundamental rights. Many children driven into labour are cut off from schooling and health care – often at the time they need it most.
In farming, children are regularly exposed to dangerous chemicals and machinery, and forced to undergo strenuous tasks for long periods of time in extreme temperatures.
In mining, they may be forced to work in deep underground shafts, to haul heavy loads of rock and to use toxic chemicals to separate minerals or precious metals from ore.
In fisheries, children can face prolonged periods at sea, under the threat of inclement weather while away from their families.
On the streets, traffic and exhaust fumes threaten children’s health and safety – as does, in extreme cases, the risk of being drawn into illicit activities.
These are just a few of the dangers children driven into work may face. What’s more, the isolated nature of some forms of child labour puts them at significant risk of abuse and trafficking.
Why does child labour occur?
Children may be driven into work for various reasons. Most often, child labour occurs when families face financial challenges or uncertainty – whether due to poverty, sudden illness of a caregiver, or job loss of a primary wage earner.
Migrant and refugee children – many of whom have been uprooted by conflict, disaster or poverty – also risk being forced into work and even trafficked, especially if they are migrating alone or taking irregular routes with their families.
Is the world on track to eliminate child labour?
The world is not yet on track to eliminate this child rights violation. Without accelerated action, a projected 125 million children will be in child labour in 2030, our collective deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
What is UNICEF doing to stop child labour?
UNICEF works to prevent and respond to child labour, especially by strengthening the social service workforce. Social service workers play a key role in recognizing, preventing and managing risks that can lead to child labour. Our efforts develop and support the workforce to respond to potential situations of child labour through case management and social protection services, including early identification, registration and interim rehabilitation and referral services.
We also focus on strengthening parenting and community education initiatives to address harmful social norms that perpetuate child labour, while partnering with national and local governments to prevent violence, exploitation and abuse.
With the International Labour Organization (ILO), we help to collect data that make child labour visible to decision makers. These efforts complement our work to strengthen birth registration systems, ensuring that all children possess birth certificates that prove they are under the legal age to work.
Children removed from labour must also be safely returned to school or training. UNICEF supports increased access to quality education and provides comprehensive social services to keep children protected and with their families.
To address child trafficking, we work with United Nations partners and the European Union on initiatives that reach 13 countries across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.