eLearning Tools on Child Labour

  1. eLearning tools on child labour

    The eLearning tools are designed to help to better understand what child labour is and the key role ILO stakeholders can play.

Child Labour

Facts and figures

  • Worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment.
    Among them, 152 million are victims of child labour; almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labour.
  • In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.
  • In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3% in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).
  • Almost half of all 152 million children victims of child labour are aged 5-11 years.
    42 million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.
  • Hazardous child labour is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless up to a fourth of all hazardous child labour (19 million) is done by children less than 12 years old.
  • Among 152 million children in child labour, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.
  • 58% of all children in child labour and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labour than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under-reporting of girls’ work, particularly in domestic child labour.
  • Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining.
Source: Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and trends, 2012-2016, Geneva, September 2017.

News

  1. News

    ILO Director-General on First Ever Visit to Uzbekistan

    14 December 2018

  2. Video

    Advancing human rights at work - A look back at 2018

    14 December 2018

  3. News update

    ILO CLEAR project (Country Level Engagement and Assistance to Reduce Child Labour) joined forces with Department of Manpower and Employment to strengthen School to Work Transition

    28 November 2018

  4. Forced and child labour

    Major progress on forced labour and child labour in Uzbekistan cotton fields

    22 November 2018

  5. © ILO Asia & the Pacific 2019

    Tackling Child Labour

    UK Government to support ILO in fighting child labour in South Asia

    27 September 2018

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Publications

  1. Publication

    Ending child labour by 2025: A review of policies and programmes

    10 December 2018

  2. Publication

    Assessment of the effects of annual drought and floods on child labour (hazardous and non-hazardous) and child welfare in Sri Lanka

    30 November 2018

  3. Statistical Report

    Child labour in herding in rural areas of Swaziland

    15 August 2018

  4. Child labour in Africa

    Meta-analysis of evaluations on ILO child labour programmes and projects in Africa 2009-2014

    03 July 2018

  5. Publication

    Towards the urgent elimination of hazardous child labour

    12 June 2018

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Good practices

A mobile application against child labour

  1. Eliminating and preventing child labour: Checkpoints for Companies

    This app allows business managers and auditors to create interactive checklists that will help them ensure a child labour-free operation. There are 18 checkpoints in total, divided into six categories. Each checkpoint provides best-practice recommendations for taking action.

Videos on child labour