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. Presentation

    Historical Slideshow "100 years of ILO action to tackle child labour"

    24 April 2019

  2. Forced and child labour

    Activists welcome progress towards eradication of forced labour, child labour in Uzbekistan

    03 April 2019

  3. Middle East and North Africa

    Conflict and mass displacement increase child labour

    20 March 2019

  4. Child labour

    The Marshall Islands ratifies Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention

    13 March 2019

  5. Child labour

    Palau ratifies Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention

    04 March 2019

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Publications

  1. Publication

    IPEC+ Global Flagship Programme Implementation

    10 April 2019

  2. Second edition (2018)

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

    10 December 2018

  3. 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

  4. Statistical Report

    Child labour in herding in rural areas of Swaziland

    15 August 2018

  5. Child labour in Africa

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

    03 July 2018

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Events

  1. World Day Against Child Labour 2019 - Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams

    12 June 2019

  2. International Meeting on Child Labour and Working Conditions in Small-Scale Gold Mining

    28 - 30 May 2019

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