About Child labour

It is time to end child labour……

1 in 7 children around the world are child labourers. That is 218 million children who are working instead of going to school. They work in factories and in fields, they sew footballs and t-shirts, they pick cotton and coca, they mine, they dig, they serve in homes, they fight in wars. They are trapped in poverty with little hope of escape. They have been denied their right to a childhood and full-time, quality education.

Children, as one of the most vulnerable groups in society, should be afforded our highest standards of duty and care. They need protection from exploitation and should have the opportunity to grow, develop and fulfil their potential. Child labour makes this impossible for children. Children hold the future in their hand and so, by depriving 218 million their right to education and all the possibilities that it holds, children all over the world are denied a brighter and more just world. Eliminating child labour is a moral imperative we can no longer ignore.

Child Labour is a fact of life for children in many countries and it is an issue that affects us all. It is the responsibility of everyone to contribute to the elimination of child labour – governments, trade unions, businesses, international organisations, communities, employers, teachers, parents, children and you.

Through the provision of full-time, quality education and the reduction in global demand for cheaply produced products, the elimination of child labour is within our reach.

……..children belong in school not in work

According to the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC):

• There are 218 million child labourers in the world

• This means that 14% of all children between 5 and 17 years are child labourers.

• This means that 1 in 7 children around the world is a child labourer

• 69% of child labourers work in agriculture – hunting, forestry, fishing and agriculture

• 22% work in the service industry – retail, restaurants & hotels, transport, finance, business, community and social services

• 9% work in industry - mining, quarrying, manufacturing, construction and public utilities
• Every year 22,000 children die in work related accidents

• Progress has been made: the number of child labourers fell globally by 11% from 2002 to 2006 and the number of children in hazardous work decreased by 26% - ‘child work is declining, and the more harmful the work and the more vulnerable the children involved, the faster the decline’ (ILO 2006)

• Latin America and Caribbean are making the greatest progress while the highest incidence of child labour can be found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• The proportion of girls working is not decreasing

• The structure of production in a country can give an indication of the level of child labour in that country – the higher the share of agriculture, the higher the incident of child labour.

‘Child labour remains a central obstacle to realising the rights of all children to education and to protect them from violence, abuse and exploitation’ (ILO, 2006)

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