Child labor refers to work that children are too young to perform or that, due to its nature or circumstances, is hazardous. Unlike beneficial activities that aid in child development, such as light housework or part-time jobs during school holidays, child labor harms a child's health, safety, or moral development.
In its most severe forms, child labor can resemble slavery, including the sale and trafficking of children. In some regions, children may be forcibly recruited into armed conflicts, exploited in the production and trafficking of drugs, or coerced into prostitution.
Hazardous work involves tasks that are likely to endanger a child's health, safety, or moral development due to their nature or the conditions in which they are performed. This includes any work that exposes children to physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Hazardous work may occur in environments that are underground, underwater, at dangerous heights, or in confined spaces, often involving perilous machinery, equipment, and tools. Additionally, such work might take place in unhealthy environments where children are exposed to hazardous substances, extreme temperatures, or excessive noise. It also includes work under particularly harsh conditions, such as long hours or overnight shifts.
Conversely, when children or adolescents above the minimum employment age engage in work that does not affect their health, personal development, or interfere with their schooling, it is generally seen as positive. Activities like assisting in a family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during holidays contribute to children's development and their family's welfare. These activities provide skills and experiences that prepare them to become productive members of society as adults.
What Forms of Child Labor are Most Common?
Child labor manifests in various forms, with the majority occurring in agriculture. Globally, approximately 70% of children engaged in child labor work on farms or in other agricultural activities, with many of them being very young. Another significant portion of child labor happens within family units. Around 72% of child laborers work on family farms or in small family enterprises. Despite the perception that family settings are safer, family-based child labor is often hazardous, posing serious risks to a child’s health, safety, and moral development.
The worst forms of child labor involve extreme exploitation and danger. These include:
- All Forms of Slavery or Practices Similar to Slavery: This includes the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage, serfdom, and forced or compulsory labor. It also encompasses the forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.
- Exploitation in Prostitution and Pornography: This involves using, procuring, or offering a child for prostitution, producing pornography, or performing in pornographic acts.
- Illicit Activities: Children are used, procured, or offered for illegal activities, particularly for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined by relevant international treaties.
- Hazardous Work: Work that, by its nature or the conditions in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of children. This includes work that exposes children to physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, or work conducted in dangerous environments such as underground, underwater, at great heights, or in confined spaces. It also includes work involving hazardous machinery, equipment, or tools, as well as work in unhealthy environments where children are exposed to hazardous substances, extreme temperatures, or noise levels. Additionally, it encompasses work under particularly difficult conditions, such as long hours or night shifts.
Reasons Behind Child Labor
Child labor can occur for various reasons, often rooted in financial hardship and uncertainty faced by families. One of the primary drivers is poverty, which forces families to rely on every available member, including children, to contribute to the household income. Sudden illness of a caregiver or the job loss of a primary wage earner can exacerbate these financial pressures, pushing children into the workforce to help sustain their families.
Migrant and refugee children are particularly vulnerable to child labor. Displaced by conflict, disaster, or poverty, these children face heightened risks, especially if they are migrating alone or taking irregular routes with their families. The lack of stability and security in such situations makes them more susceptible to being forced into work and even trafficked.
Consequences of Child Labor
Child labor has severe and far-reaching consequences for the children involved. It can result in extreme bodily and mental harm, and in the worst cases, even death. Children subjected to child labor are often exposed to slavery and sexual or economic exploitation. This harsh reality cuts them off from schooling and healthcare, denying them their fundamental rights at a crucial time in their development.
Children involved in child labor are deprived of their childhood, potential, and dignity. The physical and mental development of children is particularly at risk due to their vulnerability to workplace hazards. These hazards can have devastating and lasting impacts on their health and well-being.
In various sectors, the specific dangers faced by child laborers are stark. In agriculture, children are exposed to dangerous chemicals and machinery and forced to perform strenuous tasks for long hours in extreme temperatures. In mining, they work in deep underground shafts, haul heavy loads of rock, and use toxic chemicals to separate minerals or precious metals, risking serious health conditions and injuries.
In fisheries, children endure prolonged periods at sea, often facing inclement weather away from their families. On the streets, traffic and exhaust fumes pose significant health and safety risks, and children are at risk of being drawn into illicit activities. The isolated nature of some forms of child labor further increases the risk of abuse and trafficking.
Specific examples highlight the extreme dangers: on tobacco farms, children work long hours in extreme heat, exposed to nicotine and toxic pesticides, making them susceptible to illnesses. In artisanal and small-scale gold mines in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, children work underground in unstable pits and use toxic mercury to process gold, risking brain damage and other serious health conditions.
Who is at Risk of Child Labor?
Child labor is a pervasive issue affecting various demographics, but certain groups are particularly vulnerable. Migrant and refugee children, many of whom have been uprooted by conflict, disaster, or poverty, face heightened risks of being forced into work and even trafficked, especially when migrating alone or through irregular routes with their families. These children often endure violence, abuse, and other human rights violations. For girls, the threat of sexual exploitation is particularly severe, while boys may be coerced into working for armed forces or groups.
Child labor is most prevalent in low-income countries; however, more than half of all child labor cases occur in middle-income countries. Globally, child labor is more common in rural areas, with the majority of cases found in the agriculture sector. Boys are generally more involved in child labor than girls across all age groups. They are more likely to work in construction, mining, and manufacturing, whereas girls are more frequently found in service roles, including domestic work.
