CHILD LABOUR
GLOBAL ESTIMATES 2020, TRENDS AND THE ROAD FORWARD© UNICEF/UNI123128/KhanCopyright © International Labour Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund 2021

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Acknowledgements
This report has been jointly prepared by the ILO and UNICEF. Members of the core team included Federico Blanco (ILO), Claudia Cappa (UNICEF),
Michaëlle De Cock (ILO), Lorenzo Guarcello (ILO) and Scott Lyon (ILO). The statistical work, including the development of the methodology andestimates, was conducted by Roger Gomis (ILO) and Chinmay Sharma (independent consultant) under the supervision of Steven Kapsos (ILO).
Data preparation and analysis were carried out by David Bescond (ILO), Federico Blanco (ILO), Evangelia Bourmpoula (independent consultant),
Claudia Cappa (UNICEF), William Cole (independent consultant), Lorenzo Guarcello (ILO), Munkhbadar Jugder (UNICEF), Donika Limani (independent
consultant), Yves Perardel (ILO), Nicole Petrowski (UNICEF) and Mabelin Villarreal-Fuentes (ILO).
Many ILO and UNICEF colleagues provided valuable inputs and comments, in particular Christina Behrendt (ILO), Assefa Bequele (ILO, retired),Florence Bonnet (ILO), Joanne Bosworth (UNICEF), Caroline Chaigne-Hope (ILO), Sumaira A. Chowdhury (UNICEF), Francesco d’Ovidio (ILO), Monica
Darer (UNICEF), Kirsten Di Martino (UNICEF), John Dombkins (ILO), Ruth Graham Goulder (UNICEF), Valeria Gruppo (UNICEF), Melanie Jeanroy (ILO),
Josiah Kaplan (UNICEF), Muhammad Rafiq Khan (UNICEF), Aniruddha Kulkarni (UNICEF), Henrik Moller (ILO), Ian Orton (ILO), Brigid Kennedy Pfister(UNICEF), Victor Hugo Ricco (ILO), Dominic Richardson (UNICEF), Eshani Ruwanpura (UNICEF), Ben Smith (ILO), Ramya Subrahmanian (UNICEF),
Philippe Vanhuynegem (ILO), Wongani Grace Taulo (UNICEF), Cornelius Williams (UNICEF), Thomas Wissing (ILO) and Alexandra Yuster (UNICEF).
Gratitude goes to colleagues from ILO and UNICEF country offices for sharing relevant material.
Funding to this report is partly provided to the ILO by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement number
IL‐30147‐16‐75‐K‐11 (MAP16 project) (GLO/18/29/USA); and by the Government of France under the framework of the Entr’Alliance project(GLO/20/60/FRA).
One hundred per cent of the total costs of the MAP16 project is financed with federal funds, for a total of 22,4 million dollars.
This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor or the Government of France, nor does
mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government or the Government of France.
The production of the report was coordinated by Claudia Cappa (UNICEF). The report was edited by Gretchen Luchsinger, Lois Jensen and Tina
Johnson (Words for the World), fact-checked by Isabel Jijon and designed by Era Porth (independent consultants).

© UNICEF/UNI138971/Haque

3

4© UNICEF/UN0282725/LeMoyne

CONTENTS
Executive summary

6

Introduction

14

Current levels and trends

20

Global and regional overview

21

Profile of children in child labour

28

Characteristics of child labour

37

Child labour and education

47

Child labour, national income and state fragility

50

The impact of COVID-19

54

The road forward

60

Annex

72

Statistical tables

74

Overview of the methodology

79

Endnotes83

5© UNICEF/UN064360/Feyizoglu

Executive summary6

7

Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends andGlobal progress against child labour has

the road forward takes stock of where we standstagnated since 2016. The percentage of children

in the global effort to end child labour. Publishedin child labour remained unchanged over the four-in the United Nations International Year for theyear period while the absolute number of children

Elimination of Child Labour by the International

in child labour increased by over 8 million. Similarly,

Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations

the percentage of children in hazardous work wasChildren’s Fund (UNICEF), co-custodians of target

almost unchanged but rose in absolute terms by

8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),

6.5 million children.

the report describes the scale and key characteristics
of child labour today, and changes over time.

The global picture masks continued progressagainst child labour in Asia and the Pacific,

In line with child labour estimates produced by

and Latin America and the Caribbean. In boththe ILO every four years since 2000, the 2020

regions, child labour trended downward over the

calculations are based on the extrapolation oflast four years in percentage and absolute terms.

data from national household surveys. The new

Similar progress in sub-Saharan Africa has provenestimates use more than 100 household surveys

elusive. This region has seen an increase in both thecovering two thirds of the world’s population of

number and percentage of children in child labourchildren aged 5 to 17 years.

since 2012. There are now more children in childlabour in sub-Saharan Africa than in the rest of theWhat the report tells us is alarming. Global progressworld combined. Global child labour goals will notagainst child labour has stalled for the first time

be achieved without a breakthrough in this region.

since we began producing global estimates two
decades ago. In addition, without urgent mitigation
measures, the COVID-19 crisis is likely to pushfour years among children aged 12 to 14 andmillions more children into child labour.

15 to 17. Child labour in both age groups declined

These results constitute an important reality checka consistent downward trend seen in previous

in meeting the international commitment to end

estimates. Child labour rose among young children

child labour by 2025. If we do not muster the willaged 5 to 11, however, after the 2016 global

and resources to act now on an unprecedented

estimates signalled slowing progress for this age

scale, the timeline for ending child labour willgroup. There were 16.8 million more children aged

stretch many years into the future.

5 to 11 in child labour in 2020 than in 2016.

GLOBAL ESTIMATES
AND TRENDS
Child labour remains a persistent problem in theworld today. The latest global estimates indicate

8Continued progress was registered over the lastin percentage and absolute terms, continuing

The COVID-19 crisis threatens to further erode
global progress against child labour unlessurgent mitigation measures are taken. New
analysis suggests a further 8.9 million children will
be in child labour by the end of 2022 as a result of
rising poverty driven by the pandemic.

that 160 million children – 63 million girls and 97

Yet the predicted additional rise in child labour is by

million boys – were in child labour globally at the

no means a foregone conclusion. The actual impact

beginning of 2020, accounting for almost 1 in 10 ofwill depend on policy responses. Two additional

all children worldwide. Seventy-nine million children

scenarios demonstrate the huge influence of social– nearly half of all those in child labour – were inprotection coverage on child labour in the nearhazardous work that directly endangers their health,term. Where social protection coverage is allowed

safety and moral development.

to slip, a significant further increase in child labourcould occur by the end of 2022. A rise in social• Child labour is frequently associated withprotection coverage, on the other hand, could morechildren being out of school. A large share ofthan offset the impact of COVID-19 on child labour,

younger children in child labour are excluded

returning us to progress on the issue.

from school despite falling within the age range

Other key results from the 2020 global estimates
include:for compulsory education. More than a quarter ofchildren aged 5 to 11 and over a third of children
aged 12 to 14 who are in child labour are out of• Involvement in child labour is higher for boys

school. This severely constrains their prospects

than girls at all ages. Among all boys, 11.2 perfor decent work in youth and adulthood as wellcent are in child labour compared to 7.8 per centas their life potential overall. Many more childrenof all girls. In absolute numbers, boys in childin child labour struggle to balance the demands

labour outnumber girls by 34 million. When theof school and child labour at the same time,

definition of child labour expands to include

which compromises their education and theirhousehold chores for 21 hours or more eachright to leisure.

week, the gender gap in prevalence among boys
and girls aged 5 to 14 is reduced by almost half.
• Child labour is much more common in rural
areas. There are 122.7 million rural children inchild labour compared to 37.3 million urban
children. The prevalence of child labour in rural
areas (13.9 per cent) is close to three times
higher than in urban areas (4.7 per cent).

THE ROAD FORWARD
The 2020 ILO-UNICEF global estimates indicate
a critical juncture in the worldwide effort againstchild labour. Global progress has ground to a haltover the last four years after having already slowed
considerably in the four years before that. The
ongoing COVID-19 crisis threatens to further erode• Most child labour – for boys and girls alike –past gains. While there are nearly 86 million fewer

continues to occur in agriculture. Seventy per

children in child labour now than when we begancent of all children in child labour, 112 million

measuring global levels in 2000, recent trends

children in total, are in agriculture. Many aresuggest we are falling far behind on the collective

younger children, underscoring agriculture as an

commitment to end child labour in all its forms byentry point to child labour. Over three quarters of2025. In this United Nations International Year for

all children aged 5 to 11 in child labour work in

the Elimination of Child Labour, we must act with

agriculture.

renewed urgency to put progress back on track.

• The largest share of child labour takes place

Immediate steps are needed to avoid fallingwithin families. Seventy-two per cent of all

further behind during the ongoing COVID-19

child labour and 83 per cent of child labourcrisis. The pandemic has clearly heightened theamong children aged 5 to 11 occurs withinrisk of child labour, above all through a sharp risefamilies, primarily on family farms or in family

in poverty that may increase families’ reliance on

microenterprises. Family-based child labourchild labour, and through school closures thatiscommondeny families the logical alternative to sending

perceptions of the family as offering a safer work

children to work. To reduce these risks, expanded

environment. More than one in four children

income support measures for families in situations ofaged 5 to 11 and nearly half of children aged

vulnerability, through child benefits and other means,

12 to 14 in family-based child labour are in work

will be critical. So too will back-to-school campaigns

likely to harm their health, safety or morals.

and stepped-up remedial learning to get children

frequently

hazardous

despite9

back in the classroom and help them make up forlost learning once there, when conditions permit.
During the acute and recovery phases of the crisis,
it will be important not to lose sight of broader
policy imperatives for ending child labour. These
have long been clear:• Extending social protection for children and theirfamilies to mitigate the poverty and economic
uncertainty that underpin child labour.
• Ensuring free and good-quality schooling at least
up to the minimum age for entering employment
to provide a viable alternative to child labour andafford children a chance at a better future.
• Guaranteeing that every child’s birth is registered
so that children have a legal identity and canenjoy their rights from birth.
• Promoting decent work that delivers a fairincome for young people (of legal workingage) and adults, with a particular emphasis on
workers in the informal economy, in order forfamilies to escape poverty-driven child labour.

10

Special attention should address the heightenedrisk of child labour in growing crises, conflicts
and disasters. Child labour concerns should
factor in all phases of humanitarian action –fromcrisispreparedness

andcontingency

plans to humanitarian responses to post-crisis
reconstruction and recovery efforts.
Addressing child labour risks in domestic andglobal supply chains continues to be important.
Especially relevant are the informal micro- and small
enterprises operating at the lower tiers of supply
chains, where child labour and other human rights
risks are often most pronounced. Governments canlead through public procurement that discourages
child labour risks in vendor supply chains.
The COVID-19 crisis has made actions acrossall these policy areas and contexts even moreurgent at a time when governments are grapplingwith restricted fiscal space. Sound policy
choices and resource allocation decisions will be
critical. Strengthening the country-level evidencebase on child labour can help to identify local
priorities and guide policy and spending decisions.

• Promoting adequate rural livelihoods andresilience,
includingthroughsupporting
economic diversification, investing in basic
services
infrastructure,extendingsocialprotection and devising agricultural extension
policies for crop diversification. Family farms
and enterprises that depend on the (mostly
unpaid) labour of their children need greater
support to improve their livelihoods and end that
dependence.

Social dialogue among governments, employers’• Ensuring that necessary laws and regulations
are in place to protect children, backed byenforcement machinery and child protection
systems, and the services required to apply
them.

countries• Addressing gender norms and discriminationthat increase child labour risks, particularly
for girls, related to domestic work and unpaid
household chores.

structured in already heavily indebted countries

organizations and workers’ organizations is also key
to developing appropriate and responsive policies
for addressing child labour and related challenges,
wherever they occur.
Governments will need to adopt creative
resource mobilization strategies to expand theirfiscal space. Given budget shortfalls generated
by the pandemic, the international community willneed to fill the financing gap. Many industrialized
still

fall

short

of

long-standing

commitments to official development assistance(ODA) and financing for sustainable development.
This needs to change.
Debt relief should be extended and debt reso that social spending is not crowded out by
increasing debt service payments.

We mustavoid the mistakes of the past that saw urgently

needed credit flows made contingent on austerity

groups governments, multilateral organizations,

measures that inflicted the most harm on children

workers’ organizations, employers’ organizations,and families in greatest need.

non-governmental

The

COVID-19

crisishas

servedasanimportant reminder of the need for international
cooperation and partnership in overcoming
global challenges. This is as true for ending
child labour as for other critical development
priorities in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development.

Eliminatingchildlabourisatask too big for any one party to solve alone.
Countries must work together within the spirit ofarticle 8 of the universally ratified ILO Worst Formsof Child Labour Convention (No. 182).

organizations,academic

institutions and think tanks to find ways ofaccelerating action on target 8.7. The alliancefocuses on three strategies: conducting researchand sharing knowledge, driving innovation, andincreasing and leveraging resources.
It is urgent to put action to end child labour
back on track, in line with global commitments
and goals. The evidence in this report outlines
the risks and points to the solutions. Whileambitious measures and investments are
required, the COVID-19 pandemic has amply

Alliance 8.7 plays an important role in facili-

illustrated that these are possible when thetating cooperation on child labour amongwell-being of humanity is at stake. We havegovernmental and non-governmental actors.

made a promise to children to end child labour.

A global partnership launched in 2016, Alliance 8.7

There is no time to lose.

11Child labour at a glance
TrendsCurrent situation

Global progress against child labour has stalled since 2016

Worldwide, 160 million children are engaged inchild labour; 79 million of them are performing
hazardous work

Percentage and number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour andhazardous work

245.5
millionChild labour
Hazardous work
222.3
million215.2
million

16.0%
170.5
million

11.1%

14.2%

13.6%

128.4
million115.3
million

8.2%

7.3%

168.0
million

10.6%
85.3
million

5.4%
2000

2004

2008

2012

151.6
million

9.6%
72.5
million

4.6%
2016

Number of children
aged 5 to 17 years
in child labour andhazardous work

160.0
millionChildren inchild labour,

160.0 million

Children inhazardous work,

79.0 million

9.6%
79.0
million

4.7%
2020

Child labour is more prevalent among boys
than girls at every age
Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour,by age and sex

Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean
have seen steady progress on child labour since 2008;
similar progress has eluded sub-Saharan Africa
Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by region
25.3%
21.4%

22.4%

Boys

5–11
years

8.4%

Girls

9.7%

Total

23.9%

11.0%

Boys

12–14
years

7.5%

Girls

9.3%

Total

13.3%
10.0%

9.3%
8.8%

7.4%
7.3%

Boys

6.0%

15–17
years

5.6%
2008

2012

Sub-Saharan Africa

2016

Asia and the Pacific

Latin America
and the Caribbean

Girls

12.2%
6.6%

Total

2020

Notes: The figure shows regional groupings used for ILO reporting. Comparable historical
data prior to 2016 were not available for other regions.

12

10.9%

9.5%

11.2%

Boys

5–17
years

Girls
Total

7.8%
9.6%

We have made a promise to children to end child labour

Sub-Saharan Africa stands
out as the region with thehighest prevalence andlargest number of children
in child labour

Sub-Saharan Africa
23.9%

86.6 million

Percentage and number ofchildren aged 5 to 17 years
in child labour, by region

Central andSouthern Asia

Notes: The size of the bubbles is proportionate
to the absolute number of children in childlabour. The figure shows regional groupings
used for SDG reporting. The region of Oceania
is omitted because of low data coverage.
For this reason, region-specific numbers do
not add up to the global total.

5.5%

26.3 million

Eastern andSouth-Eastern Asia

Northern Africa
and Western Asia

7.8%

10.1 million

6.2%

24.3 million

6.0%

Europe andNorthern
America

8.2 million

2.3%

3.8 million

Impact of COVID-19

Most children in childlabour work within
their own family unit

Without mitigation measures, the number ofchildren in child labour could rise from 160
million in 2020 to 168.9 million by the end of 2022

17.3%

Percentage distributionof children aged 5 to 17
years in child labour, bystatus at work

World

Contributing family workers

10.7%

Number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour,
projected to the end of 2022

72.1%

Employees

206.2

Own-account workers

millionNote: Due to rounding, figures inpercentages do not add up to 100 per cent.

168.9

million

The agricultural sector
accounts for thelargest share of childlabour worldwide
Percentage distribution ofchildren aged 5 to 17 years
in child labour, by sector of
economic activity

Latin America
and theCaribbean

If austerity measuresor other factors causea slippage in social
protection coverageDue to an increase inpoverty and in theabsence of additional
mitigation measures

19.7%

144.9

World

10.3%

millionIf social protection
coverage is increased

70.0%

Agriculture
Services
Industry© UNICEF/UNI274800/Soumaila

There is no time to lose13© UNICEF/UN0390908/LeMoyne

Introduction

14

15

Every day, Archie wakes at 5 a.m., gets dressed,

obligations, both moral and legal, to end child labour.

has breakfast and walks to work. There he squeezes

Issued during the United Nations International Yearhimself into a narrow gap to dig blindly for gold in afor the Elimination of Child Labour, the report takes

deep underground pit, often underwater, breathing

stock of the global drive to end child labour and thethrough a hose connected to a diesel-powered

impact of the COVID-19 crisis. What it reveals iscompressor. After 10 or 12 hours of labour, healarming. Global progress against child labour has

returns home, has some dinner and goes to sleep.

stalled for the first time since 2000. Further, without

Archie is 11. Some of his young friends who work at

urgent mitigation measures, the current crisis will

the pit haul sacks of sand and gravel weighing more

likely push millions more children into child labour.

than they do, all day long.

These results are an important reality check in

Rafael, 12, sleeps in a shack in the woods. He does

assessing prospects for ending child labour by

not have much to eat, mainly rice and black beans.

2025, in line with target 8.7 of the SDGs. If we do

He drinks from the water pit that he shares with the

not muster the will and resources to act now on anbulls on the farm where he has been working forunprecedented scale, the timeline for ending childfive years, helping to pay off his father’s debt.

labour will stretch many years into the future.

Taisha, 16, cooks breakfast, cleans the house

Jointly published for the first time by the ILO andand cares for her grandmothers, which takes up
most of her day. With her school closed during the
COVID-19 pandemic, her chores have increased.
She tries to watch educational programmes on
television but does not have enough time to keep
up. As the only member of her family ever to go toschool, she gets very little support.

UNICEF as co-custodians of target 8.7, the reportdetails the scale and characteristics of child labourin the world today, and tracks its evolution overtime. Like estimates produced every four years
since 2000, the 2020 calculations are based on
the extrapolation of data from national household
surveys. The new estimates use data from more

Around the world, 160 million children like Archie,than 100 household surveys covering two thirds ofRafael and Taisha toil in child labour today. At an

the world’s population of children aged 5 to 17.

age when they should be nurtured and supported
through education, adequate health and social
protection, and enough play and leisure time, they
have to work instead. The reasons vary: poverty,
few options for education, little energy after work
to study or no role models. The consequences,
however, are sadly consistent. With tired bodies
and weary minds, their chances to learn and thrive
are diminished along with their prospects for abright future.

The remainder of the report is structured as follows.
The next section provides an overview of the 2020
global and regional estimates, and trends since
2000. The third section profiles child labour today,
considering the age, sex and residence of children
in child labour, the characteristics of the work they
perform, and how child labour interferes with theireducation. The fourth section assesses the likely
impact of the COVID-19 crisis on child labour
through the end of 2022. The report concludes

This report presents numbers that tell the story ofwith a discussion of key policy priorities to return

what children in child labour experience. It offers

to a path of progress as we navigate the COVID-19

evidence crucial to making decisions to fulfil

crisis and rebuild in its aftermath.

If we do not muster the will and resources to act now on an unprecedented
scale, the timeline for ending child labour will stretch many years into the future.
16

CHILD LABOUR IN THE GLOBALDEVELOPMENT AGENDA© UNICEF/UNI59778/Ramoneda

SDG TARGET 8.7: Take immediate
and effective measures to eradicate
forced labour, end modern slavery
and human trafficking and secure
the prohibition and elimination of
the worst forms of child labour,
including recruitment and use ofchild soldiers, and by 2025 end
child labour in all its forms.

The international community has
recognized the importance of ending
child labour as part of achieving SDG 8
on decent work and economic growth.
Under this goal, target 8.7 is to end
child labour in all its forms by 2025.
Ending child labour will also contributeto progress on many other SDGs,
especially on education and health.

17Three main international human and labour rightsthat is not classified as among the worst forms ofstandards – the Convention on the Rights ofchild labour, particularly as hazardous work, for

the Child, the ILO Minimum Age for Admission

children above the general minimum working age.

to Employment Convention (No. 138) and the

A broader statistical definition includes hazardous

universally ratified ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour

unpaid household services, commonly referred toConvention (No. 182) – set legal boundaries foras hazardous household chores.

child labour and provide grounds for national andinternational actions to end it. In 2008, the 18th
International Conference of Labour Statisticians
approved a resolution on child labour statistics
that translates these legal standards into statisticalterms for measurement purposes.1 The statisticalconcepts and definitions underpinning the 2020
estimates are consistent with this resolution.
Child labour comprises work that children are too

18© UNICEF/UNI374045/Romenzi

Statistical concepts and definitions

Employment encompasses any form of market
production and certain types of non-market
production (principally that of goods such as
agricultural produce for own use). Employment
includes work in both the formal and informal
economy, inside and outside family settings, for pay
or profit (cash or in-kind, part-time or full-time) anddomestic work outside the child’s own household
for an employer (paid or unpaid).

young to perform and/or work that, by its nature or

The concept of permitted light work stems fromcircumstances, is likely to harm children’s health,article 7 of ILO Convention No. 138, which statessafety or morals. In more technical terms, childthat national laws or regulations may permit thelabour encompasses work performed by children

employment or work of persons from 13 years ofin any type of employment, with two importantage (or 12 years in countries that have specified

exceptions: permitted light work for children within

the general minimum working age as 14 years)

the age range specified for light work; and workin light work that is not likely to harm their healthor development. It should also not limit school

vibrations damaging to their health; and workattendance, participation in vocational orientation

under particularly difficult conditions, such as foror training programmes, or the capacity to benefit

long hours or during the night, or that does notfrom instruction. For statistical measurement, lightallow returning home each day. For statisticalwork in this report includes employment and non-measurement, in this report, hazardous work

hazardous work for less than 14 hours a week

includes that in designated hazardous industries

performed by children aged 12 to 14.

and/or hazardous occupations and/or that entails

The worst forms of child labour comprise

43 hours or more per week.

categories set out in article 3 of ILO Convention No.

Hazardous work by children is often treated as a182. These entail all forms of slavery or practices

proxy category for the worst forms of child labour

similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking

for two reasons. First, reliable national data on theof children, debt bondage and serfdom, andworst forms of child labour other than hazardous

forced or compulsory labour, including forced orwork, such as children in bonded and forced

compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed

labour or in commercial sexual exploitation, are still

conflict; the use, procuring or offering of a child fordifficult to find. Second, children in hazardous work

prostitution, for the production of pornography or

account for the overwhelming majority of those infor pornographic performances; the use, procuring

the worst forms of child labour.

or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular
for the production and trafficking of drugs as
defined in the relevant international treaties; andwork that, by its nature or circumstances, is likely
to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

Unpaid household services, or household chores,
refer to services children provide without pay for
their own households. These include caring forhousehold members, cleaning and minor household
repairs, cooking and serving meals, washing andHazardous work refers to work that, by its natureironing clothes and transporting or accompanying

or circumstances, is likely to harm children’s health,family members to and from work and school. In

safety or morals. When a country ratifies ILO

more technical terms, these tasks constitute a ‘non-

Convention No. 138 and ILO Convention No. 182,

economic’ form of production and are excluded

they commit to determining their own hazardous

from consideration in the United Nations System

work list. While the list is decided by individualof National Accounts, the internationally agreed

countries after consultation with organizations ofguidelines for measuring national economic activity.

employers and workers, the ILO Worst Forms ofChild Labour Recommendation, 1999 (No. 190),
supplementing ILO Convention No. 182, urges
consideration of work that exposes children
to physical, emotional or sexual abuse; work
underground, underwater, at dangerous heights
or in confined spaces with dangerous machinery,equipment and tools, or that involves the manual
handling or transport of heavy loads; work in an
unhealthy environment that may, for example,
expose children to hazardous substances, agents

Hazardous unpaid household services involve
long hours, an unhealthy environment, unsafe
equipment or heavy loads and/or dangerous
locations. For statistical measurement, where
household chores are included in the calculationof child labour in this report, hazardous householdchores refer to those performed by children below
the general minimum working age for 21 hours ormore per week.2 This broader definition is only usedin discussing differences in child labour by sex.

or processes or to temperatures, noise levels or
19© UNICEF/UNI61748/Ramoneda

Current levels and trends

20

GLOBAL AND REGIONALOVERVIEW
Child labour remains unacceptably common in the world today.
At the start of 2020, prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic, 160 million children – 63 million girls and 97 million
boys – were in child labour, or 1 in 10 children worldwide.
Seventy-nine million children – nearly half of all those in childlabour – were in hazardous work directly endangering theirhealth, safety and moral development.
This global estimate masks large variations across regions. Childlabour prevalence stands at 24 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa,
three times that of Northern Africa and Western Asia, the region
with the second highest prevalence. In absolute terms, the nearly
87 million children in child labour in sub-Saharan Africa are morethan in the rest of the world combined.
Recent history provides cause for concern. In the last four years,
for the first time since 2000, the world did not make progressin reducing child labour. The absolute number of children inchild labour increased by over 8 million to 160 million while
the proportion of children in child labour remained unchanged.
Children in hazardous work mirrored these patterns: The shareremained almost unchanged but the number rose by 6.5 million
to 79 million.
The pace of progress has varied dramatically across regions. The
proportion and number of children in child labour have declined
consistently since 20083 in Asia and the Pacific and Latin America
and the Caribbean. Similar progress has proved elusive in subSaharan Africa, where child labour has actually gone up since2012, a trend especially pronounced over the last four years
when the region accounted for much of the global increase.
At present, the world is not on track to eliminate child labour
by 2025. In order to meet this target, global progress would
need to be almost 18 times faster than the rate observed overthe past two decades. According to pre-COVID-19 projections
based on the pace of change from 2008 to 2016, close to 140
million children will be in child labour in 2025 without accelerated
action. The COVID-19 crisis is making these scenarios even moreworrisome, with many more children at risk of being pushed into
child labour.

21Worldwide, 160 million children are engaged in child labour; 79 million of them are
performing hazardous work
Fig 1. Number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour and hazardous work

Children in child labour,
160.0 million

Children in hazardous work,
79.0 million

Sub-Saharan Africa stands out as the region with the highest prevalence and largest
number of children in child labourFig 2. Percentage and number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by region

Sub-Saharan Africa

23.9%
86.6 million

Central andSouthern Asia

Eastern andSouth-Eastern Asia

Northern Africa
and Western Asia

7.8%
10.1 million
5.5%
26.3 million

6.2%
24.3 million

Latin America andthe Caribbean

6.0%
8.2 million

Europe andNorthern America

2.3%
3.8 million

Notes: The size of the bubbles is proportionate to the absolute number of children in child labour. The figure shows regional groupings used for SDG reporting. The region of
Oceania is omitted because of low data coverage. For this reason, region-specific numbers do not add up to the global total.

22

Global progress against child labour has stalled since 2016
Fig 3. Percentage and number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour and hazardous work

245.5 million

Child labour
222.3 million

Hazardous work
215.2 million

16.0%

14.2%
13.6%

168.0 million
151.6 million

170.5 million
11.1%

160.0 million

10.6%

128.4 million

9.6%

115.3 million
8.2%
7.3%

85.3 million
72.5 million

9.6%

79.0 million

5.4%
4.6%

© UNICEF/UNI112913/Froutan

2000

2004

2008

2012

2016

4.7%

2020

23

Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean have seen steady progress
on child labour since 2008; similar progress has eluded sub-Saharan Africa
Fig 4. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by region

25.3%
23.9%
Sub-Saharan Africa

22.4%
21.4%

13.3%

9.3%
7.4%

10.0%
8.8%

7.3%

6.0%
5.6%

2008

2012

2016

Latin America and the Caribbean
Asia and the Pacific2020

Notes: The figure shows regional groupings used for ILO reporting. Comparable historical data prior to 2016 were not available for other regions.

The number of children in child labour has increased in sub-Saharan Africa, while it has
declined in other parts of the world
Fig 5. Number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by region
113.6 million

86.6 million
Sub-Saharan Africa

77.7 million
70.0 million

65.1 million
59.0 million

62.1 million

48.7 million
Asia and the Pacific14.1 million

2008

12.5 million

2012

10.5 million
2016

Latin America and the Caribbean
8.2 million
2020

Notes: The figure shows regional groupings used for ILO reporting. Comparable historical data prior to 2016 were not available for other regions.

24Without accelerated action, close to 140 million children will be in child labour in 2025
and 125 million in 2030
Fig 6. Projected number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour if progress from the 2008–2016 period continues
16.5 million
8.2 million

10.8 million

48.7 million

86.6 million

2020

6.6 million
33.4 million

6.8 million Other regions
5.3 million Latin America and the Caribbean
22.7 million Asia and the Pacific88.9 million

90.0 million Sub-Saharan Africa

2025

2030

Notes: The projections build on trends in the percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour between 2008 and 2016, which is the period with the fastest reduction
in child labour over the last two decades. They take into consideration demographic trends and show expected values if this progress were to continue. These estimates do
not take into account the possible impact of COVID-19. The figure shows regional groupings used for ILO reporting. Required rates could not be calculated for other regions
due to the lack of historical data.

Meeting the SDG target to eliminate child labour will require substantial acceleration
Fig 7. Average annual rate of reduction in the percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, observed and required for elimination

Observed:
2.6%
World

2000–2020

4.4%

2008–2016

45.2%
22.6%

Required for elimination by:
2025
2030

Latin America and the
Caribbean

4.0%
35.8%
17.9%
7.3%
34.5%

Asia and the Pacific
17.2%
1.5%

63.5%

Sub-Saharan Africa
31.7%

Notes: The observed average annual rates of reduction quantify the rate of progress in the prevalence of child labour over each period. A higher rate indicates faster progress.
Required rates are calculated to illustrate rates necessary to end child labour by 2025 and 2030. These estimates do not take into account the possible impact of COVID-19.
This figure shows regional groupings used for ILO reporting. Required rates could not be calculated for other regions due to the lack of historical data.

25

What drives progress in reducing child labour?
Some insights come from looking at how regionalchild labour patterns correlate with broader
demographic, economic and development trends.
Poverty reduction. Sub-Saharan Africa has
succeeded in reducing poverty in recent years
but levels remain high relative to other regions.
More than 40 per cent of the population in subSaharan Africa still lives in extreme poverty.4
The region saw steady economic growth of over

26

© UNICEF/UNI186954/Noorani

Explaining regional trends

2 per cent annually for all but one of the last five
years, but given rapid population growth, thegross domestic product (GDP) per capita actually
declined and continues to be low relative to otherregions of the world.5 Rates of inequality remain
at persistently high levels in many sub-SaharanAfrican countries.6
Levels of informality. Regions making fasterprogress in reducing child labour have hadgreater success in reducing informal economic

activity although levels remain high. Many Africanamongcountries are improving the conditions of informal

Caribbean, a drop in the number of children in childbut the region still lags behind inlabour by 6 million from 2008 to 2020 occurredtransitioning to formality. Eighty-six per cent ofas the population aged 5 to 17 fell by 4.8 million.

African jobs are in the informal economy, more

Asia and the Pacific over the same period saw thethan any other region.8 Some of the worst labour

number of children in child labour decline by 64.9

practices are clustered in the informal economy,

million as the population aged 5 to 17 increased by

which

is

12.8 million. In sub-Saharan Africa, by contrast, theassociated with lower and less regular incomes,

child labour population grew by 21.5 million frominadequate

workers7

ismostlyandunregulated.
unsafeInformality

working

regions.

In

Latin

Americaandtheconditions,2008 to 2020, while the total population aged 5 toextreme job precarity and exclusion from social

17 rose by 104.8 million.14 Considering population

security schemes, among other factors. All of thesegrowth casts child labour in sub-Saharan Africa in

can spur families to turn to child labour in the facea very different light. The region has kept millions

of financial distress.

of children out of child labour over the last 12

Social protection. Despite progress in extendingsocial protection, coverage still falls short in all
regions in terms of universality and the adequacyof benefits. A number of African countries havemade notable efforts,9 with spending on social
safety nets as a share of income equal to the world
average.10 The region as a whole, however, still has
much lower coverage than other regions. Only 17
per cent of the population in Africa is covered by atleast one social protection benefit, compared to 66
per cent in the Americas, 43 per cent in Asia andthe Pacific and 83 per cent in Europe and Central
Asia.11 Social protection in many cases determines
whether or not families resort to child labour.
Education exclusion. There has been a significant
net decline in children out of primary school inrecent years in all regions. Yet the gap in education
exclusion rates between sub-Saharan Africa andother regions remains large.12 Although public
spending on education in sub-Saharan Africa as ashare of GDP has trended upwards in recent years,
it remains well below the world average.13

years even if it has not managed to keep pace withpopulation growth.
Other challenges. Multiple points of crisis contribute to high levels of child labour in sub-SaharanAfrica. The region has the majority of fragile andconflict-affected countries; at least one quarterof all countries were fragile or in conflict in every
year from 2015 to 2020.15 Further, the region ishome to 39 per cent of the world’s refugees,
asylum seekers, returnees, stateless persons andinternally displaced persons, a higher share thanany other region.16 The Arab States region is also
particularly affected by crises linked to conflict andstate fragility.
The global HIV/AIDS pandemic also continues
to exact a disproportionate toll on sub-SaharanAfrica, which has the largest number of people
living with HIV and accounts for 59 per cent of
new infections.17 In addition, the region’s limited
resilience to climate change puts livelihoods at risk
and undercuts prospects for moving out of poverty.
Climate-related natural disasters, including floods

Population growth. Population growth patterns

and droughts that cause large-scale crop andinfluence child labour trends with stark differences

livestock losses, occur with increasing regularity.

27

© UNICEF/UN0392044/Satu

PROFILE OF CHILDREN
IN CHILD LABOURChild labour across ages
The results of the global estimates make clear thatchild labour remains an important concern acrossthe spectrum of children aged 5 to 17. Of the 160
million children in child labour, 89.3 million are young
children aged 5 to 11, 35.6 million are children aged
12 to 14, and 35 million are children aged 15 to 17.
Child labour among children aged 12 to 14 and 15 to
17 continued to fall in both absolute and percentage
terms over the last four years. By contrast, the2016-2020 period saw a worrying rise in childlabour among young children aged 5 to 11. In 2016,
there were signs of slowing progress among young
children. Today the trend line is moving in the wrong
direction. The reason for backtracking is not clear
and needs to be investigated as a priority.
Hazardous work accounted for about two fifthsof the total number of additional children aged 5
to 11 in child labour during the four-year period.
While children of all ages must be protected fromhazardous work, its persistence and now growthamong younger children is a particular concern.
Boys and girls in child labour
Involvement in child labour is more common forboys than girls at all ages. For children aged 5 to 17,
child labour prevalence is nearly one third higher for28

boys. The gender gap grows with age, and boys areroughly twice as likely as girls to be in child labourin the 15 to 17 age range.
Comparisons of child labour estimates for boys andgirls must be accompanied by an important caveat.
The definition of child labour upon which theestimates are based does not include involvement inhousehold chores in children’s own homes, an areaof work for which girls shoulder a disproportionate
burden of the responsibility in most societies.
The 2020 global estimates look for the first time
at how the inclusion of household chores affects
overall child labour estimates as well as estimatesof male child labour relative to female child labour.
The results are noteworthy. When the definition ofchild labour is expanded to include involvement inhousehold chores for 21 hours or more per week,child labour prevalence increases for both sexes,
but the rise in female child labour is much larger. As
a result, the gender gap in child labour prevalenceis reduced by almost half, from 2.8 percentage
points to 1.6 percentage points.
Child labour in rural and urban settings
Estimates of child labour by rural or urban
residence, available for the first time in the 2020
global estimates, indicate that child labour is much
more common in rural areas. The prevalence ofchild labour there is about three times higher thanin urban areas. Child labour in rural economies
primarily takes place in agriculture.

The proportion of children in child labour is similar across age groups
Fig 8. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by age

9.7%

5–11 years

9.3%

9.5%

12–14 years

15–17 years

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest share of young children in child labour, while Latin
America and the Caribbean has the largest share of older children
Fig 9. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by age and region

5–11 years

35.0 million 21.9%

35.6 million 22.2%

16.4%

22.3%

12–14 years

29.9%

15–17 years

26.0%
38.5%

28.5%

23.6%
23.8%

19.4%

19.8%

20.0%
23.6%

89.3 million 55.8%

60.0%

54.0%

50.7%

54.2%

51.5%
37.9%

World

Sub-SaharanAfricaNorthern Africa
and Western Asia

Central andSouthern Asia

Eastern andSouth-Eastern Asia

Latin America
and the Caribbean

Europe andNorthern America

Notes: Due to rounding, figures in percentages do not add up to 100 per cent and age-specific numbers do not add up to the global total. The figure shows regional groupings
used for SDG reporting. The region of Oceania is omitted because of low data coverage. Caution is warranted when interpreting data for Europe and Northern America dueto the small number of children in child labour.

29Since 2008, child labour has declined steadily among children aged 12 and older; thelast four years saw a worrying increase among younger children
Fig 10. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by age
17.0%
16.9%
13.1%

10.7%

2008

30

11.7%

10.5%
8.5%

8.3%

2012

2016

9.7%

5–11 years

9.3%

12–14 years

9.5% 15–17 years

2020© UNICEF/UNI277633/Berger

13.0%Child labour is more prevalent among boys than girls at every age
Fig 11. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by age and sex

12.2%
11.2%

11.0%

10.9%

8.4%

7.8%

7.5%
6.6%

Boys

Girls

Boys

5 –11 years

Girls

Boys

12–14 years

Girls

Boys

15–17 years

Girls
5 –17 years

Boys account for the largest share of children in child labour across all regions
Fig 12. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 in child labour, by sex and region
Boys
Girls
62.9 million 39.3%

97.0 million 60.7%

World

43.9%

56.1%

Sub-SaharanAfrica

34.9%

32.5%

34.7%

33.0%

65.1%

67.5%

65.3%

67.0%

Northern Africa
and Western Asia

Central andSouthern Asia

Latin America
Eastern andSouth-Eastern Asia and the Caribbean

37.7%

62.3%

Europe andNorthern America

Notes: Due to rounding, sex-specific numbers do not add up to the global total. The figure shows regional groupings used for SDG reporting. The region of Oceania is omitted
because of low data coverage. Caution is warranted when interpreting data for Europe and Northern America due to the small number of children in child labour.

31© UNICEF/UN020184/Anmar

Child labour has declined faster among girls than boys
Fig 13. Percentage of boys and girls aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by sex

23.4%
21.3%

21.4%

22.5%
18.1%

19.9%

16.9%
15.2%
10.7%

11.2%
Boys

8.4%

2000

32

2004

2008

2012

2016

Girls
7.8%

2020

© UNICEF/UN032941/Mukwazhi

When household chores are taken into account, the gender gap in childlabour prevalence narrows
Fig 14. Percentage of children aged 5 to 14 years in child labour (including and excluding household chores performed for 21hours or more per week), by sex
Boys

12.5%
10.9%

Girls
10.9%

8.1%

Child labour excluding household choresChild labour including household chores

Notes: Household chores refer to services children provide without pay for their own households. These include caring for household members,cleaning and minor household repairs, cooking and serving meals, washing and ironing clothes, and transporting or accompanying family members toand from work and school. For statistical measurement, where household chores are included in the calculation of child labour, hazardous householdchores refer to those performed by children below the general minimum working age for 21 hours or more per week.

33

34© UNICEF/UNI77157/Holmes

The prevalence of child labour in rural areas is close to three times higher than inurban areas
Fig 15. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by residence and sex

Urban
Rural

16.1%
13.9%
11.6%

5.7%

4.7%

3.6%

Total

Boys

Girls

Child labour is more common in rural than in urban areas in almost all regions
Fig 16. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by residence and region

Urban
37.3 million 23.3%

Rural

17.9%
30.8%

24.8%

24.8%
48.7%

122.7 million 76.7%

82.1%
69.2%

75.2%

75.2%
51.3%

World

Sub-SaharanAfricaNorthern Africa
and Western Asia

Central andSouthern Asia

52.7%

Eastern and
Latin America
South-Eastern Asia and the Caribbean

47.3%

Europe andNorthern America

Notes: The figure shows regional groupings used for SDG reporting. The region of Oceania is omitted because of low data coverage. Caution is warranted when interpreting
data for Europe and Northern America due to the small number of children in child labour.

35

36

© UNICEF/UNI116799/Friedman-Rudovsky

CHARACTERISTICS OF
CHILD LABOUR

exposure to inorganic fertilizers, pesticides and other

Most child labour – for boys and girls alike – occurs inforceful movements in awkward body positions;agriculture. This is especially the case among younger

exposure to extreme temperatures; use of dangerous

children, for whom agriculture often serves as an entry

cutting tools such as machetes and scythes; andpoint. Child labour takes place in family subsistence

use of and exposure to farm vehicles and heavy farmand smallholder farming, commercial plantations andmachinery.18 In capture fisheries, children can faceother forms of commercial farming, agro-industrial

prolonged periods at sea, away from their families,

complexes, capture fisheries, aquaculture, post-in situations of extreme vulnerability stemming fromharvest fish processing and forestry.

their isolation on the fishing vessel, the tasks they

Services and industry account for smaller but still
substantial shares of children in child labour. In

dangerous

agrochemicals;

physicallystrenuous

tasks such as carrying heavy loads; long periods ofstanding, stooping and bending, and repetitive andmust perform, and the dangers of inclement weather
and extreme temperatures, among others.19

services, child labour includes domestic work andArtisanal and small-scale mining can force children

work in commerce, transport and motor vehicle

to work in deep underground shafts, haul heavy

repair. Child labour in industry comprises work inloads of rock and use toxic chemicals to separate

construction, mining and manufacturing. Whileminerals or precious metals from ore.20 The isolated

agriculture has roughly equal shares of boys andnature of domestic work renders children particularly

girls in child labour, a greater degree of gendervulnerable to physical, verbal and sexual abuse.

specialization occurs in services and industry. Girls

Street vending hazards can include night work,in child labour are much more likely to be in services,

exposure to traffic and motor vehicle exhaust fumes

including domestic work, and boys are more prone toand, in extreme cases, the risk of being drawn into

be in industry.

illicit activities.

The sectoral composition of child labour differs

These are just a few examples of countless hazards

considerably across regions, although agriculturethat children in child labour may confront, all of which

accounts for the largest share everywhere. In sub-must be urgently addressed in line with the universally

Saharan Africa, agriculture plays the most important

ratified ILO Convention No. 182.

role, accounting for over four of every five children
in child labour. Shares in services and industry arehigher in other regions, but only two, Latin America
and the Caribbean and Europe and Northern
America, have combined shares of these two sectors
exceeding that of agriculture. Not coincidently, these
two regions have the highest shares of children aged
15 to 17 in the overall child labour population.

The largest share of child labour takes place within
the family, where hazardous work accounts fora substantial portion, counter to the common
perception of the family as a safer working
environment. In sub-Saharan Africa, 82 per cent of
all child labour occurs within the family. The relative
importance of family work has grown in the last four
years, reflecting the growth in the shares of youngChild labour is frequently hazardous wherever it takeschildren and African children in the overall childplace, with many variations. In family smallholder

population. Both groups are especially likely toand commercial farming, common hazards include

engage in family work.

37

The agricultural sector accounts for the largest share of child labour worldwide
Fig 17. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by sector of economic activity, age and sex

4.5%

4.6%

3.0%

15.2%

12.8%

13.7%

10.3%

6.0%

7.5%

5.7%

Other services

13.8%

17.3%

22.8%

Domestic work

2.9%

6.9%

Industry
Agriculture

13.4%

5.5%

24.0%

70.0%

76.6%

70.3%

75.8%

69.9%

47.6%

5–17 years

5–11 years

Total

12–14 years

15–17 years

Girls

Age

Boys

Sex

Note: Due to rounding, figures in percentages do not add up to 100 per cent.

The sectoral composition of child labour varies considerably across regions
Fig 18. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by sector of economic activity and region

Services
31.4 million 19.7%

Industry

13.2%
5.3%

27.4%

23.4%

27.3%

Agriculture
34.4%

39.1%

16.5 million 10.3%
11.1%

17.9%

16.1%
17.0%

16.8%

81.5%
112.1 million 70.0%

World

61.5%

Sub-SaharanAfricaNorthern Africa
and Western Asia

58.7%

Central andSouthern Asia

56.5%

48.7%

Eastern and
Latin America
South-Eastern Asia and the Caribbean

44.1%

Europe andNorthern America

Notes: Due to rounding, figures in percentages do not add up to 100 per cent. The figure shows regional groupings used for SDG reporting. The region of Oceania is omitted
because of low data coverage. Caution is warranted when interpreting data for Europe and Northern America due to the small number of children in child labour.

38© UNICEF/UNI81647/Pirozzi

39© UNICEF/UNI184596/Grile

Worldwide, 7.1 million children are engaged in forms of domestic work that constitutechild labour
Fig 19. Number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour in domestic work, by age and sex

1.2
million0.8
millionGirls
4.4 million

2.5
million0.6
millionNote: Due to rounding, age-specific numbers for girls do not add up to the total.

40

5-11 years

Boys

2.8 million
0.4
million

1.6
million12-14 years
15-17 years

Hazardous work constitutes a sizeable share of child labour among children aged 5 to
14 across all three sectors
Fig 20. Number and percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 14 years in child labour, by hazardous work status and sector of economic activity

Agriculture

Industry

Services

32.9%

31.4 million

67.1%

3.7 million

8.2 million

54.8%

4.4 million

61.8%

13.3 million

Hazardous
work
Other childlabour© UNICEF/UNI108319/Asselin64.0 million

38.2%

45.2%

41

The sectoral composition of child labour changed only marginally between 2016
and 2020
Fig 21. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by sector of economic activity

Agriculture

70.9%

2020

70.0%

© UNICEF/UN0401745/Fazel

2016

42

11.9%

10.3%

17.2%

19.7%

Industry
ServicesMost children in child labour work within their own family unit
Fig 22. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by status at work, age and sex

10.7%

8.2%

12.6%

10.5%

15.0%

9.2%

12.4%

12.9%

17.3%

Own-accountworkers
Employees

10.8%

Contributing
family workers

20.4%

42.3%

82.6%
72.1%

77.1%

74.5%

68.8%

42.8%

5–17 years

5–11 years

Total

12–14 years

15–17 years

Girls

Age

Boys
Sex

Note: Due to rounding, figures in percentages do not add up to 100 per cent.

Family work predominates across all regions
Fig 23. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by status at work and region

17.0 million 10.7%
27.6 million 17.3%

115.3 million 72.1%

10.2%

9.7%

15.0%

9.4%

8.0%

7.3%
26.9%

24.4%

29.5%

42.1%

36.4%

Own-accountworkers
Employees
Contributing
family workers

82.4%
63.5%

60.6%

61.1%
49.9%

World

6.5%

Sub-SaharanAfricaNorthern Africa
and Western Asia

Central andSouthern Asia

Eastern andSouth-Eastern Asia

57.1%

Latin America
Europe andand the Caribbean Northern America

Notes: Due to rounding, figures in percentages do not add up to 100 per cent and numbers do not add up to the global total. The figure shows regional groupings used for
SDG reporting. The region of Oceania is omitted because of low data coverage. Caution is warranted when interpreting data for Europe and Northern America due to the small
number of children in child labour.

43© UNICEF/UNI88065/Crouch

A significant share of child labour within the family is hazardous
Fig 24. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 14 years in hazardous work and other forms of child labour, by status at work and age

Other formsof child labour

25.9%

71.4%

50.5%

52.8%

63.7%

Hazardous
work

76.4%

74.1%

28.6%

Contributing
family workers

36.3%
23.6%

Employees
5–11 years

44

49.5%

47.2%

Own-accountworkers

Contributing
family workers

Employees
12–14 years

Own-accountworkers

Family work has grown in relative importance over the last four years
Fig 25. Percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by status at work

4.7%

10.7%

Contributing
family workers

17.3%

31.9%

2016

Employees

2020

Own-accountworkers

63.4%
72.1%

Note: Due to rounding, figures in percentages do not add up to 100 per cent.

45

46

© UNICEF/UNI148471/Romana

CHILD LABOUR AND EDUCATION
More than one third of all children in child labour are excluded fromschool. Hazardous child labour constitutes an even greater barrier toschool attendance.
Especially worrying is the large share of younger children in child labour
who are excluded from school despite falling within the age range forcompulsory education. Nearly 28 per cent of 5 to 11 year olds and35 per cent of 12 to 14 year olds in child labour are out of school.
This severely constrains their prospects for decent work in youth
and adulthood as well as their life potential overall. Boys and urban
children in child labour are slightly more likely to be out of school, butdifferences by sex and residence are not large.
There is rarely a single reason for why children are in child labour
instead of attending school. In many cases, the work demands somuch time and energy that it becomes impossible for children toenter, persist and succeed in schooling. In other instances, children
work because they lack access to quality, free schools providing aworthwhile alternative. Decisions concerning children’s education canbe influenced by family perceptions of its importance and the potential
returns in the labour market.
For every child in child labour who has reached a compulsory age
for education but is excluded from school, another two struggle tobalance the demands of school and work. They face compromisesin education as a result and should not be forgotten in the discussionof child labour and education. Children who must combine childlabour with schooling generally lag behind non-working peers in grade
progression and learning achievement, and are more likely to drop out
prematurely.

47

Over one third of children in child labour are out of school
Fig 26. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour not attending school, by age, sex and residence

53.2%

36.3%

35.2%

35.0%

32.8%

34.8%

35.5%

Rural

Urban

27.7%

5-17 years

5-11 years

Total

12-14 years

15-17 years

Boys

Age

Girls
Sex

Residence

Children engaged in hazardous work are even less likely to attend school
Fig 27. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in hazardous work not attending school, by age, sex and residence

53.2%
45.5%

43.6%

40.2%

40.3%

43.6%

43.7%

Rural

Urban

33.0%

5-17 years
Total

48

5-11 years

12-14 years
Age

15-17 years

Boys

Girls
Sex

ResidenceAcross all regions, significant shares of children in child labour are out of school
Fig 28. Percentage of children aged 5 to 14 years in child labour not attending school, by region

Eastern and South-Eastern Asia
37.2%

Central and Southern Asia
35.3%

Northern Africa and Western Asia
28.1%

Sub-Saharan Africa
28.1%

Latin America and the Caribbean
15.5%© UNICEF/UNI236036/Noorani

Notes: The figure shows regional groupings used for SDG reporting. The region of Oceania is omitted because of low data coverage. The region of Europe and Northern
America is omitted because of the low levels of children in child labour and out of school.

49

CHILD LABOUR,
NATIONAL INCOME
AND STATE FRAGILITY
The percentage of children in child labour ishighest in low-income countries. This is not
surprising given a strong two-way link between
child labour and national income. High levelsof child labour hinder current income growthby reducing unskilled wages and discouraging
skill-intensive technologies. They also dampen
future growth by interfering with children’s
education and physical development, leading
to a less productive adult workforce. Risingnational incomes improve the ability of families
to make adequate livelihoods and cope withshocks without resorting to child labour.21© UNICEF/UNI198335/QuarmyneChild labour is by no means strictly a lowincome country problem, however. Threeof every five children in child labour live in
middle-income countries. For greater national
wealth to translate into reduced child labour,
economic growth must be inclusive and its
benefits equitably distributed. The tax revenues
it generates must be invested in programmes
and services that make a difference for children,
above all in education and social protection.
That large pockets of child labour persist evenin relatively rich countries points to important
remaining policy challenges.

50

Countries with high levels of institutional andsocial fragility22 tend to have more child labour,
triple the global average. While this simple
correlation should not be overinterpreted, it
underscores the importance of stability, policies
for social inclusion and equity, and robust
public institutions to prevent child labour.

Not surprisingly, child labour is most prevalent in low-income countries
Fig 29. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by national income group

26.2%

9.0%
4.9%

Low income

Lower-middle income

0.9%Upper-middle income

High income

Notes: Low-income countries had a gross national income (GNI) per capita in 2020 of $1,045 or less, lower-middle-income countries of between $1,046 and $4,125, uppermiddle-income countries of between $4,126 and $12,735, and high-income countries of $12,736 or more. Calculations used the World Bank Atlas method.

Yet more than half of all child labour occurs in middle-income countries
Fig 30. Number and percentage distribution of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by national income group

Low income
65.0 million, 40.7%

High income
1.6 million, 1.0%

Lower-middle income
69.7 million, 43.6%

Upper-middle income
23.7 million, 14.8%

Notes: Low-income countries had a GNI per capita in 2020 of $1,045 or less, lower-middle-income countries of between $1,046 and $4,125, upper-middle-income countries
of between $4,126 and $12,735, and high-income countries of $12,736 or more. Calculations used the World Bank Atlas method. Due to rounding, figures in percentages do
not add up to 100 per cent.

51© UNICEF/UN064359/Feyizoglu

Child labour in situations of fragility is three times higher than the world averageFig 31. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, worldwide and in countries with high levels of institutional and social fragility

30.9%

9.6%

Fragile countries

World

Notes: According to the Revised Classification of Fragility and Conflict Situations for World Bank Group Engagement, fragile countries are defined as those with one or more of
the following: (a) the weakest institutional and policy environment (as measured using a set of 16 criteria grouped into four clusters: economic management, structural policies,
policies for social inclusion and equity, and public sector management and institutions); or (b) the presence of a UN peacekeeping operation, since this reflects a decision by
the international community that a significant investment is needed to maintain peace and stability there; or (c) flight across borders of 2,000 or more per 100,000 population,
who are internationally regarded as refugees in need of international protection, as this signals a major political or security crisis. Countries satisfying these criteria and also
engaged in medium- or high-intensity conflicts are not considered, since such countries have gone beyond fragility.

52Child labour declines as the level of human development increases
Fig 32. Percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, by the Human Development Index

24.8%

7.5%

5.6%
2.9%

Low

MediumHigh

Very highNotes: Countries are grouped into four categories according to the 2019 Human Development Index, which links measures of education, health and income. The ranges are:very high (0.800 or greater), high (0.700–0.799), medium (0.550–0.699) and low (less than 0.550).

53

© UNICEF/UN0464173/Sujan

The impact
of COVID-19

54

The intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic with childlabour globally offers substantial cause for concern. In
2020, the pandemic increased the number of children inincome-poor households by an estimated 142 million,
adding to the 582 million children already in poverty
in 2019.23 Their families have suffered job and income
losses, seen cuts in remittances and experienced ahost of other shocks.
In such circumstances, a large body of evidence affirmsthat families may turn to child labour as a coping
mechanism.24 School closures during lockdowns
add to the risks, especially for children in vulnerable
situations, as they are even more likely to work whengoing to school is not a viable option. When children
leave school and enter paid employment, it can be very
difficult for them to resume their education.25
Growing anecdotal evidence sheds light on how the
COVID-19 crisis is affecting children. Human Rights
Watch, for example, collected testimonies from 81
children in Ghana, Nepal and Uganda who have been
newly pushed into child labour or endure more difficult
work circumstances. Some indicated that their families
no longer had sufficient food and they were working
to get enough to eat. Children said that their work was
frequently long and arduous – one third in each country
had to work for at least 10 hours a day, and somedescribed working for as many as 16 hours. Thosealready working before the crisis struck said they were
working more since the closure of schools.26
Other accounts are emerging around the world. An
International Cocoa Initiative assessment of 263
communities in Côte d’Ivoire found a significant
increase in child labour in cocoa businesses from Julyto September 2020 compared to the same period 12months earlier.27 Data from Ecuador indicated a morethan one-third rise in child labour prevalence since thepandemic began.28 In Egypt, children are reportedly
being sent to work in cotton cultivation and otheragricultural work.29 In São Paulo, Brazil, child labour
increased by 26 per cent between May and July 2020
in households assisted by UNICEF.30

55

Several reports have emphasized school closures
as driving child labour. In a survey of eight West
African countries, children consistently reported
working because there was no school. They said
that their presence at home raised the expectationthat they should work to help their families, which
made distance learning difficult even when it wasavailable.31 In Burkina Faso, reports of more children
working alongside their parents in granite mining haveindicated that this is in part because their parents did
not want to leave them at home unsupervised during
school closures.32
The impact of the pandemic on child labour,
however, does not always fit common assumptions.
Preliminary analysis of the limited number ofcountries with survey data from before and after
the pandemic suggests that the most common
immediate effect has been a decline in children’s
involvement in economic activity.33 The large-scale
destruction of jobs arising from the lockdowns
and from the fall-off in demand in some economic
sectors appears, at least in these countries, to haveaffected jobs performed by children. These results,
however, refer to children’s economic activity, which
is a broader concept than child labour as it includes
permitted forms of children’s work. The results also
relate primarily to older children, aged 15 to 17, in
middle-income countries.
A modelling exercise provides further insights into
the likely near-term impact of COVID-19 on childlabour. Based on a simple model that uses thelatest poverty projections to predict changes inchild labour up to 2022,34 it suggests that the net
effect of the pandemic during this period is likely to
be a substantial additional rise in child labour. Any
immediate decline due to disruptions in the broader
labour market is likely to be significantly outweighed
by a poverty-driven rise in child labour over a slightly
longer time horizon.

56

The model predicts 8.9 million more children in childlabour by the end of 2022. Young children aged 5
to 11 account for over half (4.9 million) of the total
predicted additional children in child labour. Thisescalation reflects only the poverty effects of thecrisis; the calculation likely understates the total
impact of COVID-19 on child labour, such as throughunprecedented disruptions to children’s education.
Yet the increase in child labour is by no means aforegone conclusion. In addition to the ‘baseline’
scenario reported above, in which social protection
remains constant, two additional scenarios wereconsidered. Both demonstrate the substantial
influence of social protection coverage on childlabour. In the first ‘downside’ scenario, social
protection coverage slips from the current level in eachnational income group by an amount proportional to
the standard deviation of current coverage levels
in each group (Table 1). In the second ‘mitigated’
scenario, the opposite occurs. Globally, the goal forsocial protection is much more ambitious, calling fornationally appropriate social protection systems andmeasures, including social protection floors, for all.
The results are dramatic. Extending social protection
by the amounts specified in Table 1 would reduce
the number of children in child labour by 15.1 million
by the end of 2022, more than offsetting the impact
of COVID-19 and accelerating progress towards
ending child labour altogether. If austerity measuresor other factors cause a slippage in coverage, again
by the amounts specified in Table 1, the outlook will
worsen. A predicted 46.2 million additional children
would enter child labour through the end of 2022. In
both scenarios, the biggest changes occur among
the youngest children in child labour. The potential
for expanding social protection for children, throughuniversal child benefits and other means, is further
explored in the final chapter of this report.

Table 1

Adjustments in social protection coverage in the mitigated and downside scenarios
Adjusted coverage levels,
percentage

Income group

Average social
protection
coverage level,
percentage

Standard
deviation,
percentage

Mitigatedscenario

Downsidescenario

Percentage
point change incoverage

Low income

11.0

6.7

11.7

10.3

+/- 0.7

Lower-middle income

29.8

22.0

36.4

23.2

+/- 6.6

Upper-middle income

49.0

22.7

60.1

37.9

+/- 11.1

High income

78.1

25.4

97.9

58.3

+/- 19.8

Without mitigation measures, 8.9 million more children will likely be engaged in childlabour by the end of 2022
Fig 33. Number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour, observed and projected

206.2 million

If austerity measuresor other factors causea slippage in social
protection coverage(downside scenario)

168.9 million
168.0 million
151.6 million

160.0 million

Due to an increase inpoverty and in theabsence of additional
mitigation measures

144.9 million

If social protection
coverage isincreased(mitigated scenario)

2012

2016

2020

2022

57

© UNICEF/UN077798/Bona

The journey to universal ratification of the ILO
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
For once, we can be celebratory. In August 2020, theWorst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182)
became the first ILO convention ratified by all member
states. This historic first means that all children now
have legal protection against the worst forms of childlabour. Importantly, this may also mark the beginning of
the end of child labour as we know it.

The challenge
The ILO’s work on child labour for the first 60 years or so
focused on the adoption of conventions on the minimum
age for admission to employment in specific industries
or occupations, culminating in the Minimum Age for
Admission to Employment Convention (No. 138) in 1973.
But the record of ratification and implementation throughnational laws and practices remained disappointing.
Even the much acclaimed and comprehensive ILO
Convention No. 138 was, by the 1990s, ratified by only
49 countries, mostly industrialized, with a few fromAfrica and Latin America. None were from Asia where
half the world’s child workers were found. It was clear
by the mid-1990s that the ILO had reached a cul-de-sacof sorts.
ILO Convention No. 138 was a marvellous intellectual
construct – long on vision and robust in its conception
58

and practical relevance in a world with varying levels ofdevelopment and cultures. It was explicit in its goal andheld the moral high ground in calling for the eventual
abolition of child labour. It was a model par excellencein its realism and conception as an international legal
instrument. It gave a central recognition to differencesin economic conditions and the reality of resource
constraints and to the determination of varying minimum
ages for employment to guide national policy. One
seldom finds an international convention with such an
elegant intellectual architecture, simple in its statedobjective but quite varied and rich in its articulation of
obligations and guidelines for action. Yet this richness
was also one of the major reasons for its low andslow ratification. Even where there was political will,policymakers were overwhelmed by the enormity of the
problem, the magnitude of the task and the challenge of
where to begin.

The worst forms of child labour: A strategic
breakthroughWhile progress in ratifying ILO Convention No. 138
stalled, by the mid-1990s, the worldwide movement
against child labour had gained considerable strengthand momentum. There was new recognition that the
problem was vast and morally reprehensible, and that

it was bad not only for children and families but also
for society at large. All sides appreciated the need foraction and the challenges it posed. Advocates of total
abolition were growing sympathetic to the concernsof the less developed countries and their constrained
capacity for action. For their part, developing countries
were becoming more concerned about growinginternational pressure, especially as child labour cameto be an increasingly important consideration in tradenegotiations and a prominent item on the humanrights agenda. There was thus a need to find common
ground for global action. The question was, what andhow? Perhaps more specifically, where to begin? The
converging view and conclusion were simple, now so
obvious but at the time quite radical: first things first.
This led to a proposal for a convention that espousedpriority national and global actions on the worst formsof child labour.
A major concern among many advocates was thepossibly negative impact of the proposed convention on
the overall objective to abolish child labour in generaland ratify ILO Convention No. 138 in particular. Although
there was considerable apprehension, there was finallyan overwhelming consensus that a new convention on
the worst forms of child labour would not only reinforce
and accelerate the campaign against child labour but
also give impetus to the ratification of ILO Convention No.
138, the most important and foundational international
instrument on the subject.
The discussions and debates surrounding the draft
proposal were on the whole smooth. There were no
fundamental changes. The ILO had been considering
use of the terms ‘extreme’ or ‘intolerable’ forms ofchild labour but the International Labour Conference
Committee decided to call the new instrument, in
retrospect wisely, the Worst Forms of Child Labour
Convention. The result was a well-conceived, logicallystructured and clearly written draft.
Even so, no one dreamed of what would happen later. The
Convention was adopted unanimously, without a single
abstention, a first in the ILO’s history. The thunderous
applause and spontaneous explosion of joy that saw
committee members hugging on the conference floor
were probably unique in the history of the organization.

What followed has been an even greater surprise – theuniversal ratification of the Convention. It is a journey anda milestone that should be celebrated, for ratification is
far more than a symbolic act. When a country ratifies ILO
Convention No. 182, it commits to taking immediate andeffective measures to prohibit and eliminate the worst
forms of child labour. Ratification is thus a powerfulstimulus to action.

What of the future?
Universal ratification of ILO Convention No. 182 is one
important step in the global effort against child labour.
Yet it is only one step. We must also defend and promote
ILO Convention No. 138 to achieve universal ratificationof this foundational instrument on child labour. And wemust continue the hard work of implementing theseconventions, everywhere, all together.
The challenge of child labour continues, in old forms andnew. There are still many pockets of exploitation andabuse that remain hidden, such as child domestic workand child trafficking. There are also emerging problems ofsexual abuse and exploitation associated with the reachof the Internet and other new technologies. Children willremain vulnerable for one reason or another. It is ourduty to stay vigilant and establish mechanisms to detect,monitor and take effective action for their protection.
Poverty remains a persistent and ever-present danger,
to borrow from the language and spirit of the ILO 1944
Declaration of Philadelphia concerning the aims andpurposes of the International Labour Organisation.35 We
have to think big and have the courage to envision aworld free from child poverty, one that provides social
protection for all from cradle to grave. Only then willchildren truly be protected from the scourge of childlabour.
Assefa Bequele
Assefa Bequele was the representative of the ILO DirectorGeneral on the International Labour Conference Committeethat finalized the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention.

59© UNICEF/UNI235404/Noorani

The road forward60

We are at a critical juncture in the worldwide drive tostop child labour. Global progress has ground to ahalt over the last four years after slowing considerably
in the four years before that. COVID-19 threatens
to further erode past gains. While nearly 86 million
fewer children are in child labour now than when
we began measuring the phenomenon globally in
2000, recent trends affirm we have fallen far behindon our collective commitment to ending all forms
by 2025. In 2021, the United Nations InternationalYear for the Elimination of Child Labour, we musturgently put progress back on track.

The pandemic has made such actions more urgent

A first imperative is to prevent further regression
amid the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has clearlyheightened the threat of child labour.36 This stems
from a sharp rise in poverty and school closuresthat have denied families logical alternatives. To
reduce these risks, expanded income support
measures for families in situations of vulnerability,
through child benefits and other means, will be
critical. So are back-to-school campaigns andstepped up remedial learning that bring children
back to classrooms and help them make up for lostlearning, as conditions permit.

mobilization strategies to expand their fiscal space,38

An evidence-based policy roadmap
As the world seeks to respond to and build forwardfrom the COVID-19 crisis, we should not lose sightof broader policy measures to end child labour.37
Extending social protection can mitigate the poverty
and economic uncertainty that underlie child labour,while investing in free, good-quality schooling canprovide a viable alternative and open doors to abetter future. Every birth should be registered sothat children have a legal identity and can enjoy theirrights from birth. Expanding decent work would
deliver a fair income for all adult workers and theirfamilies, including those in the informal economy
where vulnerability to child labour is greatest. A
cross-section of policies should recognize theequal worth of girls and boys and tackle harmful
gender norms. And necessary laws and regulations
must be in place to protect children, backed byenforcement and child protection systems to apply
them. Information and communication technology
can be leveraged in efforts across all these areas.

even as governments are grappling with growing
budgetary pressure. Much depends on making
sound policy choices and resource allocation
decisions. Strengthening national evidence onchild labour can help to identify local priorities andguide policy and spending choices. Social dialogue
among governments and employers’ and workers’organizations is essential to shape responsive
policies to address child labour and related
challenges wherever they occur.
While governments can and should adopt resource
the profound impact of the pandemic further
increases the urgency of international support
to help fill the financing gap. Many industrializedcountries still fall short on their long-standing
commitment to ODA and to financing sustainable
development.39 This needs to change. Debt relief
should be extended and debt restructured in heavily
indebted countries so that increasing debt service
payments do not crowd out social spending.40 We
must avoid the mistakes of the past, where urgently
needed credit flows hinged on austerity measuresthat cut essential services and inflicted enduringharm on children and families in greatest need.

Make social protection universal
Most children who work do so because their families
depend on their wages, production or domestic
work (including unpaid, often by girls) to make ends
meet. Household economic shocks and the loss ofa parent or caregiver can increase the chance thata child will go to work.41 Even before the COVID-19
pandemic, nearly one in three children in low- andmiddle-income countries lived in families below
national poverty lines. The pandemic exacerbatedchild poverty, with the number of children inincome-poor households increasing by over 142
million in 2020.42
Adequate social protection mitigates the socioeconomic vulnerability underpinning child labour43
andoffsets

poverty,genderdeprivation in childhood.

44

inequality

andYet even before thepandemic, nearly three quarters of children, 1.47
61

billion, lacked social protection.45 Despite theunprecedented social protection response to the
COVID-19 crisis,46 most measures are temporary
and insufficiently sensitive to children and gender.47
Few, if any, address the heightened risks of childlabour among children forced to move or affectedby disabilities, among other vulnerable groups.
Universal child benefits offer one critical componentof the solution. Defined as cash (or tax) transfers
provided on a regular basis to all families withchildren, these benefits are a simple and provenmeans of cushioning children and their families frompoverty and improving access to education andhealth care. They can incentivize birth registration,
making children and their physical whereabouts
more visible to state institutions,48 and can contribute to integrated social and child protection
systems. As children grow, benefit payments canbe linked with care services and provide further
incentives for families to stay in contact with state
institutions and services. This allows for better
planning and resource allocation for these services,
including child protection systems. Quasi-universal
child benefits, designed to exclude only thewealthiest families, are another option.
The potential for cash transfers to limit childlabour is straightforward and well documented.49
Regular cash transfers improve school attendanceand discourage child labour by providing income
security. They free families from reliance onchildren’s earnings or production, enabling them tosend their children to school instead. Cash transfers
also help offset out-of-pocket schooling costs thatcan be an important barrier to school attendance.
Cash benefits are not a panacea. While they help
reduce child labour, there is a risk that families will
invest transfers in microenterprises and actuallystimulate demand for child labour.50 Preventing
such outcomes requires integrating child labourand gender considerations into the design andimplementation of benefit schemes along with otherdimensions of marginality.51 Also important aremeasures to address the dependency of household

62

microenterprises, particularly small family farms, onchild labour.
An effective social protection floor for children
involves a combination of social insurance and taxfinanced benefits.52 Elements of comprehensive
systems that benefit children include unemployment protection, old-age pensions, maternity/
parental leave benefits, sick leave and disability
benefits. All stem the chances that families will
resort to negative coping mechanisms, includingchild labour, in the face of shocks.
Financing remains a major concern, with funding
gaps in social protection widening by about 30
per cent since the onset of COVID-19.53 Despite
unprecedented fiscal stimulus measures, only 2
per cent of these supported children and families.54
Additional investment in social protection cancome from multiple sources, including progressive
taxation and reallocations of existing spending,such as away from harmful fossil fuel subsidies.
The ILO and UNICEF, as well as the Global Coalition
for Social Protection Floors, have developed ideas,
strategies and tools for developing sustainablefinancing.

Safeguard and advance children’s
education
COVID-19 has dealt an enormous setback to
education. At their peak, pandemic-related school
closures affected over 90 per cent of the world’s
students.55 Substitute remote learning failed toreach 463 million learners.56
This education emergency could spiral into a childlabour emergency. Since schools provide crucial
services, such as school meals,57 interruptions
can intensify household food insecurity andfinancial stress, which increase the risk of childlabour. Once children are out of school and enter
paid employment, it can be very difficult to getthem back.58
As schools reopen, back-to-school campaigns andoutreach will be vital in making sure children areable to return, particularly those already working

and those without access to remote learning.
Outreach will require close collaboration between
schools and social service workforces.

258 million children and youth were out of school
worldwide.62 Many were in child labour or at risk of
it. This group must not be forgotten.

The reopening of schools is an opportunity toreimagine education that is higher quality andhelps young people develop skills for work and a
productive life.59 Low-quality education otherwise
propels dropouts and early entry into paid work.
Six out of 10 students lack basic literacy andnumeracy skills even after several years in school.60
One essential step is having an adequate, qualified,professional and competent teaching force withdecent working conditions.61 Opportunities forstrengthening informal education and formalclassroom settings should be fully explored. Digitallearning should be integrated into education forevery child and young person so that never again
are the world’s disadvantaged children left on thewrong side of the digital divide.

There are some well-known solutions for getting
and keeping children in school.63 These includealigning the minimum working age and the endof compulsory schooling, and establishing earlychildhood development, childcare and pre-primaryeducation, which increase the chance that students
not only stay in school but also succeed. Abolishingschool fees and eliminating costs for books,
uniforms and transport keeps education affordable.
Universal child benefits can help offset such costs.
Gathering more evidence about the links between
education and child labour can more precisely
define the most effective interventions for keeping
children in school.

© UNICEF/UNI377095/Prasad Ngakhusi

For children not reached by remote learning, catchup and remedial programmes will help prevent themfrom dropping out of school and entering work
prematurely. Even before COVID-19, more than

Much depends on financing. Even before the crisis,
few governments met the international benchmarksof allocating 15-20 per cent of public expenditureand 4-6 per cent of GDP to education.64 Addressing
entrenched spending inequities should begin withprioritizing lower levels of education so poor children

63get their fair share and are less vulnerable to childcomponents to prevent gender-based violence andlabour. Maintaining and increasing ODA will makeother abuses.

65

the difference in many low-income countries.

Community-based dialogue, social and behaviour

Register every child at birthchange interventions, and parenting programmes

Birth registration gives children a legal identity so

can help counter unequal gender norms thatthey can enjoy all of their rights from birth. A birthencourage overburdening girls with household

certificate with proof of legal identity and age is oftenchores in their own homes.66 Cash transfers andrequired to access social services, including social

other social assistance programmes, which help

protection, health, education and justice. Without

reduce the economic insecurity that leads to child

this, children are at risk of multiple deprivations

labour, can be explicitly designed to diminish

and vulnerable to violence, abuse and exploitation,

financial barriers to quality learning for girls.

including the worst forms of child labour.

The education sector has a crucial role in

Globally, 237 million children do not have a birth

overturning harmful gender norms and stereotypes

certificate. To register all children from birth,that influence child labour. Girls need support tostates should adopt policies and laws for freepursue education that leads to equal employment

and universal registration; link civil registration toopportunities in all sectors, including in fields suchother systems, including for identity management,

as science and technology. Governments must

health, social protection and education as entry

increase flexible learning paths so that all girls

points for identifying and registering children;and boys benefit from quality education, including

invest in safe and innovative technology to facilitatein humanitarian crises. Schools should deliver

birth registration and ensure timely, accurate andgender-transformative education programmes thatpermanent records; and engage communities andbuild job skills and counter gender bias for certain

families, especially the hard-to-reach, to encouragetypes of work, generating incentives to keep bothregistration for every child through communication

girls and boys in school.

on its benefits.

Other important measures encompass a better

End gender norms and discrimination

distribution of female and male teachers from pre-Gender roles often determine the type, conditions

primary through secondary education, gender-and hours of work performed by boys and girls.

responsive policies advancing the careers ofWithinmore

both male and female teachers, and investing inhousehold chores, a burden likely to increase

families,

girls

typically

perform

professional development that equips teachers

during school closures. When the calculation ofwith skills to create safe learning environments andchild labour factors in such chores, the gendertransform harmful gender norms in the classroom

gap in child labour prevalence is reduced. Girlsand beyond.

are also more likely to engage in domestic work inthird-party households. This form of child labour isnormally hidden from public view and beyond thescope of labour inspectorates, leaving children
especially vulnerable to abuse.

64

Orient child protection systems around
prevention and response
Eliminating child labour requires actions on multiple
fronts. Child protection systems, which bring
together different actors, can catalyse policies andExplicit laws, enforcement mechanisms and childlegislation to reduce child labour risks. They canprotection interventions are needed to counter

mobilize human and financial resources, service

the risks faced by girls and boys engaged indeliverydomestic work. Social or public works programmes

and monitoring and data systems to identify

can include information and behaviour change

vulnerabilities.

structures,

coordination

mechanisms,

Brokering links among education, health, social

Massive income declines led to spikes in poverty

protection

triggeramong these workers and their families, even ascomprehensive, large-scale prevention of andenhanced income protection measures adopted in

responses to child labour. The COVID-19 crisis,

the wake of COVID-19 largely excluded the informal

however, has further stretched already resource-

economy.

andjusticesystems

canconstrained child protection systems. Pandemic
response and recovery plans must prioritize
strengthening them, including by investing in thesocial service workforce so that it can sustain childprotection and other essential services.

The fallout on child labour starts with the poverty
and economic instability associated with informal
work, which make it more likely that families will
resort to child labour. If informality increases,
demand for child labour may intensify, given that

Responding to child labour also calls for aligning

informal work requires few skills and is largely

child protection systems with systems to enforce

unregulated.

labour standards. Both child protection andeconomic base for taxation to finance social

labour laws should extend adequate legislative

protection, education and health care, all of which

protections, and child protection services and labour

deter child labour in crises and more generally.

inspectorates should work in tandem to detect and

Finally, the informal economy has few structures

respond to child labour. Effective coordination isfor social dialogue and labour relations, both

especially urgent given the concerning increase inhazardous child labour.

Informality

also

undermines

theantithetical to child labour.
The COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the imperative

Children, families and communities are central
to child protection systems and efforts to stop
child labour. Well-functioning, community-based
mechanisms can stir awareness of the harmsof child labour, and promote care and positiveparenting. They can help child protection services
to identify vulnerable children and families andmake links to other services, such as those to end
poverty and diversify rural livelihoods.

for labour market policies to accelerate transitions
from the informal to the formal economy andultimately to decent work. Multiple policies are
typically required, adapted to specific national andlocal contexts.68 Some overarching priorities always
apply, however, starting with labour and social
security laws that cover all workers and economic
units without exception as well as productive policies
that enable a conducive business environment tocreate formal jobs.

Expand decent work and accelerate thetransition to formality
The COVID-19 crisis has cast a glaring light on thevulnerability of workers in the informal economy,
where rights routinely go unprotected. Workers in
the informal economy, often in self-employment
and subsistence work, have little opportunity toorganize and bargain collectively, have limited orno assurances of occupational health and safety,
and lack adequate social protection, all of which
amplify the devastating impact of the pandemic.
At the height of the first wave of the virus, an

Widening the collective, representative voice of
women and men who earn their living in the informal
economy is an almost universal precondition for thetransition to formality, enabling them to influenceworking conditions, productivity and incomes. A
growing global body of experience offers guidancein building collective representation structures fordifferent informal economy workers.69 Extendingsocial protection to them and their families isanother core element that can draw on a wealth ofexisting practices.70

estimated 1.6 billion informal economy workers

The ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of

were labouring in the hardest-hit sectors and/orWork, 2019 was adopted at the 108th Internationalsuffered income losses from lockdown measures.

Labour Conference. It calls for investing in people

67

65through a human-centred approach to the future ofChild labour in agriculture takes many forms, eachwork. This means investing in jobs, skills and social

requiring specific strategies. On family smallholder

protection, and actively advancing gender equality.

farms, which host the largest share, families need to

It requires investing in labour market institutions

be able to reduce their dependency on child labour

so that wages are adequate, working hours areto sustain their livelihoods. Such farms must secure

limited, and safety, health and fundamental rights

a fair price for what they produce and be able toat work are ensured. Policies must systematicallyenhance productivity by investing in labour-savingback sustainable enterprises, economic growthtechnologies or hiring adult workers instead ofand decent work for all.

relying on children.71 Small producer associations

Improve rural livelihoods
The 2020 global child labour estimates reconfirm
what we have long known: Child labour occurs
most often in agriculture, at 70 per cent of the total
worldwide and up to 82 per cent in sub-SaharanAfrica. It is especially common among younger

well-functioning

cooperatives

can

boost

market and bargaining power in agricultural value
chains and uphold price stability. Such groups canalso pool adult labour and agricultural inputs, shareknowledge and introduce new farming methods
and technology.72

children, for whom the physical demands andOn larger commercial agricultural entities, children

hazards of farm work can be particularly damaging.

can often be found working alongside their parents.

COVID-19 may increase child labour in agriculture,

Piecework payment schemes, where income

at least in the short term, as families who have lostdepends on kilos of crops picked or number ofjobs elsewhere return to subsistence farming torows weeded, for example, can incentivize thesurvive. Broader progress in ending child labour

use of children – especially if that means families

thus largely centres on improving rural livelihoods

will earn a living wage. Adequate and nearby day-and building more diversified economies, includingcare and school facilities can provide parents within rural areas.

a safe and worthwhile alternative to bringing their© UNICEF/UNI277430/Berger

66

and

children with them to the fields. Expanding workers’

chains.78 The pandemic should not add to thiscollective voice can be critical to combating childrisk. Governments need to continue strengthening

labour in such settings.

laws and enforcement mechanisms that require

Systemic approaches to promote rural development
and enhance rural livelihoods and resilience candiminish reliance on child labour. These should
include specific attention to eliminating child labour
in food systems,73 which encompass production,transparency and human rights due diligence inbusiness operations and supply chains for firms of
all sizes, nationally and internationally. This includes
governments in wealthy countries where many
international firms are based.

aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption

Public capacity to enforce labour laws andand disposal of food products, and creating

regulations has been strained as financial andopportunities for sustainable adult livelihoods.

human resources have been diverted to meet

A well-designed social protection strategy com-urgent needs linked to the pandemic.

bining contributory social insurance and tax-

The crisis also underscores how businesses must

based social assistance can sustain the adequate

fulfil their responsibility to apply laws and takeprotection of rural populations throughout their lives,

further measures to prevent, identify, mitigate andincluding in confronting risks and contingencies

remediate child labour in their operations and supply

specific to rural areas.

Employment-intensive

chains, in accordance with the United Nations

investment in rural infrastructure and basic services,

Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,

such as water and power systems, can offer jobs

ILO conventions and the Tripartite Declaration of

off the farm while improving farm productivity andPrinciples Concerning Multinational Enterprises

reducing the need for tasks often done by children,

and Social Policy.79

74

such as hauling water and gathering fuel.75

Assessments of child labour risks in supply chains

Investment in developing the skills of rural youth
can bolster farm productivity and contribute toa structural shift towards higher value added
manufacturing and services.76 Youth skills trainingis also an entry point for imparting key occupational
health and safety information, which can in turn help
in reducing hazardous child labour in agriculture
and elsewhere.
Agricultural

can steer business responses to the COVID-19
crisis. These must include identifying and prioritizing‘hotspots’ where risks are highest in terms ofseverity and scale. Special attention should be given
to informal micro- and small enterprises operatingon the lower tiers of supply chains, where childlabour and other human rights risks are often mostpronounced,80 and fallout from the crisis has been
particularly devastating. Such assessments require

extension

policies

for

crop

meaningful engagement by stakeholders, including

diversification, the introduction of more resistantworkers, their representative organizations andcrop or livestock varieties, disaster risk reduction

community members, as they are best positioned

and insurance against weather-related crop failures

to identify local risks and help formulate the mostcan all enhance resilience to climate change. This isappropriate mitigation strategies.

a growing concern in many rural agricultural zones
where child labour occurs,77 adding pressure on
already poor families.

Short-term crises may require immediate actions.
But these should be accompanied by longerterm, systemic responses that make global supply

Reduce heightened risks of child labour
in domestic and global supply chainschains more resilient, ethical and sustainable, and,Child labour is more common in domestic

other human rights violations in future crises. Well-

production but appears also in global supply

established, responsible business and purchasing

concomitantly, more impervious to child labour and67

practices can help keep firms afloat and reduce

Where armed conflict occurs, additional attention

child labour. Examples include long-term suppliershould go to the recruitment and use of children

contracts, clarity on future contracts, honouring

by armed forces or groups. Getting children backcommitments on orders and payments, fairto school is essential to preventing a fall into childpayment schedules, and pricing capturing the truelabour, including the worst forms.83

production costs and market values of products
and services.

Measures to prevent and respond to child labour

Industry-wide and cross-industry collaboration

humanitarian, development and peace dimensions.

must aim to cut off the roots of child labour at

They should help build social cohesion, resiliencelower tiers of supply chains, since individual

and peace, and strengthen existing government,

companies often have limited leverage. A wide

economic

range of voluntary, business-led initiatives havemeaningful economic and livelihood opportunities

emerged in recent years in recognition of this reality.

for adult members of families in crisis situations is

Sustainability and effectiveness depend largely on

essential. The ILO Employment and Decent Work for

integrating company action into existing efforts

Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No.

by governments, social partners, civil society and205) calls for inclusive measures to promote decent

others active on ending child labour.

work and income generation, including throughAddress child labour in conflicts,
disasters and other crises

employment-intensive investment strategies such

Worldwide, one in every four children lives in acountry struck by conflict, fragility and/or disaster.81
The resulting displacement and disruptions tolivelihoods, schooling, social protection, family
support networks and the rule of law all heighten
the risk of child labour.82 The COVID-19 pandemic
has dealt another blow to families already in acute
distress.

andsocialstructures.

Supporting

as public employment programmes. Universal childbenefits make practical sense in fragile places withlimited capacities and very high shares of vulnerable
children. They can help lay the foundations forelaborating a social protection system later on.
Responses to child labour should build on,strengthen and adapt existing humanitarian anddevelopment coordination mechanisms, partnerships and plans. The same applies to government

Child labour concerns must inform all phases

and economic structures. Important resources toof humanitarian action: crisis preparation andguide this work include the Minimum Standards forcontingency plans, humanitarian responses andChild Protection in Humanitarian Action84 and thepost-crisis reconstruction and recovery. Before aInter-Agency Toolkit on Preventing and Responding

crisis hits, preparedness planning should draw on

to Child Labour in Humanitarian Action,85 both

existing data on prevalent forms of child labour, theproduced by the Alliance for Child Protection instrength of economic markets, the reach of social

Humanitarian Action.

protection and essential services, and communitybased supports. This evidence – combined withsimilar data on the economic impact of a crisis at
the national, local, family and individual levels – canhelp formulate appropriate responses during andafter the most acute phases.

68

during a crisis should make links among the

Adopt adequate legal frameworks andpromote compliance
Ratification of international legal standards on
eliminating child labour is a powerful statement ofgovernment intent. In 2020, ILO Convention No. 182
became the first ILO convention to achieve universal

In all fragile and crisis situations, particular attention

ratification.86 The United Nations Convention on theshould be paid to sexual exploitation, trafficking

Rights of the Child has almost reached universal

and forced labour, including through abduction.

ratification, while 173 states have ratified ILO

The Declaration calls for investment
in people through a human-centred
approach to the future of work. Thismeans investing in jobs, skills andsocial protection. It means supporting
gender equality. It also means investingin the institutions of the labour market
so that wages are adequate, working
hours are limited, and safety andhealth as well as fundamental rights
at work are ensured. And it means
adopting policies that promote anenabling environment for sustainable
enterprises, economic growth anddecent work for all.

© UNICEF/UN0280907/Vishwanathan

The ILO Centenary Declaration for
the Future of Work, 2019 was adopted
at the 108th International Labour
Conference.

Convention No. 138.87 Relevant Optional Protocols
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child havealso been widely ratified, by 170 countries for the
Optional Protocol on the involvement of children
in armed conflict and on the sale of children, and176 countries for the Optional Protocol on childprostitution and child pornography.

and ILO Convention No. 182. A unified approachto their application means, above all, recognizingthat combating the worst forms of child labour does
not override the imperative to end child labour ingeneral. Children may not be in hazardous or theReal progress, however, requires translating these
intentions into national laws that are then used asa springboard for action. Laws and policies mustalso connect the array of different rights upholding
freedom from child labour. They must protect andpromote birth registration; ensure social protection;
provide quality education, health care and nutrition;and extend protection from violence, abuse, neglect
and exploitation. Laws must be carefully aligned,
avoiding situations such as where the minimum
working age is below the age for completing
compulsory education.

The legal architecture should safeguard otherhuman rights in the world of work as child labour
is intertwined with these. As enshrined in the 1998
ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles andRights at Work, these rights include: freedom of
association and the right to bargain collectively andfreedom from forced labour and from discriminationin employment. While definitive in progress againstchild labour and towards decent work and social
justice more broadly, these rights are at heightenedrisk of being undercut by the pandemic.

National laws and practices should reflect the closeinterconnection between ILO Convention No. 138

worst forms of labour but are still simply too young
to work.

The lax enforcement of child labour laws remains
a concern. Resource constraints limit the capacityof most public labour inspection systems, which in69© UNICEF/UNI108609/Asselin

any case rarely reach workplaces in the informalinternational cooperation and partnership. Thiseconomy where most child labour is found. Non-

is as true for ending child labour as for otherstate actors in some cases can complement thepriorities across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

regulatory role of public labour administrations andDevelopment. Countries must work in line withhelp extend their reach and effectiveness. Tradethe spirit of article 8 of the universally ratified ILO

unions, through their active presence in workplaces,

Convention No. 182, which stipulates enhanced

can play a crucial role in identifying child labour

international cooperation and/or assistance forand supporting public labour inspectorates. Localsocial and economic development, poverty eradi-

community-based child labour monitoring systems

cation and universal education.

often function well in backing public labour
inspectorates to identify and follow child labourcases. Social workers, teachers, childcare workers,
youth workers, community development workers,
welfare officers and a range of other social services
actors can be enlisted to cast a wide net.

of international cooperation and partnership. Given
gaps in domestic public financing to address childlabour, ODA could play an important role particularly
in low-income countries where these funds makea substantial contribution to government budgets.

Realize the promise of international
cooperation and partnership

Industrialized countries would need to reach their

COVID-19 has shown the world at large thatgross national income, up from the average of just0.32 per cent in 2020.88 They would also need tothe problems we face will not be solved without
70

Financing may be the most important dimension

longstanding ODA commitment of 0.7 per cent of

allocate more funding specifically to eliminate childExchanging

labour; in 2018, the issue drew only $60 million inamong countries can accelerate change. The

ODA.89 International financial institutions are active

Pathfinder Country initiative91 includes over 20

in many sectors critical to elimination and can makemember countries from the Global North andimportant contributions to required resources,

South. They commit to going further and fasterincluding by providing and promoting debt relief andtowards achieving target 8.7, and to documenting

by continued support for essential social spending.

and sharing experiences and lessons in ending

Founded in 2016, Alliance 8.7 facilitates cooperation
on stopping child labour. It groups more than240

partners

fromgovernments,

multilateralorganizations, workers’ organizations, employers’organizations,non-governmentalorganizations,academic institutions and think tanks to define
effective ways of accelerating progress towards
SDG target 8.7 on ending child labour, modern
slavery

and

human

trafficking.

The

alliance

focuses on increasing collaborative action, driving
innovation and scaling up solutions that work. It
also provides a platform for engaging in dialogue
and sharing experience and information.90

experiences

and

good

practiceschild labour, forced labour and modern slavery.
Other key initiatives align government, multilateraland business partners. The International Partnershipfor Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture brings
together the Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations, the ILO, the International
Fund for Agricultural Development, trade uniongroups92 and others to eliminate child labour inagriculture. The Child Labour Platform, co-chairedby the International Organisation of Employers andthe International Trade Union Confederation, andincluding the ILO and UNICEF, tackles child labourin supply chains. The Global Partnership to End

Partnerships to prevent the exploitation of children

Violence Against Children also supports endingin armed conflicts are integral to ending child labour.

child labour. Global partnerships around education

The Paris Commitments and Principles on Children

and universal social protection play valuable roles

Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups

as well.

and the related Paris Principles Steering Group, theGlobal Coalition for Reintegration of Child Soldiers

Getting back on track

and the Task Force on Children Associated with

It is urgent to put action to end child labour back on

Armed Forces and Armed Groups of the Alliancetrack, in line with global commitments and goals. The

for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action each

evidence in this report outlines the risks and points

bring together governments, practitioners, donors,

to the solutions. While ambitious measures andadvocates, United Nations entities and technicalinvestments are required, the COVID-19 pandemic

experts determined to stop children from fighting

has amply illustrated that these are possible whenwars, as one of the most egregious types of

the well-being of humanity is at stake.

child labour.

We have made a promise to children to end
child labour. There is no time to lose.
71

© UNICEF/UN077779/Bona

Annex

72

73

STATISTICAL TABLES
CHILD LABOUR Percentage and number of children aged 5 to 17 years in child labour
Total
5-11 years

12-14 years

15-17 years

5-17 years

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

9.7

89,3009.3

35,6009.5

35,0009.6

160,000

Rural

14.6

72,40013.7

27,70012.4

22,60013.9

122,700

Urban

4.0

16,900

4.4

7,900

6.6

12,4004.7

37,300Africa22.1

54,90023.5

21,80018.2

15,50021.6

92,20024.7

51,90025.8

20,50019.5

14,20023.9

86,600Arab States

4.8

1,200

6.4

600

7.8

700

5.8

2,400

Asia and the Pacific5.4

25,000

4.8

9,600

7.1

14,1005.6

48,700Americas

3.0

3,100

4.3

1,900

7.2

3,300

4.3

8,300

4.2

3,100

6.1

1,900

9.8

3,100

6.0

8,200

Europe and Central Asia

6.4

5,200

5.1

1,700

4.6

1,400

5.7

8,300

Sub-Saharan Africa

24.7

51,90025.8

20,50019.5

14,20023.9

86,600Central and Southern Asia

5.2

13,300

4.5

5,100

7.1

7,900

5.5

26,300Eastern and South-Eastern Asia

6.1

13,200

5.4

4,800

7.1

6,300

6.2

24,300

Northern Africa and Western Asia

7.3

5,400

8.5

2,400

8.5

2,200

7.8

10,100Latin America and the Caribbean

4.2

3,100

6.1

1,900

9.8

3,100

6.0

8,200

Europe and Northern America

2.2

2,000

2.0

800

3.0

1,100

2.3

3,800

East Asia and Pacific6.2

13,600

5.4

5,000

7.2

6,500

6.2

25,100Europe and Central Asia

6.5

5,200

5.2

1,700

4.6

1,400

5.8

8,300

Latin America and Caribbean

4.2

3,100

6.1

1,900

9.8

3,100

6.0

8,200

Middle East and North Africa

5.5

3,600

7.2

1,700

8.6

1,900

6.5

7,200

North America

-

-

-

-

1.2

200

0.3

200

South Asia

4.4

10,400

4.0

4,200

6.9

7,200

4.9

21,800Sub-Saharan Africa

24.6

53,50025.5

21,10019.4

14,70023.7

89,200

Total

27.7

24,70035.2

12,50053.2

18,70035.055,900

Rural

28.3

20,500

35.8

9,900

54.1

12,20034.8

42,700

Urban

24.9

4,200

33.1

2,600

51.6

6,400

35.5

13,300Agriculture

76.6

68,40075.8

27,00047.6

16,70070.0

112,100

Industry

6.0

5,400

7.5

2,700

24.0

8,400

10.3

16,500Services

17.4

15,500

16.7

5,900

28.4

10,00019.6

31,400

4.6

4,100

3.0

1,100

5.6

2,000

4.5

7,100

Employees

9.2

8,200

12.9

4,600

42.3

14,80017.3

27,600Own-account workers

8.2

7,300

12.6

4,500

15.0

5,300

10.7

17,000Contributing family workers

82.6

73,80074.5

26,50042.8

15,00072.1

115,300

World total
Residence

ILO regions

Sub-Saharan Africa

Latin America and the Caribbean
SDG regions

UNICEF regions

Children in child labour
who are not attending
schoolChildren in child labour bysector of economic activity

Of which domestic work
Children in child labour by
employment status

Notes: Numbers are expressed in thousands and have been rounded. Because of the rounding, disaggregated numbers do not always add up to total values and figures inpercentages do not always add up to 100 per cent. For the same reason, the values presented in earlier pages of the report do not always match the values presented in thistable. The regional groupings used by ILO and UNICEF, as well as those used for SDG reporting, vary slightly. This explains why the values for some regions differ, even if thelabels are the same. The dash for North America indicates that, in the absence of data, values are assumed to be null. Caution is warranted when interpreting values for Europe
and Northern America due to low data coverage for children aged 5 to 14.

74

Boys

Girls

5-11 years

12-14 years

15-17 years

5-17 years

5-11 years

12-14 years

15-17 years

5-17 years

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

10.9

52,00011.0

21,80012.2

23,30011.2

97,0008.4

37,4007.5

13,8006.6

11,8007.8

62,90016.3

42,00016.1

16,80015.7

15,00016.1

73,70012.7

30,50011.2

10,800

8.8

7,700

11.6

49,000

4.6

10,000

5.4

4,900

8.6

8,300

5.7

23,300

3.3

6,900

3.4

3,000

4.5

4,100

3.6

14,00024.3

30,60026.8

12,600

20.7

8,900

24.1

52,10019.9

24,300

20.1

9,200

15.6

6,600

19.1

40,10027.1

28,80029.3

11,700

22.0

8,000

26.5

48,60022.3

23,100

22.2

8,700

17.1

6,100

21.2

38,000

6.8

800

8.8

400

11.0

500

8.1

1,800

2.7

300

3.8

200

4.4

200

3.3

700

6.4

15,700

6.0

6,400

10.1

10,5007.2

32,500

4.2

9,400

3.3

3,200

3.8

3,600

3.9

16,200

3.6

1,900

5.6

1,300

10.2

2,400

5.6

5,600

2.3

1,200

2.8

600

4.2

900

2.9

2,700

5.1

1,900

8.1

1,300

13.9

2,300

7.9

5,500

3.3

1,200

4.1

600

5.6

900

4.0

2,700

7.2

3,000

6.4

1,100

6.2

1,000

6.8

5,100

5.6

2,200

3.8

600

2.9

400

4.6

3,200

27.1

28,80029.3

11,700

22.0

8,000

26.5

48,60022.3

23,100

22.2

8,700

17.1

6,100

21.2

38,000

5.8

7,800

5.9

3,500

11.1

6,500

7.1

17,800

4.5

5,500

3.0

1,600

2.7

1,400

3.7

8,500

7.7

8,700

6.6

3,100

8.7

4,100

7.7

15,900

4.4

4,500

4.0

1,700

5.3

2,200

4.5

8,400

8.9

3,400

10.9

1,600

11.4

1,500

9.9

6,500

5.5

2,000

5.9

800

5.3

700

5.6

3,500

5.1

1,900

8.1

1,300

13.9

2,300

7.9

5,500

3.3

1,200

4.1

600

5.6

900

4.0

2,700

2.5

1,100

2.5

500

4.0

800

2.8

2,400

1.9

800

1.5

300

1.8

300

1.8

1,400

7.7

8,900

6.6

3,200

8.8

4,200

7.7

16,300

4.5

4,700

4.0

1,800

5.4

2,300

4.6

8,800

7.3

3,000

6.5

1,100

6.2

1,000

6.9

5,100

5.7

2,200

3.8

600

2.9

400

4.7

3,200

5.1

1,900

8.1

1,300

13.9

2,300

7.9

5,500

3.3

1,200

4.1

600

5.6

900

4.0

2,700

7.2

2,400

9.5

1,200

11.8

1,300

8.6

4,900

3.7

1,200

4.7

500

5.3

600

4.2

2,300

-

-

-

-

1.6

100

0.4

100

-

-

-

-

0.7

-

0.2

-

4.9

6,100

5.3

2,900

11.1

6,100

6.5

15,100

3.8

4,300

2.6

1,300

2.3

1,200

3.2

6,800

26.9

29,70029.0

12,100

21.8

8,300

26.4

50,10022.1

23,800

22.0

9,000

16.9

6,300

21.1

39,20027.8

14,400

35.7

7,800

56.0

13,00036.3

35,30027.5

10,300

34.4

4,700

47.7

5,600

32.8

20,70028.4

11,900

36.2

6,100

57.2

8,600

36.0

26,600

28.3

8,600

35.2

3,800

48.0

3,700

32.9

16,100

25.4

2,500

34.0

1,700

53.7

4,500

37.3

8,700

24.2

1,700

31.6

900

47.2

1,900

32.5

4,500

77.7

40,40076.1

16,60046.7

10,90069.9

67,80075.1

28,10075.3

10,400

49.3

5,800

70.3

44,300

8.8

4,600

8.7

1,900

28.2

6,600

13.4

13,000

2.2

800

5.6

800

15.7

1,800

5.5

3,500

13.5

7,000

15.2

3,300

25.1

5,800

16.7

16,200

22.7

8,500

19.0

2,600

35.1

4,100

24.2

15,200

3.1

1,600

1.9

400

3.3

800

2.8

2,800

6.7

2,500

4.7

600

10.4

1,200

7.0

4,400

11.6

6,000

16.2

3,500

43.9

10,20020.4

19,800

5.8

2,200

7.7

1,100

38.9

4,600

12.4

7,800

7.5

3,900

12.8

2,800

16.1

3,800

10.8

10,400

9.1

3,400

12.3

1,700

12.7

1,500

10.5

6,600

80.9

42,00071.0

15,500

39.9

9,300

68.8

66,80085.1

31,80080.0

11,000

48.4

5,700

77.1

48,50075

HAZARDOUS WORK Percentage and number of children aged 5 to 17 years in hazardous work
Total
5-11 years

12-14 years

15-17 years

5-17 years

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

2.8

25,9004.8

18,1009.5

35,0004.7

79,000Rural

4.0

20,0006.8

13,70012.4

22,600

6.4

56,300

Urban

1.4

5,900

2.5

4,400

6.6

12,4002.9

22,700Africa6.4

15,70010.9

10,20018.2

15,5009.7

41,4007.1

14,900

12.0

9,500

19.5

14,20010.7

38,600Arab States

3.1

800

4.9

500

7.8

700

4.5

1,900

Asia and the Pacific

0.7

3,300

2.3

4,700

7.1

14,1002.6

22,200Americas

1.1

1,200

2.6

1,200

7.2

3,300

2.9

5,700

1.6

1,200

3.7

1,200

9.8

3,100

4.0

5,500

Europe and Central Asia

6.0

4,800

4.9

1,600

4.6

1,400

5.5

7,900

Sub-Saharan Africa

7.1

14,900

12.0

9,500

19.5

14,20010.7

38,600Central and Southern Asia

1.2

3,200

2.6

2,900

7.1

7,900

2.9

14,000Eastern and South-Eastern Asia

0.9

1,900

2.4

2,200

7.1

6,300

2.6

10,400

Northern Africa and Western Asia

3.7

2,800

5.5

1,500

8.5

2,200

5.1

6,500

Latin America and the Caribbean

1.6

1,200

3.7

1,200

9.8

3,100

4.0

5,500

Europe and Northern America

2.1

1,800

2.0

700

3.0

1,100

2.2

3,700

East Asia and Pacific

0.9

1,900

2.4

2,200

7.2

6,500

2.7

10,700Europe and Central Asia

6.1

4,800

5.0

1,600

4.6

1,400

5.5

7,900

Latin America and Caribbean

1.6

1,200

3.7

1,200

9.8

3,100

4.0

5,500

Middle East and North Africa

2.0

1,300

4.2

1,000

8.6

1,900

3.8

4,200

North America

-

-

-

-

1.2

200

0.3

200

South Asia

0.5

1,300

2.2

2,300

6.9

7,200

2.4

10,800Sub-Saharan Africa

7.1

15,400

11.9

9,800

19.4

14,70010.6

39,800

Total

33.0

8,500

40.2

7,300

53.2

18,70043.6

34,500

Rural

33.3

6,600

41.2

5,700

54.1

12,20043.6

24,500

Urban

31.9

1,900

37.3

1,600

51.6

6,400

43.7

9,900

Agriculture

71.9

18,60070.5

12,80047.6

16,70060.8

48,100Industry

9.1

2,300

11.5

2,100

24.0

8,400

16.3

12,800Services

19.0

4,900

18.0

3,300

28.4

10,00023.0

18,100

2.6

700

3.5

600

5.6

2,000

4.2

3,300

Employees

11.5

3,000

18.8

3,400

42.3

14,80026.8

21,200Own-account workers

6.7

1,700

12.2

2,200

15.0

5,300

11.6

9,200

Contributing family workers

81.8

21,10069.0

12,50042.8

15,00061.5

48,600World total
Residence

ILO regions

Sub-Saharan Africa

Latin America and the Caribbean

SDG regions

UNICEF regions

Children in hazardous
work who are not attending
schoolChildren in hazardous
work by sector of
economic activity

Of which domestic work
Children in hazardous
work by employment
status

Notes: Numbers are expressed in thousands and have been rounded. Because of the rounding, disaggregated numbers do not always add up to total values and figures inpercentages do not always add up to 100 per cent. For the same reason, the values presented in earlier pages of the report do not always match the values presented in thistable. The regional groupings used by ILO and UNICEF, as well as those used for SDG reporting, vary slightly. This explains why the values for some regions differ, even if thelabels are the same. The dash for North America indicates that, in the absence of data, values are assumed to be null. Caution is warranted when interpreting values for Europe
and Northern America due to low data coverage for children aged 5 to 14.

76

Boys

Girls

5-11 years

12-14 years

15-17 years

5-17 years

5-11 years

12-14 years

15-17 years

5-17 years

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

3.3

15,5005.8

11,40012.2

23,3005.8

50,2002.3

10,300

3.7

6,700

6.6

11,8003.6

28,800

4.7

12,000

8.2

8,600

15.7

15,0007.8

35,600

3.3

7,900

5.3

5,200

8.8

7,700

4.9

20,800

1.6

3,500

3.1

2,800

8.6

8,300

3.6

14,700

1.1

2,400

1.8

1,600

4.5

4,100

2.1

8,100

7.3

9,200

12.8

6,000

20.7

8,900

11.2

24,200

5.3

6,500

9.0

4,100

15.6

6,600

8.2

17,200

8.2

8,700

14.0

5,600

22.0

8,000

12.2

22,400

6.0

6,200

9.9

3,900

17.1

6,100

9.1

16,300

4.5

600

6.9

300

11.0

500

6.3

1,400

1.7

200

2.8

100

4.4

200

2.5

500

0.9

2,200

3.0

3,100

10.1

10,5003.5

15,800

0.5

1,200

1.7

1,600

3.8

3,600

1.6

6,400

1.5

800

3.7

900

10.2

2,400

4.1

4,000

0.7

400

1.4

300

4.2

900

1.7

1,600

2.2

800

5.4

900

13.9

2,300

5.7

3,900

1.0

400

2.1

300

5.6

900

2.3

1,600

6.8

2,800

6.2

1,000

6.2

1,000

6.5

4,800

5.2

2,000

3.6

600

2.9

400

4.4

3,100

8.2

8,700

14.0

5,600

22.0

8,000

12.2

22,400

6.0

6,200

9.9

3,900

17.1

6,100

9.1

16,300

1.4

1,900

3.3

2,000

11.1

6,500

4.1

10,300

1.1

1,300

1.8

1,000

2.7

1,400

1.6

3,700

1.1

1,300

3.0

1,400

8.7

4,100

3.3

6,800

0.6

600

1.8

800

5.3

2,200

1.9

3,600

4.7

1,800

7.3

1,000

11.4

1,500

6.6

4,400

2.7

1,000

3.6

500

5.3

700

3.4

2,200

2.2

800

5.4

900

13.9

2,300

5.7

3,900

1.0

400

2.1

300

5.6

900

2.3

1,600

2.3

1,100

2.4

500

4.0

800

2.7

2,300

1.8

800

1.5

300

1.8

300

1.7

1,400

1.1

1,300

3.0

1,500

8.8

4,200

3.3

7,000

0.6

600

1.8

800

5.4

2,300

2.0

3,700

6.8

2,800

6.3

1,000

6.2

1,000

6.6

4,800

5.3

2,000

3.7

600

2.9

400

4.4

3,100

2.2

800

5.4

900

13.9

2,300

5.7

3,900

1.0

400

2.1

300

5.6

900

2.3

1,600

2.7

900

5.7

700

11.8

1,300

5.2

2,900

1.1

400

2.6

300

5.3

600

2.3

1,200

-

-

-

-

1.6

100

0.4

100

-

-

-

-

0.7

-

0.2

-

0.6

800

2.8

1,600

11.1

6,100

3.6

8,400

0.4

500

1.5

700

2.3

1,200

1.1

2,400

8.1

9,000

13.9

5,800

21.8

8,300

12.1

23,100

5.9

6,400

9.8

4,000

16.9

6,300

9.0

16,800

33.3

5,200

40.9

4,700

56.0

13,00045.5

22,900

32.5

3,400

39.1

2,600

47.7

5,600

40.3

11,600

33.6

4,000

41.9

3,600

57.2

8,600

45.5

16,200

32.7

2,600

40.0

2,100

48.0

3,700

40.2

8,300

32.0

1,100

38.0

1,100

53.7

4,500

45.5

6,700

31.7

800

36.1

600

47.2

1,900

40.5

3,300

75.2

11,700

71.1

8,100

46.7

10,90061.030,700

67.0

6,900

69.5

4,700

49.3

5,800

60.3

17,400

11.2

1,700

13.2

1,500

28.2

6,600

19.6

9,800

5.8

600

8.6

600

15.7

1,800

10.5

3,000

13.6

2,100

15.8

1,800

25.1

5,800

19.4

9,700

27.2

2,800

21.9

1,500

35.1

4,100

29.2

8,400

0.7

100

2.2

300

3.3

800

2.2

1,100

5.7

600

5.7

400

10.4

1,200

7.6

2,200

14.5

2,300

23.9

2,700

43.9

10,20030.3

15,200

7.0

700

10.2

700

38.9

4,600

20.8

6,000

8.4

1,300

13.9

1,600

16.1

3,800

13.2

6,700

4.1

400

9.4

600

12.7

1,500

8.8

2,500

77.1

12,000

62.2

7,100

39.9

9,300

56.5

28,400

88.9

9,200

80.4

5,400

48.4

5,700

70.4

20,30077

CHILD LABOUR AND HAZARDOUS WORK: TRENDS
Children aged 5 to 17
years in child labour
2016

Age

ILO regions

2016

2020

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

9.6

151,600

9.6

160,000

4.6

72,5004.7

79,000Girls

8.4

64,1007.8

62,9003.6

27,8003.6

28,800Boys

10.7

87,50011.2

97,0005.544,8005.8

50,2005-11 years

8.3

72,6009.7

89,3002.2

19,0002.8

25,90012-14 years

11.7

41,9009.3

35,600

4.6

16,4004.8

18,10015-17 years

10.5

37,1009.5

35,00010.5

37,1009.5

35,000Africa19.6

72,10021.6

92,2008.6

31,5009.7

41,40022.4

70,00023.9

86,6009.8

30,50010.7

38,600Arab States

2.9

1,200

5.8

2,400

1.5

600

4.5

1,900

Asia and the Pacific

7.4

62,1005.6

48,7003.4

28,5002.6

22,200Americas5.3

10,700

4.3

8,300

3.2

6,600

2.9

5,700

7.3

10,500

6.0

8,200

4.4

6,300

4.0

5,500

Europe and Central Asia

4.1

5,500

5.7

8,300

4.0

5,300

5.5

7,900

Low income

19.4

65,20026.2

65,0008.8

29,70011.6

28,700Lower-middle income

8.5

58,2009.0

69,7004.9

33,5004.3

33,600Upper-middle income

6.6

26,2004.9

23,700

2.0

7,800

3.2

15,300High income

1.2

2,000

0.9

1,600

1.0

1,600

0.8

1,500

Sub-Saharan Africa

Latin America and the Caribbean

National income
grouping

2020%
World total
Sex

Children aged 5 to 17
years in hazardous work

Notes: Numbers are expressed in thousands and have been rounded. Because of the rounding, disaggregated numbers do not always add up to total values.
Trend data are not available for SDG and UNICEF regions.

78

OVERVIEW OF THE METHODOLOGY
Definitions
The measurement framework for producing the 2020 global estimates of child labour aligns with theinternational standards on child labour statistics adopted by the 18th International Conference of Labour
Statisticians in 2008. Hosted by the ILO, the conference takes place every five years. Participants include
experts from governments, mostly from ministries responsible for labour and national statistical offices, as well
as from employers’ and workers’ organizations. Although the 20th conference in 2018 adopted a more recent
resolution on child labour statistics, most countries still use the previous framework. Once a critical mass ofhousehold surveys applies the new statistical standards, it will be possible to produce global and regional
estimates accordingly.
The starting point for measuring child labour is calculating the number of children aged 5 to 17 in employment.
Among them, those in designated hazardous industries and hazardous occupations are identified as being inchild labour. Designated hazardous industries are mining, quarrying and construction. Since the publicationof the first global estimates of child labour in 2002, an ILO task force has defined 39 hazardous occupations
for children.93
Children who work longer hours are also considered as being in child labour. Longer hours is defined as
43 or more hours per week, the same threshold used in earlier global estimates. The figure approximately
corresponds to the normal hours of work for adults stipulated by national legislation, mostly from 40 to
44 hours.

Fig A1. Measurement framework for the global estimation of child labour
Children in employment(5-17 years)

In designatedhazardous industries

In other industries

In designatedhazardous occupations

In other occupations

Long hours of work
(43 or more hours)

Not long hours of work
(less than 43 hours)

Hazardous workby children

Non-hazardous
work conditions

5-11 years

Hazardous unpaid
household services
by children

12-14 years

14 ormore hours

Child labour

15-17 years

Light work
(less than 14 hours)

Not child labour

Note: The dotted lines refer to the measurement of hazardous unpaid household services being optional as per the 2008 Resolution Concerning Statistics ofChild Labour.

79

The total number of children in designated hazardous industries, in hazardous occupations or working longer
hours constitutes the overall number of children in hazardous work.
Obtaining the final estimate of child labour involves adding two more categories to the calculation: children
aged 5 to 11 engaged in any form of employment and children aged 12 to 14 working 14 hours or more per
week (see Figure A1). For those aged 12 to 14, the 14-hour threshold distinguishes between permissible lightwork and other work. The same threshold was used in earlier estimates. It corresponds to two hours of work
per day over a calendar week, covering both school days and holidays.
The child labour statistical framework of the International Conference of Labour Statisticians provides a separate
measurement of hazardous unpaid household services by children. The indicator captures the performanceof household chores by children aged 5 to 14 for 21 or more hours per week. There are no hour thresholds forchildren aged 15 to 17.

Data sources
The estimates are based on a wide range of nationally representative household surveys that fully or partiallycover children aged 5 to 17. In total, the estimates used 106 national data sets, tracking 66 per cent of theworld’s population of children in that age group. The data sets came from 32 national Multiple Indicator Cluster
Surveys implemented with UNICEF’s support; 30 national labour force surveys conducted under Eurostat
regulations with figures specific to children aged 15 to 17; 22 additional national labour force surveys or othernational household surveys; 16 child labour surveys implemented with the ILO; and 6 Demographic and Health
Surveys implemented mostly with funding from the United States Agency for International Development.
Eighty per cent of surveys were within the reference period of 2016 to 2020.
The harmonization of reference years was carried out as part of the calculation of extrapolation weights. The
main means of harmonizing national data sets was by processing national household survey data according
to a pre-defined framework favouring comparability across countries and over time, following internationallyagreed standards, concepts and definitions. Population data came from the United Nations World Population
Prospects, with annual indicators by broad age groups and sex, and for different countries and years basedon the latest 2020 data.

Modelling strategy for imputation
For countries without data, an imputation model was constructed, premised on the understanding that data
were not missing at random and that variables describing country characteristics contained useful information.
Two broad classes of indicators were produced on rates and distributions. Rates included children in
employment (CiE), child labour, hazardous work, domestic work and the two indicators used for reportingon SDG target 8.7 (the proportion of children engaged in economic activity, and the proportion of children
engaged in economic activity and household chores). The rates were computed based on the proportion of a
relevant population. For instance, the CiE rate was calculated as a share of children in employment in the total
population of children.
Distribution indicators were further breakdowns of the CiE, child labour and hazardous work rates, comprisingstatus in employment, school attendance and economic activity.
Except for domestic work,94 the rate indicators were defined at the country, sex, age and geographic levels
as follows:
Age groups• 5 to 11• 12 to 14• 15 to 17• 5 to 17
80

Sex• Male• Female• TotalGeography• Rural• Urban• NationalTo produce modelled estimates, regression techniques established relationships between observed data andexplanatory variables, which are good predictors of child labour according to the literature. The selectionof explanatory variables was based on economic theory and empirical studies on the determinants of childlabour. These explanatory variables were:• GDP per capita (purchasing power parity, constant 2011, international dollars)• Share of population aged 15 to 24• Share of population aged 0 to 14• Older population covered by social protection• Percentage of population over age 25 with no schooling•

Share	  of	
  population	
  aged	  0-­‐14	
  •Older	
  population	
  covered	  by	
  social	
  protection• Percentage of population over age 25 with completed primary education• Fertility
rate of	
  population	
  over	  age	  25	  with	  no	
  schooling•
Percentage	  • Ruralpopulation•
Percentage	  of	
  pshareopulation	
  over	  age	  25	  with	  completed	
  primary	  education•
Fertility	
  rate• Agricultural
employment percentage•

Rural	
  population	
  share•Agricultural	
  employment	  percentage• Unemployment rate (percentage, aged 15 to 24)• Unemployment
rate(percentage,
15 to 64)•
Unemployment	
  
rate	
  
(percentage,	
  aagedged	
  15-­‐24)• Labourincome distribution,
7 to 10decile•Unemployment	  rate	
  (percentage,	
  
aged	
  
15-­‐64)inclusive•
Labour	  ncome	  distribution,	  7-­‐10	
  decile	
  orinclusive• Youth
not iin
employment,
education
training•

Gretchen Luchsinger 5/21/2021 1:3
Comment	
  [68]:	
  Is  this  correct?    

Youth	  not	  in	
  employment,	
  education	
  or	
  training	
  	
  

	
  
Regional
aggregates

Regional	
  aggregates	  Theimputation
procedure
for missing rates and distributions provided a complete set of modelled estimatesThe	
  imputation	  procedure	
  
for	
  
missing	  rates	
  world.
and	
   distributions	
  complete	  of	
   modelled	  for each indicator and country
in theThe level provided	  at whicha	
   dataare set	
  available,
however, depends on
estimates	
  for	
  each	  indicator	
  and	
  country	
  in	
  the	
  world.	
  The	
  level	  at	
  which	  data	  are	  available,	  however,	
  the indicator.
depends	
  on	
  the	  indicator.	
  	
  

	
   an example, in Asia and the Pacific, for each sex, age and geography breakdown for the CiE model, we firstAsAs	
   an	
   example,	
  in	
   Asia	  and	
   the	  Pacific,	
  of
for	
  
each	
   gender,	
  age	
   and	   geography	
  breakdown	  for	
   the	  ofCiE	
  children in employobtained
the total
regional
numberchildrenin employment
by addingthe numbers
model,	
  
w
e	
  
f
irst	
  
o
btained	
  
t
he	
  
t
otal	
  
r
egional	  number	  of	
  children	
  
i
n	
  
e
mployment	
  
b
y	
  
a
dding	
  
t
he	
  
n
umbers	  of	  ment for each country. This was the numerator for the regional CiE rate. For the denominator,
we added thechildren	
  in	
  employment	
  
for	
  
each	
  
country.	
  
This	
  
was	
  
the	
  
numerator	
  
for	
  
the	
  
regional	
  
CiE	
  
rate.	
  
For	
  
the	
  
total population of each country, producing the regional CiE rate. We can also express the rate as the averagedenominator,	
  we	
  added	  the	
  total	
  population	
  of	
  each	  country,	
  producing	
  the	
  regional	
  CiE	
  rate.	
  We	
  can	
  of country CiE rates weighted by their respective shares in the regional population. Specifically: Tina Johnson 5/24/2021 7:58 AM

also	
   express	
   the	   rate	
   as	
   the	   average	
   of	
   country	
   CiE	   rates	
   weighted	
   by	
   their	
   respective	   shares	
   in	
   the	  regional	
  population.	
  Specifically:  	
  
	
  

	
  

	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  =

CıE!"#$  !"#  !"#$%$#,!"#    =                                                                                                                          =

!∈Asia	  and	
  Pacific ω! 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐸𝐸!"#$ 	
  !∈Asia	  and	
  Pacific	
   𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶   𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿!"#$!∈Asia	  and	
  Pacific 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛!"#$Comment	
  [69]:	
  Or  is  it  the  total  numbchildren?  

	  !∈Asia	  and	
  Pacific	
   𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐸𝐸!"#$ ∗ 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇  𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑛𝑛!"#$   !∈Asia	  and	
  Pacific 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛!"#$	
  where	
   CıEAsia	  and	
  Pacific,!"# and	
   and	   𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐸𝐸!"#$ 	
   	
  denotedenote	   the	
  
rate	
  
of	
  of
CiE	
  
in	
   the	
  
Asia	
  
and	
  and
the	
   thePacific	  where
the aggregate	
  aggregaterate
CiE
in theAsia
Pacific region
region	
  and	  the	
  rate	  of	
  CiE	  in	
  country	
  i	
  for	
  sex	  j,	  age	
  group	  k	
  and	
  geographic	
  breakdown	
  l,	
  respectively.	
  and the rate of CiE in country i for sex j, age group k and geographic breakdown l, respectively.
Moreover,	
  Moreover,𝜔𝜔! ≡𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇    𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃!"#$	
  !∈Asia	  and	
  Pacific 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛!"#$We	
  computed	
  regional	
  values	
  of	
  all	  indicators	
  in	
  a	
  similar	
  manner.	
  

	
  
We
computed regional values of all indicators in a similar manner.

Evaluation	
  of	
  the	  results	
  The	
   106	
   countries	
   used	   to	
   generate	
   the	   estimates	
   are	
   a	
   sample	   of	   all	   the	   countries	
   in	
   the	   world.	
   If	  another	
   sample	
   had	   been	
   selected,	
   the	   results	
   would	
   have	
   differed	
   to	   a	   degree	
   that	
   is	
   important	   to	  determine	
   in	   order	
   to	
   understand	
   the	   robustness	
   of	
   estimated	
   results.	
   This	
   can	   be	
   done	   through	   the	  calculation	
  of	
  standard	
  deviations	
  associated	
  with	  different	
  global	
  and	
  regional	
  estimates.	
  
  

81

Evaluation of the results
The 106 countries used to generate the estimates are a sample of all the countries in the world. If anothersample had been selected, the results would have differed to a degree that is important to determine in orderto understand the robustness of the estimated results. This can be done through the calculation of standard
deviations associated with different global and regional estimates.
Accordingly, the standard deviations of the 2020 global and regional estimates were calculated to assess thechange in estimates caused by sampling variability. This indicator of uncertainty does not account for theuncertainty associated with actual observations. Furthermore, the exercise cannot account for unknown bias
in the modelling procedure. These limitations notwithstanding, the results indicate the margin of error resulting
from the imputation of countries that has been excluded in a pseudo out-of-sample exercise.
The variation in the indicator of children in employment was estimated by running the econometric model
150 times. In each run, countries with a probability of 15 per cent were removed from the sample, which
resulted on average in 15 countries dropped per run. This yielded the standard deviation of the global andregional estimates (see Table A1). Whereas this exercise did not compute a confidence interval (as we were
not accounting for all sources of uncertainty, including input data uncertainty), it quantified the robustness ofthe modelled estimates.

Table A1. Children aged 5 to 17 years in employment
Children in
employment(thousands)

Children in
employment(percentage)

Standard deviation(percentage points)

World

222,08813.3

1.0

Africa124,12229.1

0.8

115,766

32.0

0.8

14,6727.5

0.6

12,422

9.1

0.7

Arab States

3,447

8.1

-

Asia and the Pacific

67,9607.8

1.8

Europe and Central Asia

11,886

8.2

0.7

Sub-Saharan Africa
Americas
Latin America and the
CaribbeanNotes: The table shows regional groupings used for ILO reporting. The dash for the Arab States indicates that the standard deviation could not be calculated
due to the small number of available data sets for this region.

82

ENDNOTES
1. See Resolution II concerning statistics on child labour in: International
Labour Organization, ‘Report of the Conference: 18th International
Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 24 November–5
December 2008’, ICLS/18/2008/IV/FINAL, ILO, Geneva, 2009.
Although there is a more recent resolution concerning statistics onchild labour (20th International Conference of Labour Statisticians,
2018), most countries still use the previous statistical framework(18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, 2008). The
ILO is actively supporting the efforts of countries to transition to themost recent statistical standards. Once a critical mass of household
surveys uses the new statistical standards, it will be possible toproduce global and regional estimates based on them.
2. Two indicators are used for reporting on SDG target 8.7. The first isbased on the production boundary of the United Nations System
of National Accounts (Indicator 8.7.1) and the second on thegeneral production boundary (Indicator 8.7.2). The 21 weekly hours
threshold for household chores hours is consistent with the number
used for indicator 8.7.2.
3. Prior to 2008, global estimates were limited to children in economic
activity in the narrower 5 to 14 age range.
4. The World Bank, ‘World Development Indicators’, World Bank,
Washington,DC,<https://datatopics.worldbank.org/worlddevelopment-indicators>, accessed 7 June 2021. Latest years
available. Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $1.90 perperson per day in 2011 purchasing power parity. The percentage ofthe population living in extreme poverty is 1 per cent in East Asiaand the Pacific and 3.7 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean.
5. ‘World Development Indicators’.
6. Ibid.
7. United Nations Development Programme, ‘Informality and Social
Protection in African Countries: A forward-looking assessment’,
UNDP, New York, 2021.
8. International Labour Organization, Women and Men in the Informal
Economy: A statistical picture, International Labour Office, Geneva,
2018,<www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/--dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_626831.pdf>, accessed 17
May 2021.
9. International Labour Organization, World Social Protection Report2017-19: Universal social protection to achieve the Sustainable
Development Goals, International Labour Office, Geneva, 2017.
10. World Bank, The State of Social Safety Nets 2018, World Bank,
Washington, DC, 2018, <https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/
handle/10986/29115>, accessed 7 June 2021.
11. World Social Protection Report 2017-19.
12. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Institute for Statistics, ‘Education in Africa’, UIS, Montreal, Quebec,
2021, <http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/education-africa>, accessed
7 June 2021.
13. ‘World Development Indicators’.
14. Figures for 2008 are from Diallo, Yacouba, et al., Global Child Labour
Developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008, International
Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, International Labour
Office, Geneva, 2010. Figures for 2020 are from United Nations,2019 Revision of World Population Prospects, Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, New York, 2019, <https://population.
un.org/wpp/>, accessed 7 June 2021.
15. World Bank, ‘Classification of Fragile and Conflict-Affected
Situations’, World Bank, Washington, DC, July 2020, <www.

worldbank.org/en/topic/fragilityconflictviolence/brief/harmonizedlist-of-fragile-situations>, accessed 4 June 2021.
16. United Nations General Assembly, ‘Assistance to Refugees,
Returnees and Displaced Persons in Africa: Report of the SecretaryGeneral’, A/75/322, United Nations, New York, 24 August 2020,<https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3886099>, accessed 4 June
2021.
17. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Seizing the Moment:
Tackling entrenched inequalities to end epidemics – Global AIDS
update 2020, UNAIDS, Geneva, 2020.
18. See, for example, International Labour Organization, ‘An Overview
of Child Labour in Agriculture’, ILO and the International Programmeon the Elimination of Child Labour, Geneva, 2007, <www.ilo.
org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/
publication/wcms_098346.pdf>, accessed 26 May 2021.
19. See, for example, International Labour Organization, ‘Fishing and
Aquaculture’, ILO, Geneva, <www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Agriculture/
WCMS_172419/lang--en/index.htm#:~:text=The%20ILO%20
considers%20fishing%20a,time%20far%20away%20from%20
home>, accessed 26 May 2021.
20. See, for example, Child Labour Platform and International Labour
Organization, Child Labour in Mining and Global Supply Chains, ILO,
Geneva, May 2019, <www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/--ro-bangkok/---ilo-manila/documents/publication/wcms_720743.
pdf>, accessed 26 May 2021.
21. Edmonds, Eric V., ‘Economic Growth and Child Labor in Low Income
Economies’, GLM|LIC Synthesis Paper No. 3, IZA Institute of Labor
Economics, Bonn, April 2016, <https://g2lm-lic.iza.org/wp-content/
uploads/2017/06/glmlic_sp003.pdf>, accessed 26 May 2021.
22. ‘Classification of Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations’.
23. United Nations Children’s Fund and Save the Children, ‘Children in
Monetary Poor Households and COVID-19: Technical note’, UNICEF,
New York, November 2020, <https://data.unicef.org/resources/
children-in-monetary-poor-households-and-covid-19>, accessed
24 May 2021.
24. See, for example: Brazil: Duryea, Suzanne, David Lam and Deborah
Levison, ‘Effects of Economic Shocks on Children’s Employment
and Schooling in Brazil’, Journal of Development Economics, vol.
84, no. 1, 2007, pp. 188-214; Guatemala: Guarcello, Lorenzo,
Fabrizia Mealli and Furio C. Rosati, ‘Household Vulnerability andChild Labor: The effect of shocks, credit rationing, and insurance’,
Journal of Population Economics, vol. 23, no. 1, 2010, pp. 169-198;
India: Jacoby, Hanan G., and Emmanuel Skoufias, ‘Risk, Financial
Markets, and Human Capital in a Developing Country’, The Review
of Economic Studies, vol. 64, no. 3, 1997, pp. 311-335; Mexico: De
Janvry, Alain, et al., ‘Can Conditional Cash Transfer Programs Serve
as Safety Nets in Keeping Children at School and from Working
When Exposed to Shocks?’, Journal of Development Economics, vol.
79, no. 2, 2006, pp. 349-373; United Republic of Tanzania: Beegle,
Kathleen, Rajeev H. Dehejia and Roberta Gatti, ‘Child Labor andAgricultural Shocks’, Journal of Development Economics, vol. 81, no.
1, 2006, pp. 80-96.
25. One example: Edmonds, Eric V., and Norbert Schady, ‘Poverty
Alleviation and Child Labor’, American Economic Journal: Economic
Policy, vol. 4, no. 4, 2012, pp. 100-124.
26. Human Rights Watch, ‘“I Must Work to Eat”: COVID-19, poverty, andchild labor in Ghana, Nepal, and Uganda’, Human Rights Watch,
New York, 2021, <www.hrw.org/report/2021/05/26/i-must-workeat/covid-19-poverty-and-child-labor-ghana-nepal-and-uganda#>,accessed 4 June 2021.
8327. International Cocoa Initiative, ‘Changes in Hazardous Child Labourin Côte d’Ivoire’s Cocoa Communities Before and After COVID-19
Partial Lockdown’, ICI, Châtelaine, Switzerland, November 2020,<https://cocoainitiative.org/knowledge-centre-post/changes-inhazardous-child-labour-in-cote-divoires-cocoa-communitiesbefore-and-after-covid-19-partial-lockdown>, accessed 14 May
2021.
28. United Nations Children’s Fund Ecuador and Inclusión SAS, ‘El
Choque COVID-19 en la Pobreza, Desigualdad y Clases Sociales
en el Ecuador: Una mirada a los hogares con niñas, niños yadolescentes’, UNICEF, Quito, 21 October 2020, <www.unicef.org/
ecuador/informes/el-choque-covid-19-en-la-pobreza-desigualdady-clases-sociales-en-el-ecuador>, accessed 14 May 2021.
29. International Labour Organization, ‘Parents Send Their Children toChild Labour to Overcome the Economic Crisis of COVID-19’, Our
Impact, Their Voices feature, ILO, Geneva, 25 June 2020, <www.
ilo.org/africa/media-centre/articles/WCMS_749347/lang--en/index.
htm>, accessed 14 May 2021.
30. United Nations Children’s Fund Brazil, ‘UNICEF Alerta para
Aumento de Incidência do Trabalho Infantil Durante a Pandemia em
São Paulo’, UNICEF, São Paulo, August 2020, <www.unicef.org/
brazil/comunicados-de-imprensa/unicef-alerta-para-aumento-deincidencia-do-trabalho-infantil-durante-pandemia-em-sao-paulo>,accessed 14 May 2021.
31. World Vision, ‘Act Now: Experiences and recommendations of girls
and boys in West Africa during COVID-19’, 2020, <www.wvi.org/
sites/default/files/2020-11/5-WV-WARO-Report-29-10-20.pdf>,
accessed 14 May 2021.
32. Franceinfo Afrique, ‘Burkina Faso: Malgré le coronavirus, les enfants
travaillent toujours dans la carrière de Pissy’, 2 July 2020, <www.
francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/burkina-faso/burkina-faso-malgrele-coronavirus-les-enfants-travaillent-toujours-dans-la-carriere-depissy_4023037.html>, accessed 14 May 2021.
33. International Labour Organization and United Nations Children’sFund, ‘Technical Report on Global Estimates’, forthcoming.
34. The selected model includes a single poverty line ($3.20 a day line
in 2011 purchasing power parity dollars), two control variables (agegroup and region) and social protection coverage (proportion of the
population protected in at least one area of social protection). The
poverty data are from the World Bank, Macro and Poverty Outlook:
Country-by-country analysis and projections for the developingworld, World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021, <https://www.
worldbank.org/en/publication/macro-poverty-outlook>, accessed
15 July 2021, combined with World Bank estimates of the impact
of COVID-19 on poverty. For a discussion of the methodology toestimate the impact, see Gerszon Mahler, Daniel, et al., ‘Updated
Estimates of the Impact of COVID-19 on Global Poverty: Turning
the corner on the pandemic in 2021?’, World Bank Blogs, 24 June
2021, <https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/updated-estimatesimpact-covid-19-global-poverty-turning-corner-pandemic-2021>,
accessed 10 February 2021.
35. International Labour Organization, ‘Declaration Concerning theAims and Purposes of the International Labour Organisation(Declaration of Philadelphia)‘, Annex, ILO Constitution, ILO,
Geneva,1944,<www.ilo.org/legacy/english/inwork/cb-policyguide/declarationofPhiladelphia1944.pdf>, accessed 7 June 2021.
36. International Labour Organization and United Nations Children’sFund, ‘COVID-19 and Child Labour: A time of crisis, a time to act’,
ILO and UNICEF, New York, 2020, <www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/
public/---ed_norm/---ipec/documents/publication/wcms_747421.
pdf>, accessed 24 May 2021.
37. See, for example, International Labour Organization, EndingChild Labour by 2025: A review of policies and programmes, 2nded., International Labour Office, Geneva, 2018, <www.ilo.org/
84

wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---ipec/documents/publication/
wcms_653987.pdf>, accessed 24 May 2021; United Nations
Children’s Fund, ‘Child Protection Advocacy Brief: Child labour’,
UNICEF, New York, 2018, <www.unicef.org/media/73651/file/ChildProtection-Advocacy-Child-Labour-2018.pdf.pdf>, accessed 24
May 2021.
38. International Labour Organization, ‘Financing Gaps in Social
Protection: Global estimates and strategies for developing countries
in light of COVID-19 and beyond’, ILO Brief: Social Protection
Spotlight, ILO, Geneva, 17 September 2020, <www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/
groups/public/---ed_protect/---soc_sec/documents/publication/
wcms_755475.pdf>, accessed 24 May 2021.
39. United Nations General Assembly, ‘Addis Ababa Action Agenda of
The Third International Conference on Financing for Development’,
A/RES/69/313, United Nations, New York, 27 July 2015.
40. United Nations Children’s Fund Office of Research–Innocenti,‘COVID-19 and the Looming Debt Crisis’, UNICEF-IRC, Florence,2021,<www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/Social-spendingseries_COVID-19-and-the-looming-debt-crisis.pdf>, accessed 24
May 2021.
41. Bakrania, Shivit and Ramya Subrahmanian, ‘Impacts of Pandemics
and Epidemics on Child Protection: Lessons learned from a rapid
review in the context of COVID-19’, Innocenti Research Briefs no.
2020-16, UNICEF-IRC, Florence, 2020.
42. ‘Children in Monetary Poor Households and COVID-19’.
43. See, for example, Dammert, Ana C., Jacobus de Hoop, Eric
Mvukiyehe and Furio C. Rosati, ‘Effects of Public Policy on Child
Labor: Current knowledge, gaps, and implications for program
design’, World Development, vol. 110, 2018, pp. 104-123.
44. See, for example, International Labour Organization and United
Nations Children’s Fund, Towards Universal Social Protection forChildren: Achieving SDG 1.3 – ILO-UNICEF joint report on social
protection for children, ILO and UNICEF, Geneva and New York,2019.
45. International Labour Organization, World Social Protection Report
2020-2022, ILO, Geneva, forthcoming.
46. Bastagli, Francesca, Ian Orton and David Stewart, ‘From COVID-19
Response to Recovery: What role for universal child benefits?’,
United Nations Children’s Fund blog, October 2020, <https://
blogs.unicef.org/evidence-for-action/from-covid-19-response-torecovery-what-role-for-universal-child-benefits>, accessed 24 May
2021.
47. World Social Protection Report 2020-2022; see also United Nations
Development Programme and United Nations Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women, ‘COVID-19 Global
Gender Response Tracker’, UNDP and UN Women, New York,<https://data.undp.org/gendertracker>, accessed 24 May 2021.
48. See, for example, Towards Universal Social Protection for Children.
49. See, for example, Dammert, et al., ‘Effects of Public Policy on Child
Labor’; De Hoop, Jacobus, and Furio C. Rosati, ‘Cash Transfers
and Child Labor’, The World Bank Research Observer, vol. 29, no.
2, 2014, pp. 202-234; Rosati, Furio C., ‘Can Cash Transfers ReduceChild Labor?’ IZA World of Labour, April 2016, <https://wol.iza.org/
uploads/articles/293/pdfs/can-cash-transfers-reduce-child-labor.
pdf>, accessed 24 May 2021.
50. de Hoop, Jacobus, Valeria Groppo and Sudhanshu Handa, ‘Cash
Transfers, Microentrepreneurial Activity, and Child Work: Evidence
from Malawi and Zambia’, The World Bank Economic Review, vol.
34, no. 3, pp. 670-697, <https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhz004>,
accessed 24 May 2021; Rosati, ‘Can Cash Transfers Reduce Child
Labor?’.
51. Bastagli, Francesca, et al., Cash Transfers: What does the evidencesay? A rigorous review of programme impact and of the role of design
and implementation features, Overseas Development Institute,London, July 2016, <https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/11316.
pdf>, accessed 24 May 2021.
52. This is particularly relevant to achieve SDG target 1.3 in line with theILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation. International Labour
Conference, ‘ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012
(No. 202)’, 2012, <www.social-protection.org/gimi/ShowRessource.
action?ressource.ressourceId=31088#:~:text=202)%20was%20
adopted%20by%20the,national%20floors%20of%20social%20
protection>, accessed 24 May 2021.
53. ‘Financing Gaps in Social Protection: Global estimates’.
54. Richardson, Dominic, Alessandro Carraro, Victor Cebotari and Anna
Gromada, ‘Supporting Families and Children Beyond COVID-19:
Social protection in high-income countries’, Innocenti Research
Report, UNICEF-IRC, Florence, December 2020, <www.unicef-irc.
org/publications/1165-supporting-families-and-children-beyondcovid-19-social-protection-in-high-income-countries.html>,
accessed 24 May 2021.
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66. See, for example, United Nations Children’s Fund Office of
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68. For a more detailed discussion of this point, see ILO Recommendation
No. 204, which provides guidance to governments and employers’
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71. Ending Child Labour by 2025.
72. See also International Labour Organization Cooperative Programme,
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movement to eliminate child labour, ILO, Geneva, 2009, <www.ilo.
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73. See also Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,‘Sustainable Food Systems: Concept and framework’, FAO, Rome,
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74. International Labour Organization and Food and Agriculture
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75. International
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76. Ibid.
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82. One ILO study showed that child labour in situations of armed
conflict was 77 per cent higher than the global average. See:
International Labour Organization, ‘Global Estimates of Child
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83. United Nations Children’s Fund, ‘Education in Emergencies:
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86. As of 11 May 2021, 196 countries are party to it, including every
member state of the United Nations except the United States.
87. International Labour Organization, ‘NORMLEX: Information system
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89. World Vision International, et al., Counting Pennies 2: A review ofofficial development assistance to end violence against children, World
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92. Specifically, the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel,
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93. For the purpose of global estimates of child labour, designatedhazardous occupations are those defined in ISCO-88 codes 313,
322, 323, 516, 614, 615, 711-713, 721-724, 731, 732, 811-816,
821-823, 825-829, 832-834, 911, 912, 915, 916, 921, 931 and 933.
As a large number of countries have adopted the new ISCO-08
classification system, these ISCO-88 codes have been converted
into the corresponding three- and four-digit ISCO-08 codes. The
list for ISCO-08 includes 223, 224, 226, 312, 313, 321-322, 324325, 352, 541, 621-622, 711-712, 721-723, 731, 741, 742, 754,
811-818, 821, 832-835, 921, 931, 933, 951, 961, 962, 2230, 2240,
2264-2267, 2269, 3121-3123, 3131-3135, 3211, 3213, 3214, 3221,
3222, 3240, 3251, 3253-3257, 3259, 3431, 3521, 5212, 5243, 5244,
5411-5414, 5419, 6210, 6221-6224, 7111-7115, 7119, 7121-7127,
7211-7215, 7221-7224, 7231-7234, 7311-7316, 7411-7413, 7421,
7422, 7541, 7542, 7549, 8111-8114, 8121, 8122, 8131, 8141-8143,
8151, 8153-8157, 8159, 8160, 8171, 8172, 8181-8183, 8189, 8211,
8212, 8219, 8321, 8322, 8331, 8332, 8341- 8344, 8350, 9211-9216,
9311-9313, 9331-9334, 9510, 9520, 9611-9613, 9621-9624 and9629. International Labour Organization, ‘International Standard
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accessed 5 June 2021.
94. The domestic work rate does not have breakdowns by geography
as data are only available for the national level.

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