In central and eastern Europe, the difficulties connected with the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy has led to a substantial increase in child labour. Traditionally, the proportion of working children has been much higher in rural than in urban areas - nine out of ten are engaged in agricultural or related activities. In the towns and cities of developing countries, where child labour has increased steadily as a result of the rapid urbanization of recent years, working children are found mainly in trade and services and o a lesser extent in the manufacturing sector. Experimental statistical surveys carried out by the ILO in Ghana, India, Indonesia and Senegal have shown that the economic activity of over three quarters of children between the ages of 5 and 14 takes place in a family enterprise setting. In fact, though, children producing for export are substantially fewer than those employed in branches of activity geared essentially to meeting domestic consumption needs.
Available statistics suggest that more boys than girls work.
Girls, moreover, tend to work longer hours, on average, than do boys. This is especially true for the many girls employed as domestic workers, a type of employment in which hours of work are typically extremely long. This is also the case of girls employed in other types of jobs who, in addition to their professional activity, must help with the housework in their parents' home. One of the factors affecting the supply of child labour is the high cost, in real terms, of obtaining an education. Many children work to cover the costs of school expenses.