The problem of working children is not limited to the poor countries of the world, but is widespread throughout the world. It is found in both urban and rural communities, ranging from homework to factory work.
Nobody knows exactly how many children are working over the world, but it is very high indeed.
Whether child labour is defined by age or conditions of work, existing statistics on child labour are inadequate for many reasons. Most available data only covers economic activity of children between the ages of 10 and 14. Another fact that tends to be ignored is that the vast majority of child labourers work in the unregulated and unmonitored parts of economy. The ILO estimates that today 250 million children between the age of 5 and 14 years in developing countries are working. This is very likely a large underestimation of the real scope of the problem in view of the above mentioned argument.