Also few details are known about the circumstances under which children in different sectors have to work, or about the precise effects these activities have on the life and development of children. In certain instances, it is presumed that child labour does not exist or is not harmful for children and therefore is not included in surveys or covered by official statistics. Figures and estimates should therefore be viewed at with great caution. The terms 'formal' and 'informal' sector are often used assuming that it is about two clear-cut separate parts of economy. The informal sector encompasses a wide variety of activities ranging from petty trade, service repairs and domestic work to transport, construction and manufacturing.
Women make up a large share of workers in the informal sector.
A distinct feature of informal sector is that it operates outside the legal and administrative framework. Regulations concerning safety, health and working conditions are ignored. Figures on the number of working children vary largely according to various sources. Given the diversity of definitions on what constitutes a 'child' and 'work' and given the weakness of the available sources, accurate information on how many children are working is hard to give. The big majority supposedly works at least part of the time.