Child Labor is a major challenge of our time. Massive in scale and corrosive and fatal in its consequences, it is cruel to children, insulting to the dignity of the human person and, not least, a waste of human capital. It is almost certainly the single most important source and form of child abuse and child exploitation in much of the world today. But it is a challenge also for a different reason. More than ever before, the international community now has the resources and means to bring about a rapid end to child labor.
Work is an integral aspect of life.
It is an important end in and of itself, as a means of participation in the economy and society at large. The same is true of the work of children. Most children in almost all societies work in one way or another, although the types of work they do and the forms and conditions of their work vary among societies and over time. Work of this kind is not without its problems, especially as regards the children's health and safety and their schooling. But this is not what is meant by child labor.