Child Labor
One out of six children in the world today is involved in child labor, doing work that is damaging to his or her mental, phyysical and emotional development.
These children work in a variety of industries, and in many parts of the world. The vast majority are in the agricultural sector, where they may be exposed to dangerous chemicals and equipment. Others are street children, peddling or running errands to earn a living. Some are domestic workers, prostitutes, or factory workers. All are children who have no fair chance of a real childhood, an education, or a better life.
Children work because their survival and their family’s survival depend on it. Child labor persists even where it has been declared illegal, and is frequently surrounded by a wall of silence and indifference.
But that wall is beginning to crumble. While the total elimaination of child labor is a long-term goal in many countries, certain forms of child labor must be stopped immediately. An ILO study has shown that economic benefits of eliminating child labor will be nearly seven times greater than the costs. This does not included social and human benefits of eliminating the practice. These benefits cannot be calculated. Stopping child labor is one of the most urgent challenges for our time.
Key Statistics
* 246 million children are child laborers.
* 73 million working children are less than ten years old.
* There are 2.5 million working children in the developed economies, and another 2.5 million in transition (undeveloped) economies.
* Every year 22,000 children die in work-related accidents.
* The largest number of working children--127 million--age 14 and under are in the Asia-Pacific region.
* Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of working children: nearly one-third of children age 14 and under (48 million children).
* 8.4 million chilren are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bodage, prostitution, pornography and other illegal activies.
Summarized from the International Labor Organization's Fact Sheet (go to original).