The challenge

Millions of children work to help their families in ways that are neither harmful nor exploitative. But one in six children 5 to 14 years old, about 16 per cent of all children in this age group, is involved in child labour in developing countries. In the least developed countries, 30 per cent of all children are engaged in child labour. These children are put to work in ways that drain childhood of joy and crush the right to normal physical and mental development, and often interfere with children’s education.

 

                            One in six children in developing countries are engaged in child labour
                                                      Children aged 5–14 engaged in child labour (%), by region (1999-2008)

                            

Source: UNICEF SOWC 2010

* Excludes Nigeria
** Excludes China
*** Excludes Nigeria and China

Around 1 in 3 children aged 5–14 in Africa labours, compared to only 1 in 20 in the Central and Eastern European/Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) region. Children living in the poorest households and in rural areas are most likely to be involved in child labour. Boys are more likely to be engaged in child labour than girls because the former are more likely to be engaged in economic activity. Those burdened with household chores are overwhelmingly girls.

 

                                                      Boys are more likely to engage in child labour
                                                        Children aged 5–14 engaged in child labour (%), by gender (1999–2008)

                             

Source: UNICEF SOWC 2010
* Excludes Nigeria
** Excludes China
*** Excludes Nigeria and China

 

A review of national data on child labour shows that children work throughout the world, but child labour is most prevalent in Africa. Ensuring that all children go to school and that their education is of good quality are keys to preventing child labour.

 

                                                            Child labour is most prevalent in Africa
                                                     Percentage of children aged 5–14 years engaged in child labour (2003-2008)

                                

 

Source: UNICEF global databases, 2009.

Data collection

UNICEF collects data on working children with its Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), a series of nationally representative household surveys. MICS questionnaires ask what kind of work a child does and for how many hours, collecting data on both economic activities (paid or unpaid work for someone who is not a member of the household, work for a family farm or business) and domestic work (household chores like cooking, cleaning, or caring for children).
 
A further source of child labour data is the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), carried out with support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Some recent DHS surveys have adopted the MICS child labour questionnaire and provide the same data on work by children.
 
In the analysis on these pages, child labour is defined as work that exceeds a minimum number of hours, depending on the age of a child and on the type of work. Such work is considered harmful to the child and should therefore be eliminated. The latest national estimates for this indicator are reported in Table 9 (Child protection) of UNICEF's annual publication The State of the World's Children.

References

Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS): UNICEF, various years.

Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS): Macro International, various years.