Countries with Child Labor

Child labor is a significant issue worldwide. Countries with child labor may experience extreme poverty, under-education and heightened mortality rates.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), child labor is any work that “is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children” or that “interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school.”1 Child labor inhibits children’s physical, mental and emotional development. Also, by depriving children of opportunities to attend school, it deprives them of opportunities to play with their peers and learn about themselves.

UNICEF estimates that 160 million children are victims of child labor and that 1 in 5 children are victims of child labor in the world’s poorest countries.2 Countries with child labor include Bangladesh, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia.3 In eastern and southern Africa, 26 percent of children between 5 and 17 years old are child laborers.2 However, child laborers are employed worldwide in many types of work.

Child labor in Asia is a serious issue. According to ILO studies, there are “30 million children in employment, almost 17 million in child labour and 50 million children out of school” throughout South Asia.4 Every child laborer loses opportunities to attend school, play with their peers and remain healthy.

Child workers in Asia work in many industries, including the following:
  • Agriculture — Children work in forestry or on small or industrial farms with livestock or produce. Children help remove rocks from soil, harvest crops, care for animals and handle farming equipment.
  • Fisheries — Child workers are crucial to the fishing industry. Boys may work on boats to dive for fish and free or repair tangled fishing nets. Boys may also work on docks to guard boats; load, sort and unpack fish; and clean, salt and prepare fish to be sold.
  • Garment factories — Child laborers throughout Asia work in factories. They sew buttons as well as cut, dye and sort fabric and package completed clothing.
  • Brick kilns — Countries with child labor frequently employ young children in brick kilns. Here, they may throw clay into molds, carry and stack freshly set bricks and help clean the brick factories.
  • Mining — Mining is one of the worst forms of child labor. Mines expose children to harmful dust, pollutants, explosives and dangerous tunnels. Children crawl through small tunnels to find minerals or move heavy loads of rock. Mining is physically demanding and hazardous work.
Child labor statistics are concerning worldwide; however, child labor disproportionately affects regions in Africa and Asia. Research from the International Labour Organization suggests that child labor in the Asia Pacific region exceeds 17 million children.5 Every child engaged in labor misses opportunities to learn, grow and experience their childhood.


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