Child Labour

Facts and Statistics

There are 152 million children worldwide who are victims of child labour; nearly half of them, 73 million, are in hazardous child labour.
Of the 152 million children in child labour, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.
Nearly half of the 73 million children who are victims of hazardous child labour are aged 5 to 11;16 million are between 12 and 14; and 37 million are aged 15 to 17.

Children have the right to attend school, to play, to grow up in protected environments, and to enjoy their childhood.

However, according to global estimates made by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2016, 151 million children are in child labour, i. e. they are engaged in adult labour or activities. More than half of these children (73 million) are engaged in hazardous work.

Alliance 8.7

In September 2015, the global leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustained Development, which comprises 17 interrelated goals and 169 associated targets to guide global development. Under goal 8.7 the leaders committed to:

Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.