• For full details of graphics available/in preparation, see Menu -> Planners
Graphic shows latest worldwide child labour estimates.
GN41444EN

POPULATION

Global fall in child labour stalls

By Duncan Mil

June 10, 2021 - The world has marked the first rise in child labour in two decades with an estimated 160 million children -- accounting for nearly one in 10 children globally -- in child labour at the start of 2020.

“Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward” is released ahead of World Day Against Child Labour on June 12. The report warns that progress to end child labour has stalled for the first time in 20 years, reversing the previous downward trend that saw child labour fall by 94 million between 2000 and 2016.

The joint report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nation children’s agency UNICEF said that children aged between five and 11 accounts for over half of the global figure.

The number of children in hazardous work -- defined as work that is likely to harm their health, safety or morals -- has risen by 6.5 million to 79 million since 2016.

“The new estimates are a wake-up call. We cannot stand by while a new generation of children is put at risk,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.

The agriculture sector accounts for 70 per cent of children in child labour (112 million), followed by 20 per cent in services (31.4 million) and 10 per cent (16.5 million) in industry.

Nearly 28 per cent of children aged 5 to 11 years and 35 per cent of children aged 12 to 14 years in child labour are out of school.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 10/06/2021; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
Advertisement