GNV News 2025 year 6 month 13 day

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set the elimination of child labour by 2025, but as of 2024 there are still 1 hundred million 3,800 ten-thousand children aged 5 to 17 engaged in child labour worldwide, according to a report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) on 2025 year 6 month 11 day. This corresponds to about 8% of all children, and although the number of child labourers has nearly halved over the past 20 years, the situation remains far from achieving the target. In particular, the decline in the number of child labourers aged 5–11 has been the slowest. In addition, the number of children placed in dangerous situations that threaten their health, safety, and development—such as hazardous work in mines, farms, and factories; exposure to harmful substances; trafficking; and sexual exploitation—reaches 5,400 ten-thousand children.

Behind child labour lie multiple factors, including extreme poverty, armed conflict, natural disasters, and lack of educational opportunities. Many children have no choice but to work to support their families’ livelihoods. By industry, 61% are in agriculture, with particularly high shares among children aged 5–14. By region, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for about two-thirds of child labour worldwide, and, influenced by population growth, the absolute number has not been declining. About 3 in 10 child labourers are unable to attend school, which leads to future poverty and perpetuates a negative cycle.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the ILO state that to fundamentally resolve child labour, measures to reduce poverty among parents and caregivers are necessary. This requires not only strengthening social protection and expanding employment opportunities for the parent generation, but also ensuring that parents earn sufficient incomes so that children do not have to work. To achieve this, it is necessary to promote fair trade and other equitable trading practices, establish safe and healthy working environments, guarantee workers’ rights to raise their voices collectively, and eliminate forced labour and discrimination. Through such efforts, it is essential to build industrial structures in which the parent generation is not exploited and can secure decent, dignified work (decent work).

Furthermore, the ILO’s report points out that such measures against child labour should be consistently integrated into society-wide policies, from macroeconomic frameworks and labour market reforms to sectoral strategies. It also states that high-income countries, which occupy advantageous positions in the global economy, are complicit in unfair trade that leads to child labour, and therefore must work toward a fairer economic system.

Learn more about child labour in agriculture → “No benefits, only harm: the pervasive global tobacco problem“

Learn more about child labour in the apparel sector → “The ‘hidden side’ of the fashion industry“

Learn more about unfair trade that breeds poverty → “Unfair trade rampant around the world“

A Bangladeshi boy working in a garage to make a living (Photo: Shawn / Flickr [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0])