By Dr. Gyan Pathak
In 2015, the United Nations set a goal to end child labour worldwide by 2025 but progress has been slow and halting. World has missed the target. It has 138 million children between 5 and 17 years of age in child labour, while South Asia has 14.3 million with most of them obviously in India, being the largest populated country in the region. The world was able to eliminate only 20 million child labour since 2020, meaning thereby, the fight against child labour to continue for decades.
The new joint report of International Labour Organization and UNICEF on Child Labour says that out of 138 million children in child labour 59 million are girls and 78 million are boys. About 54 million, that is around 4 in 10 children in child labour are in hazardous work. In South Asia, 9.4 million children are in hazardous work.
And we know that the persistence of child labour also threatens progress on multiple other SDGs set by the international community. Child labour keeps children out of school (SDG 4), fuelling intergenerational cycles of poverty (SDG 1) and inequality (SDG10). It weakens economic growth (SDG 8) by limiting workforce productivity and innovation. It harms health and well-being (SDG 3), both in childhood and later life. In supply chains, child labour undermines efforts towards ethical and sustainable production (SDG 12), posing challenges for businesses and consumers alike. Tackling child labour is not just a legal and ethical imperative – it is essential for achieving sustainable development and unlocking long-term economic prosperity.
The overall number of children in child labour declined by more than 20 million, and the number in hazardous work by even more – 25 million – from 2020 to 2024.Child labour prevalence fell by nearly 2 percentage points over the same period. This is a very slow progress, and therefore Meeting SDG Target 8.7 by 2030, the endpoint for the SDGs, would require a pace of change that is 11 times faster than it has been in the last four years. To meet the target by 2045, the pace must accelerate seven times. Even pushing the endpoint to2060 would still require quadrupling the current pace. The message is stark: Only a massive increase in the speed and scale of action will bring the elimination of child labour within reach.
In terms of percentage, about 7.8 per cent children of the entire population is in child labour, while the percentage in hazardous work is 3.1 per cent. In conflict zones, child labour prevalence reaches 21 per cent, more than four times higher than in countries that are not conflict-affected or in fragile situations (5 per cent).Even in countries without active conflicts but characterized by weak governance or other sources of institutional or social fragility, child labour remains elevated at 16 per cent.
Economic conditions further shape child labour patterns. As national income rises, child labour sharply declines. Nearly one fourth of all children in low-income countries are in child labour, compared to less than 1 per cent in high-income countries – a more than 30-fold difference. However, this does not mean that most child labour occurs in low-income countries. On the contrary, due to the larger underlying population, many more children are in child labour in lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries (78.4 million) than in low-income countries (57.7 million).
Lower human development corresponds to higher levels of child labour. In countries with low scores on the Human Development Index(HDI), a composite measure indicating social and economic development, child labour prevalence reaches 20 per cent. In nations with very high scores on the index, child labour prevalence is just 2 per cent.
Sub-Saharan Africa has by far the largest number of children in child labour – 87 million, or nearly two thirds of the global total. Central and Southern Asia ranks second, at 17 million. Sub-Saharan Africa also continues to have the highest child labour prevalence at 22 percent, followed by Northern Africa and Western Asia at a distant second with 8 per cent.
If prevalence levels remain as they are today, the number of children in child labour in sub-Saharan Africa could continue to grow, surpassing 100 million after 2030, stemming from projected population growth. Due to shrinking child populations, Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean could see fewer numbers of children in child labour, even with steady prevalence levels.
If sub-Saharan Africa can continue diminishing prevalence at the current pace, it could nearly halve the number of children in child labour by 2060.Replicating its fastest historical progress, it could see59 million fewer children in child labour by 2060.
If the recent significant pace of progress in Asia and the Pacific continues, it could result in the total elimination of child labour by 2050. The relatively slower progress in Latin America and the Caribbean suggests that the region will need to greatly accelerate progress to come close to elimination by 2060.
In South Asia, the percentage of child labour fell from 4.9 per cent (21.8 million) in 2020 to 3.1 per cent (14.3 million) in 2024. During this period child labour in hazardous work fell from 2.4 per cent (10.8 million) to 2 per cent (9.4 million).
The report called for integrated policy solutions which work across governmental sectors, addressing the problem from an educational, economic and social perspective. It also highlighted that ending child labour cannot be accomplished without also thinking about the conditions that drive families to send their children to work – namely, poverty. Upholding parents’ rights – including the right to collectively bargain, the right to safe work – is also key for ending child labour. (IPA Service)
