World Day Against Child Labor 2015: 168 million child laborers worldwide, estimates the ILO
The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) new report—the World Report on Child Labour 2015: Paving the Way to Decent Work for Young People—published to coincide with 2015’s World Day Against Child Labor, highlights the lasting effects of child labor on young people, revealing they are more likely to work in low-paying jobs or to settle for unpaid family work later in life.
Of the 168 million children estimated by the ILO to be involved in child labor, 120 million are aged just 5–14. Based on a 12-country survey, the new report examines the future careers of former child laborers and early school leavers in an attempt to address the twin challenges of eliminating child labor and ensuring decent work for young people.
The report’s main findings are that:- prior involvement in child labor is associated with lower educational attainment, and subsequently with the attainment of jobs that fail to meet basic decent work criteria;
- early school leavers are less likely to secure stable jobs and are at greater risk of remaining unemployed;
- 47.5 million 15–17 year olds are in jobs classified as hazardous;
- those in hazardous employment are likely to have left school early before reaching the legal minimum age of employment;
- girls and young women are especially vulnerable.
The report recommends early interventions to get children out of child labor and into school, mirroring the theme of this year’s World Day Against Child Labour: No to Child Labour—Yes to Quality Education. Also recommended are measures to facilitate the transition from school to work for young people.
Our author Eric V. Edmonds has explored the subject of child labor from the perspective of regulating the minimum age of employment, the dominant tool used to combat child labor globally.
Edmonds acknowledges that minimum age regulations are not a useful tool to promote education and asserts that policy should consider the root causes of child labor. He suggests that coordination with compulsory schooling laws has the greatest impact on reducing child labor, and notes that large declines in child employment have been documented when poverty is moderated.
Read the ILO’s report in full here.
Related articles:
Does minimum age of employment regulation reduce child labor? by Eric V. Edmonds