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International Labour Office

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008
Yacouba Diallo, Frank Hagemann, Alex Etienne, Yonca Gurbuzer and Farhad Mehran

Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC)

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008
Yacouba Diallo, Frank Hagemann, Alex Etienne, Yonca Gurbuzer and Farhad Mehran

Copyright © International Labour Organization 2010 First published 2010 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: pubdroit@ilo.org. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with reproduction rights organizations may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country.

Diallo, Yacouba; Hagemann, Frank; Etienne, Alex; Gurbuzer, Yonca; Mehran, Farhad Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008 / Yacouba Diallo, Frank Hagemann, Alex Etienne, Yonca Gurbuzer and Farhad Mehran; International Labour Office, International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) – Geneva: ILO, 2010 – 1 v. ISBN: 978-92-2-123522-4; 978-92-2-123523-1 (Web PDF) International Labour Office; ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour child labour / child worker / trend / developing countries 13.01.2 French and Spanish version forthcoming. ILO Cataloguing in Publication Data

Acknowledgements This publication was elaborated by Yacouba Diallo, Frank Hagemann, Alex Etienne, Yonca Gurbuzer and Farhad Mehran for IPEC. Funding for this ILO publication was provided by the United States Department of Labor (Project INT/08/93/USA). This publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government.

The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the International Labour Office, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. ILO publications can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices in many countries, or direct from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. Catalogues or lists of new publications are available free of charge from the above address, or by email: pubvente@ilo.org or visit our website: www.ilo.org/publns. Visit our website: www.ilo.org/ipec

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Table of contents

1. 2.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Main findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Trends with regard to children in employment . . . . . . . . . 2.1.1 Children in employment by age group . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.2 Children in employment by sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.3 Children in employment by region. . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Trends in child labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Child labour by age group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 Child labour by sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.3 Child labour by region. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Trends in hazardous work by children . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1 Hazardous work by age group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.2 Hazardous work by sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.3 Hazardous work by region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Comparative trends in different categories of work by children 2.5 Child labour by economic sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 Child labour by status in employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 3 3 3 4 4 6 6 8 9 10 10 10 11 12 13 14 17 17 18 23 23 23 25 30 33 35 35 37 41 43

3.

Concepts and definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 International statistical standards on child labour. . . . . . . . . . 3.2 ILO global estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Data sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Data harmonization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Methodology of the global and regional estimation . . . . . 4.4 Evaluation of the results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Annexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Annex 1. Datasets underlying the global child labour estimates 2004-2008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Annex 2. Latin American and the Caribbean estimates 2004: Evaluation and retrospective adjustment . . . . . . . . . . Annex 3. Measurement of hazardous unpaid household services: Preliminary estimates based on selected countries . . . . . Annex 4. Selected key indicators on child labour (2000-2004-2008) . . . . . .

v

Summary of highlights

As part of its effort to increase the knowledge base on global child labour developments, the ILO produced new child labour estimates for the year 2008 and trends from 2004 to 2008. The new global and regional estimates on child labour benefited from refinements embodied in the Resolution concerning Statistics of Child Labour, adopted by the 18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) in 2008. The child labour estimates are based on the datasets from 60 national household surveys carried out between 2004 and 2008. Key findings are presented according to: – form of children’s work (children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by children), – age group, – sex, – region, – sector of activity, and – status in employment. Children in employment It is estimated that there were some 306 million children ages 5 to 17 in employment in the world in 2008. This is 17 million fewer than in 2004. However, this trend is not consistent across all major age groups (Table 1). From 2004 to 2008, employment in the 5- to 14- year core age group declined from 196 million to 176 million, a decrease of 20 million. Over the same period, employment among children aged 15-17 years rose by 2 million, from 127 million to 129 million. Boys continue to be more exposed to work than girls, with a 4.5 per cent higher incidence rate (Table 1). Child labour Child labour is a narrower concept than children in employment. It is defined by the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). Both in absolute and relative terms, the results indicate that far more boys than girls were engaged in child labour in 2008 (40 million more and a 4.2 per cent higher incidence rate). The overall number of children aged 5-17 years in child labour decreased modestly by 7 million from 222 to 215 million over the four years. Most of the observed decline in child labour is in the number of girls and in the age group 5-14 years old (Table 1). The number of girl child labourers decreased by 15 million to 88 million and the overall number of child labourers of both sexes below the age of 15 declined from 170 million to 153 million. Children in hazardous work Hazardous work is a subcategory of child labour. The number of children in this worst form of child labour accounts for more than half of all child labourers (115 million). Boys outnumber girls in hazardous work (74 million and 41 million, respectively).

vi

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008

Table 1: Estimates of various forms of children’s work, 2004 and 2008
Total children ('000) Children in employment ('000) % Child labour ('000) % Hazardous work ('000) %

World 2004 2008 Boys 2004 2008 Girls 2004 2008 5-14 years 2004 2008 15-17 years 2004 2008 359,800 369,433 126,682 129,217 35.2 35.0 51,911 62,419 14.4 16.9 51,911 62,419 14.4 16.9 1,206,500 1,216,854 196,047 176,452 16.2 14.5 170,383 152,850 14.1 12.6 76,470 52,895 6.3 4.3 762,300 766,397 151,579 129,892 19.9 16.9 102,720 87,508 13.5 11.4 53,966 41,296 7.1 5.4 804,000 819,891 171,150 175,777 21.3 21.4 119,575 127,761 14.9 15.6 74,414 74,019 9.3 9.0 1,566,300 1,586,288 322,729 305,669 20.6 19.3 222,294 215,269 14.2 13.6 128,381 115,314 8.2 7.3

The number of children in hazardous work declined by 13 million, from 128 million in 2004 to 115 million in 2008. The decrease was significant among girls and particularly strong in the 5- to 14- year-old age cohort. However, there was only a slight decrease among boys, and a trend reversal in the case of adolescents 15-17 years old (Table 1). In the latter age cohort, the number increased by 10.5 million to reach 62 million and the incidence rose by 2.5 percentage points. Regional distribution of child labourers and trends in employment In absolute terms, it is the Asian-Pacific region that has the most child labourers ages 5-17 (113.6 million) as compared with 65.1 million in Sub-Saharan Africa and 14.1 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. Yet Sub-Saharan Africa region has the highest incidence of child labour, with one in four children involved. With regard to children ages 5 to 14 in employment, the Asia and the Pacific region experienced a considerable decrease, not only in absolute numbers but also in relative terms (from 122.3 million to 96.4 million and a 4 percentage point decrease in incidence). For the same age category, the number of children in employment also continued to decline in Latin America and the Caribbean, albeit at a slower rate. However, the number of children in employment was increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa in relative as well as absolute terms in the age group of 5-14 years old (Table 2). There were close to 9 million more children in employment in the region and the incidence rate rose by 2 percentage points. Sectoral distribution of child labourers Children engaged in child labour work in all the three broad groupings of economic activity (agriculture, industry and services). Among child labourers ages 5 to 17 in the world, 60 per cent are involved in the agricultural sector, 7 per cent are employed in industry and 26 per cent in services.

2. Main findings

vii

Table 2: Regional estimates of various forms of children’s work (5-14 years old), 2004 and 2008
Children ('000) Children in employment ('000) % Child labour ('000) % Hazardous work ('000) %

World 2004 2008 Asia and the Pacific 2004 2008 Latin America and the Caribbean 2004 2008 Sub-Saharan Africa 2004 2008 Other regions 2004 2008 258,800 249,154 13,400 10,700 5.2 4.3 9,456 3.8 5,989 2.4 186,800 205,319 49,300 58,212 26.4 28.4 52,229 25.4 26,045 12.7 111,000 110,566 11,047 10,002 10.0 9.0 9,722 8.8 4,529 4.1 650,000 651,815 122,300 96,397 18.8 14.8 81,443 12.5 16,332 2.5 1,206,500 1,216,854 196,047 176,452 16.2 14.5 170,383 152,850 14.1 12.6 76,470 52,895 6.3 4.3

Status in employment of child labourers The large majority of child labourers in the age group of 5-17 years are unpaid family workers (68 per cent). 21 per cent are in paid employment and 5 per cent in selfemployment.

1

Introduction

1

This is the second issue of the ILO’s global child labour trend estimation, which is undertaken on a four-yearly basis. The present report provides new global and regional estimates on child labour for the year 2008 and compares them with the previous 2004 estimates1. It also explains in detail the underlying estimation methodologies and gives an overview of the datasets used. The report draws on an increasing number of data points from national-level child labour surveys (SIMPOC surveys)2 and other sources. UCW, an inter-agency programme on child labour statistics and research, provided access to non-ILO data and assisted in the analysis 3. The new child labour estimates are based on refined estimation techniques fully comparable with the ones employed in the 2002 and 2006 rounds. They also benefited from (i) the new international standards on child labour statistics adopted by the Eighteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) in 20084 and (ii) an integrated approach in estimation using standardized tabulation schemes for national data and composite estimation procedures for arriving at regional and global trends. For the first time, estimates on child labour and hazardous work by region and status in employment are provided. The available data also allowed us to produce some limited preliminary estimates of hazardous “household chores” undertaken in the child’s own household, thereby addressing an increasingly prominent issue in the worldwide debate on child labour measurement related to the use of the general production boundary of the System of National Accounts (SNA). However, the data at hand fell short of estimating the number of children in the worst forms of child labour other than hazardous work. The document is structured as follows. Section 2 highlights the main estimation findings for 2008 and compares these to the 2004 results. As far as possible, data are broken down by age group, sex, region, branch of economic activity, and status in employment. Section 3 spells out the concepts and definitions at the basis of the estimation and analysis. Section 4 describes the methodology underlying the new global and regional trends of child labour. Some preliminary estimates of hazardous unpaid household services (commonly called “household chores”) are provided in Annex 3.

1

Hagemann, F., Diallo, Y., Etienne, A., Mehran, F.,: Global child labour trends 2000 to 2004 (Geneva, ILO, 2006). Numbers on the extent, characteristics and determinants of child labour are provided by the Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC), which is the statistical arm of IPEC. SIMPOC assists countries in the collection, documentation, processing and analysis of child labour relevant data. UCW, or “Understanding Children’s Work”, is a joint programme by the ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank. The Resolution Concerning Statistics of Child Labour lays down statistical standards for the measurement of child labour.

2

3

4

3

Main findings

2

To maintain comparability with the earlier ILO global estimates, this section covers three main types of working children: children in employment, children in child labour and children in hazardous work.

2.1 Trends with regard to children in employment
Children in employment are those engaged in any activity falling within the production boundary of the SNA for at least one hour during the reference period. This refers to economic activities of children, covering all market production and certain types of non-market production (principally the production of goods and services for own use). It includes forms of work in both the formal and informal economy; inside and outside family settings; work for pay or profit (in cash or in kind, part-time or full-time), or as a domestic worker outside the child’s own household for an employer (with or without pay). The terms “working children”, “children in economic activity”, and “children in employment” are used interchangeably in this publication. All denote a broader concept than child labour. 2.1.1 Children in employment by age group In 2008, there were some 306 million children in economic activity among the 1’586 million children in the age group 5 to 17 years in the world (Table 3). This accounts for almost one-fifth of all children in this age group (19.3 per cent). In the age group 5 to 14 years, the total child population in economic activity was estimated at 176 million (14.5 per cent). Table 3 compares the 2008 global estimates with those obtained in the previous round in 2004. Globally, the number of children in employment continues to decline.

Table 3: Global trends (2004-2008) in the number of children in employment, 5-17 years old
Year Population (‘000) 2004 2008 Children in employment (‘000) 2004* 2008 Activity rate ( %) 2004* 2008 Percentage point difference of activity rate

World Boys Girls 5-14 15-17

1,566,300 804,000 762,300 1,206,500 359,800

1,586,288 819,891 766,397 1,216,854 369,433

322,729 171,150 151,579 196,047 126,682

305,669 175,777 129,892 176,452 129,217

20.6 21.3 19.9 16.2 35.2

19.3 21.4 16.9 14.5 35.0

-1.3 0.1 -3.0 -1.7 -0.2

*The data for Latin America and the Caribbean for the benchmark year 2004 have been retrospectively adjusted because new available data for this region reveal that the estimated decline in the number of children in employment made in 2006 proved to be an overestimate. This revision of the 2004 estimates of children in employment in Latin America and the Caribbean slightly affects the corresponding global estimate as well as the global estimates of related variables. All 2004 estimates have thus been retrospectively adjusted. Further methodological details are provided in Annex 2.

4

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008

But the trend is not consistent across all major age groups. While the number of children in employment declined in both absolute and relative terms among the group of children aged 5-14 years, more older children (15-17 years) were working in 2008 than four years earlier. Between 2004 and 2008, employment in the 5-to 14-year core age group declined by 1.7 percentage points, from 196 million (16.2 per cent) to 176 million (14.5 per cent), a decrease of 20 million. Over the same period, employment among children aged 15-17 years rose by 2 million, or from 127 million (35.2 per cent) to 129 million (35.0 per cent). 2.1.2 Children in employment by sex Overall, in 2008, 176 million boys were in economic activity compared to 130 million girls. The activity rate was 4.5 percentage points higher among boys (21.4 per cent versus 16.9 per cent for girls). The number of girls in employment steadily decreased in absolute terms by nearly 20 million during the period from 2004 to 2008, while in the case of boys it slightly increased by 5 million. In relative terms, the activity rate among girls dropped by 3 percentage points. Among boys, there was no change in the incidence rate (Table 3). 2.1.3 Children in employment by region To ensure comparability with the previous rounds of the global and regional estimation of child labour5, the number and structure of the regions were maintained, and all countries and territories were grouped into four regions: Asia and the Pacific; Latin America and the Caribbean; Sub-Saharan Africa; and a compound category of “Other Regions” which comprises the Middle East and North Africa, the developed countries and the former transition economies of Eastern Europe and Asia. The number of children in employment and activity rates are presented in Charts 1 and 2, respectively. Both concentrate on the 5-to 14-year age group. The data in Chart 1 show that the Asian-Pacific region harbours the largest number of children in employment, 96.4 million. It is followed by Sub-Saharan Africa, Other Regions and Latin America and the Caribbean with 58.2 million, 10.7 million and 10 million, respectively. This picture changes when examining the regional distribution in relative terms (see Chart 2). Here, Sub-Saharan Africa ranks highest. 28.4 per cent of all children below 15 years were working in the region compared to about 1 in 7 in the Asia-Pacific region (14.8 per cent) and almost 1 in 10 in Latin America and the Caribbean (9 per cent).

Chart 1. Children in employment (5-14 years), by region (million)

Sub-Saharan Africa (58.2) Latin America and the Caribbean (10.0) Other regions (10.7) Asia and the Pacific (96.4)

5

Hagemann, F., et al. Global child labour trends 2000 to 2004 (Geneva, ILO 2006).

2. Main findings

5

% 30 25 20
14.8 14.5 28.4

Chart 2. Children’s activity rate by region, 2008 (5-14 years old)

15 10 5 0
Asia and the Pacific Latin America Sub-Saharan and the Caribbean Africa Other regions Word
9.0 4.3

Table 4 and Charts 3 and 4 give the trend of children in employment by region. For comparison purposes, regional trends are limited to children in the age group 5 to 14 years since the previous regional estimates did not cover children aged 15 to 17 years old 6. As mentioned earlier, it should be also noted that the data on Latin America and the Caribbean for 2004 have been retrospectively adjusted because the new data on this region revealed that the estimated decline in the number of children in employment in 2004 was previously overestimated (see Annex 2 for details). The data presented in Table 4 and Charts 3 and 4 show that all regions experienced a decline in the number of children in employment, both in absolute and relative terms, from 2004 to 2008, except for Sub-Saharan Africa. The Asia and the Pacific region saw a remarkable decline in children involved in economic activities. The absolute number of children in employment declined by 26 million to a total of 96.4 million. In relative terms, the number of children in employment shrunk by 4 percentage points. Latin America and the Caribbean, already with the smallest population of children in employment, continued its decline albeit at a slower rate. The number of children in economic activity dropped by 1 million in the four years following 2004, corresponding to a decline of 1 percentage point. In contrast, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of children in employment increased sharply from 49.3 million in 2004 to 58.2 million in 2008 (with an increase in the activity rate from 26.4 to 28.4 per cent).

6

Regional estimates concerning children aged 5-17 years old in economic activity are provided in Annex 4.

Table 4: Global trends in children’s economic activity by region, 2004 and 2008 (5-14 years)
Year Child population (‘000) 2004 2008 Children in employment (‘000) 2004* 2008 Activity rate ( %) 2004* 2008 Percentage point difference of activity rate

World Asia and the Pacific Latin America and the Caribbean Sub-Saharan Africa Other regions

1,206,500 650,000 111,000 186,800 258,800

1,216,854 651,815 110,566 205,319 249,154

196,047 122,300 11,047 49,300 13,400

176,452 96,397 10,002 58,212 10,700

16.2 18.8 10.0 26.4 5.2

14.5 14.8 9.0 28.4 4.3

-1.7 -4.0 -1.0 2.0 -0.9

* As mentioned earlier, 2004 estimates have been retrospectively adjusted.

6
Chart 3. Global trends in children’s economic activity by region, 2004-2008 (5-14 years old) (million)

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008

% 140 120
96.4 122.3

2004

2008

100 80 60 40 20 0
11.0 10.0 13.4 10.7 49.3

58.2

Asia and the Pacific

Latin America and the Caribbean

Sub-Saharan Africa

Other regions

Chart 4. Global trends in children’s activity rate by region, 2004-2008 (5-14 years old)

% 30 25
18.8

2004

2008
28.4 26.4

20
14.8

15 10 5 0
Asia and the Pacific

10.0

9.0 5.2 4.3

Latin America and the Caribbean

Sub-Saharan Africa

Other regions

2.2 Trends in child labour
Children in child labour under the SNA production boundary is a subset of children in employment. It includes those in worst forms of child labour and children in employment below the minimum age, excluding children in permissible light work, if applicable. It is therefore a narrower concept than “children in employment”, excluding all those children who are working only a few hours a week in permitted light work and those above the minimum age whose work is not classified as a worst form of child labour, “hazardous work” in particular. 2.2.1 Child labour by age group Table 5 shows that in 2008 there were 215 million child labourers in the world, of whom more than two thirds (153 million) were in the age group 5 to 14 years old. About 4 in 10 child labourers were younger than 12 years (91 million).

2. Main findings

7

Table 5: Global estimates of child labour by major age group, 2004 and 2008
Major age group Child labour (‘000) 2004* Child labour (‘000) 2008

5-11 12-14 Total 5-14 Total 15-17 Total 5-17

110,655 59,728 170,383 51,911 222,294

91,024 61,826 152,850 62,419 215,269

* As mentioned earlier, 2004 estimates have been retrospectively adjusted.

From 2004 to 2008, the results indicate that globally the number of child labourers continued its declining trend, falling by 3 per cent over the four years. The overall number decreased by 7 million from 222 to 215 million. In relative terms, the worldwide incidence of child labour also dropped from a rate of 14.2 per cent to 13.6 per cent. This reflects the downward trends observed with regard to children in economic activity (Table 6). Chart 5 presents a graphical overview of child labour trends by age group. Note that the sub-group of younger children shows a more positive trend than the one of older children (15-17 years). Among 5-14 year olds, the number of child labourers declined by 17 million between 2004 and 2008, corresponding to a change of 10 per cent over four years (Table 6). In the case of older children, 15-17 years old, there was a reversal in the downward trend in child labour, as the number increased from 52 to 62 million (a change of 20 per cent).

Table 6: Estimates of number of children in child labour and hazardous work, 2004 and 2008
Age Child population 2004 2008 Child labour 2004* 2008 Hazardous work 2004* 2008

5-17

Number ('000) Incidence ( % of age group) % change (2000 to 2004) % change (2004 to 2008)

1,566,300 100.0 2.3 1,206,500 100.0 0.6 359,800 100.0 8.4 -

1,586,288 100.0 1.3 1,216,854 100.0 0.9 369,433 100.0 2.7

222,294 14.2 -9.5 170,383 14.1 -8.5 51,911 14.4 -12.3 -

215,269 13.6 -3.2 152,850 12.6 -10.3 62,419 16.9 20.2

128,381 8.2 -24.7 76,470 6.3 -31.3 51,911 14.4 -12.3 -

115,314 7.3 -10.2 52,895 4.3 -30.8 62,419 16.9 20.2

5-14

Number ('000) Incidence ( % of age group) % change (2000 to 2004) % change (2004 to 2008)

15-17

Number ('000) Incidence ( % of age group) % change (2000 to 2004) % change (2004 to 2008)

* As mentioned earlier, 2004 estimates have been retrospectively adjusted.

8
Chart 5: Global trends in child labour by age group and year (million)

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008

Year

5-14

15-17

2008

153

62

2004

170

52

0

50

100 Million

150

200

250

2.2.2 Child labour by sex Both in absolute and in relative terms, the data indicate that far more boys than girls were engaged in child labour in 2008 (Table 7). Overall the difference by sex is about 40 million (128 million boys compared to 88 million girls). As demonstrated already in the previous global estimates, gender differentials with regard to child labour increase with age (Table 8). Child labour distribution by sex among those aged 5-11 years tilts towards boys (54 per cent boys versus 46 per cent girls). At a later age, the gap widens among those aged 12-14 years – about 60 per cent of child labourers in this category are boys. The difference becomes most pronounced among youth aged 15-17 (Table 8). Here, as in earlier findings of global estimates on child labour, boys clearly dominate and girls constitute only one third of child labourers (34 per cent).

Table 7: Global trends of child labour by sex, 2004-2008
Sex Child population 2004 2008 Children in employment 2004* 2008 Child labour 2004* 2008 Hazardous work 2004* 2008

World

Number ('000) Incidence ( % of age group) % change (2004 to 2008)

1,566,300 1,586,288 100.0 804,000 100.0 100.0 1.3 819,891 100.0 2.0 762,300 100.0 766,397 100.0 0.5

322,729 20.6 171,150 21.3

305,669 19.3 -5.3 175,777 21.4 2.7

222,294 215,269 14.2 13.6 -3.2

128,381 115,314 8.2 74,414 9.3 7.3 -10.2 74,019 9.0 -0.5 53,966 7.1 41,296 5.4 -23.5

Boys

Number ('000) Incidence ( % of age group) % change (2004 to 2008)

119,575 127,761 14.9 15.6 6.8 102,720 13.5 87,508 11.4 -14.8

Girls

Number ('000) Incidence ( % of age group) % change (2004 to 2008)

151,579 19.9 -

129,892 16.9 -14.3

* As mentioned earlier, 2004 estimates have been retrospectively adjusted.

2. Main findings

9

Table 8: Child labour and its sex distribution in 2008
Sex and age group Number of child labourers (`000) Distribution by sex ( %)

5-11 Boys Girls 12-14 Boys Girls Total 5-14 Boys Girls Total 15-17 Boys Girls Total 5-17 Boys Girls

91,024 49,490 41,534 61,826 36,946 24,880 152,850 86,436 66,414 62,419 41,325 21,094 215,269 127,761 87,508

100.0 54.4 45.6 100.0 59.8 40.2 100.0 56.5 43.5 100.0 66.2 33.8 100.0 59.3 40.7

Note that over the four-year period under observation, data revealed a declining trend in child labour among girls. In fact, most of the observed decline in total child labour is in the number of girls. There were 15 per cent fewer girl child labourers in 2008. Boys, on the other hand, saw their numbers increase, not only in absolute terms but also in incidence rates. There were 7 per cent more boy child labourers in 2008 than four years before, i.e. 8 million more (Table 7). 2.2.3 Child labour by region For the first time, the available data permit an inter-regional comparison of child labour, as opposed to previous regional estimates which were possible only for children 5 to 14 years in employment. In 2008, the largest number of child labourers was in Asia and the Pacific (113.6 million), but in relative terms Sub-Saharan Africa had by far the highest incidence rate (25.3 per cent versus 13.3 per cent in Asia and the Pacific). One in ten children were child labourers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Table 9: Regional estimates of child labour in 2008, 5-17 years old
Region Total children (‘000) Child labour (‘000) Incidence rate ( %)

World Asia and the Pacific Latin America and the Caribbean Sub-Saharan Africa Other regions

1,586,288 853,895 141,043 257,108 334,242

215,269 113,607 14,125 65,064 22,473

13.6 13.3 10.0 25.3 6.7

10

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008

2.3 Trends in hazardous work by children
Hazardous work by children is defined as any activity or occupation that, by its nature or type, has or leads to adverse effects on the child’s safety, health and moral development. In general, hazardous work may include night work and long hours of work, exposure to physical, psychological or sexual abuse; work underground, under water, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces; work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; and work in an unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose children hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging their health. Hazardous work by children is often treated as a proxy category for the Worst Forms of Child Labour. This is for two reasons. First, reliable national data on the worst forms other than hazardous work, such as children in bonded and forced labour or in commercial sexual exploitation, are still difficult to come by. Second, children in hazardous work account for the overwhelming majority of those in the worst forms (more than 90 per cent). 2.3.1 Hazardous work by age group Data emerging over the last few years have shown that the majority of working children are in hazardous work. In other words, most working children are engaged in activities that endanger their safety, health, and moral development. The new estimates for 2008 corroborate these earlier findings. As Chart 6 shows, in 2008 115 million children were involved in hazardous work. This means that children in hazardous work constituted more than half of those in child labour (53.6 per cent) and about one-third of children in employment (37.7 per cent). In terms of age groups (see Table 10), the data indicate that the incidence of hazardous work increases with age; it is 3.0 per cent among children 5 to 11 years old (26 million), 7.4 per cent among teenagers 12 to 14 years old (27 million) and 16.9 per cent among adolescents 15 to 17 years old (62 million).
Table 10: Global estimates of child labour and hazardous work by age and sex, 2008
Sex and age Total children ('000) Child labour ('000) % Hazardous work ('000) %

World Boys Girls 5-11 years 12-14 years (5-14 years) 15-17 years

1,586,288 819,891 766,397 852,488 364,366 1,216,854 369,433

215,269 127,761 87,508 91,024 61,826 152,850 62,419

13.6 15.6 11.4 10.7 17.0 12.6 16.9

115,314 74,019 41,296 25,949 26,946 52,895 62,419

7.3 9.0 5.4 3.0 7.4 4.3 16.9

From 2004 to 2008, the global number of children in hazardous work declined by 13 million based on a significant decrease of 23 million among children in the 5-to 14-year age group and an increase of 10 million in the case of the older children, 15 to 17 years old (Chart 6). 2.3.2 Hazardous work by sex Chart 7 illustrates the distribution of hazardous work by sex and age group. It shows that boys outnumber girls in hazardous work across all age groups, especially at

2. Main findings

11
Chart 6: Global trends in hazardous work by age group and year (million)

Year

5-14

15-17

2008

53

62

2004

76

52

0

20

40

60 Million

80

100

120

140

Age group 5-17 5-14 15-17 12-14 5-11 0 20

Boys
64.2

Girls
35.8

Chart 7: Children in hazardous work by sex and age group

61.8

38.2

66.2

33.8

65.4

34.6

58.1

41.9

40

60 Sex distribution (%)

80

100

older ages. For instance, among children aged 12-14 and 15-17 years, boys constitute more than 60 per cent of children in hazardous work as indicated in the previous estimates. This confirms the dominance of boys in hazardous work. Between 2004 and 2008, the number of girls in hazardous work declined by 24 per cent (from 54 to 41 million). However, there was only a slight decline among boys, with a reversal in the case of adolescents 15-17 years old. Indeed, hazardous work increased by 10.5 million in the latter group compared to four years earlier (see Tables 6 and 7 above). 2.3.3 Hazardous work by region For the first time, the new global estimates provide an inter-regional comparison of children in hazardous work. In 2008, the estimated number of children in hazardous work ranged from 48.2 million in Asia and the Pacific to 9.4 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. In relative terms, Sub-Saharan Africa presents the most alarming picture. While 15.1 per cent of all children were in some form of hazardous work in the region (38.7 million), only 5.6 and 6.7 per cent were exposed to hazardous work in Asia/Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean, respectively.

12

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008

Table 11: Regional estimates of children in hazardous work in 2008 (5-17 age group)
Region Total children (‘000) Hazardous work (‘000) Incidence rate ( %)

World Asia and the Pacific Latin America and the Caribbean Sub-Saharan Africa Other regions

1,586,288 853,895 141,043 257,108 334,242

115,314 48,164 9,436 38,736 18,978

7.3 5.6 6.7 15.1 5.7

2.4 Comparative trends in different categories of work by children
As presented in previous sections, globally child labour continues to decline, albeit at varying degrees. To what extent these various changes over time relate to the different forms of work when taking into account age and sex differentials? Most of the observed decline in child labour is in the number of girls and in the age group 5-14. In fact, among this core group, all forms of children’s involvement in work – economic activity, child labour and hazardous work – declined during 2004 to 2008, both in absolute and relative terms. The number of children in employment declined by 10 per cent, from 196 million to 176 million. The same proportion of change can be noted with regard to child labour slated for abolition, from 170 million in 2004 to 153 million in 2008 (-10 percentage change). The biggest decline was observed among children in hazardous work, from 76 million to 53 million, representing a decline of 31 per cent. Consequently, the number of children aged 5-14 years in non-hazardous child labour increased (Chart 8). These detailed trends are similar to the ones in the previous estimates and confirm that child labour declines faster in its worst forms and among the more vulnerable (girls and younger children). Results also show that children’s involvement in work increases with age. For instance, among older children 15-17 years old the number of child labourers increased from 52 million in 2004 (14.4 per cent) to 62 million in 2008 (16.9 per cent). Contrary to boys, among which child labour increased, from 120 million in 2004 to 128 million in 2008 (7 percentage change), there was a significant decrease in the 35.8 number of girls involved in child labour, from 103 million to 88 million in the same period (-15 percentage change).
Chart 8: Global trends in child labour by form of work, age group and year (million)

Year

Other child labour 5-14

Hazardous 5-14

Hazardous 15-17

2008

100

53

62

2004

94

76

52

0

50

100 Million

150

200

250

2. Main findings

13

Table 12: Children in employment, child labour, and hazardous work (by sex and age), 2008
Sex and age group Children in employment CE ('000) Child labour CL ('000) Child labour as % of CE Hazardous work HW ('000) HW as % of CE HW as % CL

5-11 Boys Girls 12-14 Boys Girls Total 5-14 Boys Girls Total 15-17 Boys Girls Total Boys Girls

91,024 49,490 41,534 85,428 49,679 35,749 176,452 99,169 77,283 129,217 76,608 52,609 305,669 175,777 129,892

91,024 49,490 41,534 61,826 36,946 24,880 152,850 86,436 66,414 62,419 41,325 21,094 215,269 127,761 87,508

100.0 100.0 100.0 72.4 74.4 69.6 86.6 87.2 85.9 48.3 53.9 40.1 70.4 72.7 67.4

25,949 15,073 10,876 26,946 17,621 9,325 52,895 32,694 20,201 62,419 41,325 21,094 115,314 74,019 41,296

28.5 30.5 26.2 31.5 35.5 26.1 30.0 33.0 26.1 48.3 53.9 40.1 37.7 42.1 31.8

28.5 30.5 26.2 43.6 47.7 37.5 34.6 37.8 30.4 100.0 100.0 100.0 53.6 57.9 47.2

2.5 Child labour by economic sector
Data presented here are for child labourers aged 5 to 17 years. Following the three broad groupings of economic activity – agriculture, industry and services7 – , the new estimates indicate that agriculture was the largest sector with 60 per cent of all child labourers. It is followed by services and industry sectors with 26 per cent and 7 per cent of child labourers, respectively. While boys are more likely to undertake activities in agriculture (62.8 per cent for boys versus 37.2 per cent for girls) and industry (68.5 per cent for boys versus 31.5 per cent for girls), girls outnumber boys in services (47.4 per cent for boys versus 52.6 per cent for girls).

Services (25.6) Industry (7.0)

Not defined (7.5) Agriculture (60.0)

Chart 9: Child labour, distribution by branch of economic activity ( %), 5-17 years old

7

The agriculture sector comprises activities in agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing. The industry sector includes mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities (electricity, gas and water). The services sector consists of wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels; transport, storage, and communications; finance, insurance, real-estate, and business services; and community as well as social personal services.

14
Chart 10. Child labour, distribution by economic sector and sex ( %), 5-17 years old

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008

% 100 80 60 40
62.8 68.5 47.4 37.2 28.4 31.5 52.6

Girls Boys

20 0
Agriculture Industry Services

2.6 Child labour by status in employment
This is the first time we are in a position to present reliable estimates on the type of employment of children, in terms of paid employment, self-employment or as unpaid family workers8. Two thirds of child labourers in the age group 5 to 17 years old are unpaid family workers (64 per cent for boys versus 73 per cent for girls). Paid employment and selfemployment account respectively for 21 and 5 per cent of all child labourers in the same age group.

Chart 11. Child labour, distribution by status in employment ( %), 5-17 years old

Not defined (6.0) Unpaid family workers (67.5)

Paid employment (21.4) Self-employment (5.0)

8

Based on the Resolution concerning the International Classification of Status in Employment, adopted by the 15th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (1993). Paid employment consists of employees; selfemployment comprises employers, own-account workers and members of producers’ cooperatives; unpaid family workers include all the contributing family workers.

2. Main findings

15
Chart 12: Child labour, status in employment by sex ( %), 5-17 years old

% 100 80 60 40 20 0
Paid employment Self-employment Unpaid family workers Not defined
23.0 64.0 72.7

Girls Boys

19.1 5.9 3.7 7.1 4.5

17

Concepts and definitions

3

The International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) is responsible for setting international standards in the world of labour statistics. The 18th conference, meeting in Geneva in November / December 2008, was a crucial event in that it examined and established directions for the statistical measurement of child labour. The resulting Resolution concerning Statistics of Child Labour adopted at the Conference set forth the definitions that are at the basis of the estimates in this report and that will guide all subsequent statistical work on child labour. Note that the definitions underlying the 2008 estimates are in line with the exercises conducted earlier9.

3.1 International statistical standards on child labour10
The international standards define the target population for measuring child labour as “all persons in the age group from 5 to 17 years, where age is measured as the number of completed years at the child’s last birthday.” (paragraph 9) The procedure to measure child labour is schematically presented in the diagram below. It starts with the concept of children in productive activities. These are children, 5 to 17 years old, who have been engaged in any activity falling within the general production boundary as defined by the System of National Accounts (SNA).11 Children in productive activities are then divided into those in employment and those in other productive activities. Child labour under the SNA production boundary is a subset of children in employment. It includes those in worst forms of child labour and children in employment below the minimum age, excluding children in permissible light work if applicable. The international standards include provisions for a broader definition of child labour under the general production boundary of the System of National Accounts (SNA). Under this definition, child labour also includes hazardous unpaid household services, i.e., unpaid household services performed (a) for long hours, (b) in an unhealthy environment, involving unsafe equipment or heavy loads, (c) in dangerous locations, and so forth. The new international standards provide a sound framework for measuring child labour, within which details such as the choice between the SNA production boundary or the general production boundary, the age limit below which employment should be regarded as child labour, the number of hours of work that determine long hours for children can be specified in light of particular measurement objectives and national circumstances.

9

See Hagemann, F., et al., op. cit, 2006; and IPEC (2002): Every child counts: New global estimates on child labour (Geneva, ILO, 2002). The terms “international statistical standards” refer to the resolution concerning statistics of child labour. The same goes for paragraphs indicated in this publication. United Nations, System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA), http:// unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/.

10

11

18

Global child labour developments: Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008

Graphic 1: International standards on child labour statistics
Children (5-17 years old) in productive activities Children in employment Children in other productive activities

CHILD LABOUR Worst forms of child labour Hazardous work by children Other worst forms of child labour Employment below minimum age

of which included Permissible light work as child labour under (12-14 years old) the general production – boundary Work not designated as worst forms Hazardous unpaid (15-17 years old) household services

Exposure to physical, All forms of slavery psychological or sexual or similar practices, abuse trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom, Underground, forced or compulsory under water, labour, forced or dangerous heights, compulsory recruitment confined spaces in armed conflict Dangerous machinery, Child prostitution, equipment or tools, pornography heavy loads Illicit activities, Unhealthy production and environment, hazardous substances, trafficking of drugs, etc. temperatures, noise levels or vibrations damaging to health Long hours, night work, other particularly difficult conditions
* Resolution adopted by the 18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), Geneva, 2008.

3.2 ILO global estimation
For the purpose of global estimation, a specific sequential procedure for measuring child labour has been adopted within the framework of the international standards as schematically represented in the diagram below 12. To maintain comparability with the earlier ILO global estimates, it was decided to continue to measure child labour on the basis of the SNA production boundary, and not on the general production boundary. This decision was also motivated by the fact that only a few countries provided the necessary data on unpaid household services (often referred to as household chores) carried out by children at home. Some technical issues regarding thresholds and combined economic activities and unpaid household services need to be settled before full measurement of child labour on the basis of the general production boundary can be adequately carried out 13. Moreover, in order to facilitate comparison of child labour data across countries, it is recommended to measure child labour on the basis of the SNA production boundary even if the general production boundary is applied for national child labour measurement purposes (paragraph 16). The starting point of the measurement of child labour for the purpose of global estimation is therefore the population of children in employment. These are children (5 to 17 years old) who were engaged in any economic activity during the reference period of the survey, where economic activity includes essentially all production of goods whether intended for sale on the market or not, and all paid services14. Economic activity was measured in relation to a reference week during the school year, as opposed to a longer reference period such as a year. The reference week is a

12

Note that the cut-off criteria chosen and used for the purpose of these estimates by no means replace, revise or put into question the existing international labour standards, or national legislation in force in each country. Some preliminary estimates of hazardous “household chores” by children are reported in Annex 3 of the present report. For further explication of the concept “economic activity”, see Hussmann, R., Mehran, F., Verma, V., Surveys of economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment: An ILO manual on concepts and methods (Geneva, ILO, 1990).

13

14

3. Concepts and definitions

19

Graphic 2: Conceptual framework of the ILO global estimation of child labour

Children in employment (5-17 years old)
Para 12

In designated hazardous industries
Para. 27

In other industries

In designated hazardous occupations
Para. 25-26

In other occupations

Long hours of work (43+ hrs)
Para. 28-30

Not long hours of work (

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...Child Labor: Threatening the economy and well-being of children Child labor has existed throughout American history and throughout the world for many years. A quote from Lewis Hine in 1980 states: "There is work that profits children, and there is work that brings profits only to employers. The object of employing children is not to train them, but to get high profits from their work.” As factories started to assemble, most owners preferred children as their workers because the owners thought them as “more manageable, cheaper and less likely to strike.” The industries children usually worked for were mines, glass factories, textiles, agriculture, canneries, home industries, newsboys, messengers, bootblack and peddlers. During the Industrial Revolution, children at four years old were employed and dealing with dangerous and sometimes fatal working conditions. Now, because of new child labor laws in the United States, industries are going overseas to produce their product in countries that still use child labor. Developed countries consider these actions to be human rights violations and are illegal, while some undeveloped countries will allow or tolerate child labor. These children who are in these factories in different countries are costing the company less because of their wages, when they could have their factories in the States, producing jobs and cash flow in our economy. Child labor violates the common good by threatening the long-term growth of the economy and the well-being...

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Free Essay

Child Labor

...Child Labor Today, Child Labor laws exist to ensure children are able to get an education and be employed under safe conditions. History tells a different story to the meaning of child labor. History explains how the industrial revolution changed the lives of young children during this time. Children as young as four years old were put to work, some worked under very hazardous conditions and were treated cruely. According to the Unicef website,” many children are put to work in ways that often interfere with their education, drains their childhood of joy, and crushes their right to normal physical and mental development”. This paper examines the history of child labor, the hazardous jobs these children endured, and the medical conditions resulting from such conditions. In addition, this paper examines meetings held within communities, and among organizational leaders on both the state at national levels addressing child labor issues and how to combat them.   In the United States company owners use to hire children to work in factories because they were not hard to work with.  The children would listen and do what they had to.  By 1900 the factories moved south.  Lots of children were hired in factories that dealt with textiles, agriculture and many others.  During the twentieth century the number of child labor increased.  The National Child Labor Organization worked to end child labor.  They also worked to get children free education.  In 1938 the government took control...

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Free Essay

Child Labor

...There was a internal audit that was conducted on Apple, they found that 106 children were working at more than 10 factories creating Apple products in the past year alone according to The Guardian. (n.d.). Hiring children means that the child labor laws are being violated. Also this is morally wrong and not for the greater good of the people. Apple conducted an investigation on it's suppliers. The result of that investigation was unexpected. They found out that children were being recruited using fake identity papers. Child labor is obvious because of the harsh working conditions provided by Apple. Most of the children worked for Chinese companies that made supplies for apple. The children were under the age of 16; they employed about 74 children out of the 106 total according to The Guardian. (n.d.). Most of the cases are from 2013, and total there have been 70 companies in Apple's supply chain that have employed children according to The Guardian. (n.d.). There has been a host of other events happening when the whistle was blown so to speak. There have been cases of workers committing suicide, and also deadly explosions at some of the supply chains. This is relevant because workers slowly began to figure out that children were being used for labor, and these were some of the consequences. The children had to lift heavy equipment, and some of them were subject to pregnancy tests as well. If the children got into trouble while working they would be punished by having their pay...

Words: 4443 - Pages: 18