Child labour statistics and research
Child labour remains a persistent problem in the world today. It is a complex phenomenon as not all work done by children can be regarded as child labour. A distinction must be made between child labour, on the one hand, and children’s activities considered part of a natural socialisation process, on the other hand. Children in child labour are those entering the labour market, or those taking on too much work and too many duties at too early an age.
Numbers on the extent, characteristics and determinants of child labour are provided by the Research and Evaluation Unit of the ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch (FUNDAMENTALS). FUNDAMENTALS assists countries in the collection, documentation, processing and analysis of child labour statistics and provides manuals, tools and training materials accordingly.
Main figures on child labour
Latest global estimates on child labour
Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward
This report takes stock of where we stand in the global effort to end child labour and describes the scale and key characteristics of child labour today, and changes over time. What the report tells us is alarming. Global progress against child labour has stalled for the first time since we began producing global estimates two decades ago. These results constitute an important reality check in meeting the international commitment to end child labour by 2025. If we do not muster the will and resources to act now on an unprecedented scale, the timeline for ending child labour will stretch many years into the future.
ICLS and child labour
The International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) is the authoritative body to set global standards in labour statistics. Its 18th session in 2008, adopted the Resolution concerning statistics on child labour setting standards for child labour statistics. In 2018, the 20th ICLS adopted amendments to the 2008 Resolution concerning statistics on child labour to harmonize it with the international statistical standards on work and employment adopted by the 19th ICLS (2013). The ICLS resolution aims to set standards for the collection, compilation and analysis of national child labour statistics, to guide countries in updating their existing statistical system in this field or to establish such a system. The standards should also help to facilitate the international comparability of child labour statistics by minimizing methodological differences across countries.