Child labor: Worldwide decline slows down dramatically!
Child labor: Worldwide decline slows down dramatically!
A new report by Unicef and the International Labor Organization (ILO) shows alarming numbers on child labor worldwide. According to the document published on June 14, 2025, 138 million children and adolescents are currently affected by child labor. About 54 million children do dangerous work that seriously endanger their health and development. Despite a decline of more than 20 million since 2020, the ambitious goal of abolishing child labor by 2025 will probably be missed. The report entitled "Child Labor: Global Estimates 2024, Trends and the Road Forward" illuminates the tragic effects of child labor on education, protection and future opportunities.
The Subsahara Africa region, in which 87 million children are forced to work, is particularly affected, which is almost two thirds of all child workers worldwide. While the proportion of child labor in this region could be reduced from 24 to 22 percent, the absolute number remained almost constant. The Asian and Pacific space, on the other hand, recorded a significant decline in working children from 49 to 28 million. Latin America follows this trend with a decline from eight to around seven million children.structures of child labor
Child labor is mainly concentrated in three sectors: 61 percent of children work in agriculture, while about 27 percent are active in services, including housework and street sales. The industrial sector, which includes areas such as mining and production, employs around 13 percent of the children affected. Overall, boys are affected by child labor, while girls often have to do unpaid homework over 21 hours a week.
The numbers show that the number of working children has been reduced from 246 million to 138 million since 2000. However, in order to achieve the goal of completely abolishing child labor by 2030, progress would have to progress faster. UNICEF and ILO warn of further plans that provide for cuts in education, child protection and social security systems, since they could endanger the progress that has already been made. This Situation could force particularly endangered families to send their children to work.
call for action
In order to effectively address the problem of child labor, the two organizations are calling for the governments worldwide to urgently take measures. This includes strengthening child protection and social systems as well as investments in free and high-quality education. The creation of crumbs for adults and adolescents as well as the consistent application of laws and control of global supply chains are also essential steps on the way to combat child labor.
The challenges in combating child labor are also difficult by a lack of reliable data, which hinders targeted measures and strategies. The comprehensive report "Child Labor: Global Estimates 2024, Trends and the Road Forward" offers a detailed analysis of the current situation and appears in an extensive English version with 62 pages and a German short version.
For further information on the effects of child labor and the necessary measures, the reports from UNICEF and ILO can be viewed on the following pages: vienna.at Unicef , and UNICEF Report .
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Ort | Vienna, Österreich |
| Quellen | |
Kommentare (0)