Childhood is perceived to be a time for learning and ‘growing up’. In rich countries, this implies that the life of children and youth is built around school and leisure time. Both are seen to be essential to ensuring skills development and learning.

Work is introduced, usually part-time, as children become older. This introduction is often controlled by laws, such as compulsory full-time education until the age of 16 and minimum age legislation.

In poorer countries, where not all children have access to schooling, work may be introduced into children’s lives at a much earlier age. It may be the principal arena for learning and skills development. Work that takes place in a safe environment can serve as an introduction to the adult world. It can even provide skills leading to better job opportunities.

However, work of a hazardous and exploitative nature, often called ‘labour’, can be disruptive to children’s education and wider learning. The International Labour Organization estimates that 246 million children are engaged in labour. This means that many children and societies are missing out on immense resources for development.

What is child labour?
‘Child labour’ is the generic term used to describe a phenomenon which occurs throughout the world, in both rich and poor countries, in both rural and urban areas, and in a variety of workplaces. The term has different meanings in different contexts and to different people, but the International Labour Organization refers to work that is:

• Under the minimum age specified in national legislation for that kind of work. It includes any economic activity by a child under the age of 11 and any economic activity that is not ‘light work’ for children between the ages of 12 and 14.
• Hazardous or harms the physical, mental or moral well-being of any child under the age of 18.
• An unconditional worst form of child labour: internationally defined as slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labour; forced recruitment for use in armed conflict; prostitution and pornography; and illicit activities.

How big is the problem?
It is estimated that the working child population aged between 5 and 17 years old is 352 million children. Of these, 246 million children are engaged in child labour. 73 per cent are believed to be engaged in the worst forms of child labour: hazardous work and the unconditional worst forms. This amounts to one child in every eight in the world.

Of the 171 million children engaged in hazardous work, nearly two-thirds are under 15. Over eight million children worldwide are trapped in the unconditional worst forms of child labour. These forms of child labour include:

• trafficking (1.2 million)
• forced and bonded labour (5.7 million)
• armed conflict (0.3 million)
• prostitution and pornography (1.8 million)
• illicit activities (0.6 million)

In Sub-Saharan Africa, almost one child in three below the age of 15 is economically active. However, the Asian-Pacific region harbours the largest number of child workers in the 5-14 age category: 127.3 million in total. Rich countries have the lowest numbers of child workers.

What are the risks to learning?
Learning can be affected by child labour in different ways. Children who work may have limited access to schooling and thus to skills such as literacy or numeracy. On the other hand, certain labour activities can enhance educational learning. For example, street traders have better maths skills than children their age in formal schooling.

Child labour can also hinder learning through exposure to environmental hazards and consequent ill health, injury, or disability. For example, children working in mines can develop chest infections or get caught in explosions. Children who weave carpets may develop problems with eye strain or from breathing chemical fibres.

Child labour can affect children’s confidence and self-esteem. They may feel stigmatised compared to children who are able to go to school full-time. Child domestic workers talked to me about how embarrassed they are to go to school, because they are much older than others in their class, as they have missed so much school. Others said that their clothes are too poor and this makes them ashamed.

Some children who labour, however, say that they also gain confidence and self-esteem. This is particularly true for those who are able to take part in organised apprenticeship schemes.

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