Child labor, a growing practice from the past that could be tackled with a simple measure | Más Colombia
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Child labor, a growing practice from the past that could be tackled with a simple measure

Not so long ago, child labor was a common practice. Although its serious consequences are now known, it has been increasing in a context of profound social inequalities and unscrupulous business models.
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In spite of the rapid changes that the world is experiencing today, some practices of the past still remain, in many cases motivated by the desire for greater profitability, regardless of the high social cost. Child labor is one of these.

On June 12, as in previous years, the world celebrated the International Day Against Child Labor, whose initial purpose is to abolish child labor in all continents of the world.


According to the United Nations (UN), “World Day Against Child Labour is intended to serve as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against child labor. Emphasizing the link between social justice and child labor, the slogan for the World Day in 2023 is ‘Social Justice for All. End Child Labor!’” explains the entity.

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The reality, however, shows that this problem, far from decreasing, has been increasing. Since 2000 and until 2016, the world reduced the number of children doing any child labor activity by 94 million. But since that year, and until 2020, the trend reversed. That year, Unicef figures indicated that there were 151.6 million minors working in the world, while in 2016 there were 151.6 million.

This increase is explained by the enormous social inequalities that shape the global economy and within countries, the harsh contrasts in which business models and companies often look the other way when it comes to pursuing higher profit margins, taking advantage of the situation of poverty, often extreme, faced by millions.

Statistics show that child labor is found in many, if not all, economic sectors. However, it is especially prevalent in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and pornography.


According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor, globally, there are 75 products in the agriculture sector that use child labor, and 30 in which there is forced labor.

In the manufacturing industry, 37 products are made with child labor and 21 with forced labor or slavery; in mining, 31 products are made with child labor and 12 with forced labor; and in pornography, one product is made with child labor and one with forced labor.

Gold, sugar cane, coffee, tobacco, and cotton, among the main products made with child labor

U.S. Department of Labor data also reveal the number of countries with child labor in the productive sectors noted above, and reveal that the world gathers more children around jobs in agricultural production.

Thus, in sugar cane the practice is found in 18 countries; in coffee and tobacco there are 17 countries; in the case of cotton the total is 15; in rice, there are 12; in fish 11; and in cocoa, 7 countries have child labor.

In the case of mining, 24 countries use child labor for gold production and 18 for brick production. In the manufacturing industry, 9 countries use child labor in the production of clothing. In pornography, an alarming total of 7 countries exploit children in the industry.

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Child labor figures are underestimated

Unicef data on the number of children, aged 5-17, engaged in child labor in 2020 show that Europe and North America is where a smaller percentage of this population works, while Sub-Saharan Africa is where a higher percentage does. These are the figures:


  • Europe and North America: there were 3.8 million (2.3% of the total of children in the region).
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: 8.2 million (6.6% of all children in the region).
  • North Africa and Western Asia: 10.1 million (7.8% of all children in the region).
  • East and Southeast Asia: 24.3 million (6.2% of all children in the region).
  • Central and South Asia: 26.3 million (5.5% of all children in the region).
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: 86.6 million (23.9% of all children in the region, or more than 1 in 5).

In total, around 160 million children are engaged in child labor worldwide, according to data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

However, as alarming as the official data may seem, the world is still not counting how many children are actually out of the education system because of child labor, explains Fernando Morales-de la Cruz, an activist against child labor, to the Spanish news daily 20 minutos.

Morales-de la Cruz estimates that in the European Union, there may be close to one million children in child labor. In Spain alone, there are approximately 200,000 children working, and in Italy 300,000, according to data from the Italian Minister of Labor, Elvira Calderone.

In India, the figure would be in the range of 70 million children, and in Africa, between 100 and 120 million children are engaged in child labor.

“It is a very serious problem that affects all countries […]. The problem cannot be solved without first studying it and knowing its full dimension,” says Morales-de la Cruz.

A study by the Universities of Zurich and Pennsylvania says the global figure could rise to 375 million, more than double Unicef’s figures.

One solution would be a fair payment to agricultural producers

Such frightening figures could be reduced with profound changes both in the business models of the sectors that use child labor the most, and in the business practices of many companies.


For example, the US multinational company PSSI: Food Safety and Food Plant Sanitation Experts, specialized in food safety and hygiene services, was sanctioned in February of this year for illegally employing more than 100 children, between 13 and 17 years of age, in dangerous labor, with night shifts in eight US states, according to the US Department of Labor. The penalty was USD $1.5 million.

According to the UN, “the experience of the last three decades has shown that child labor can be eliminated if its main causes are addressed”. As Fernando Morales-de la Cruz explains, child labor is supported by global consumption. Africa, the continent with the highest number of exploited children, is the European Union’s main trading partner.

“Developed countries buy products made with child labor outside their borders, which reach consumers through supply chains”, explains the activist, who argues that “to eliminate child labor in a country’s supply chain, it is necessary to change business models”. At the end of the day, the cost of employing a child is much lower than that of an adult, which helps companies increase their profitability.

In view of this situation, the activist defends his main argument to reduce the number of children who are exploited for labor: the payment of a fair price to small producers, since 70% of child labor in the world is concentrated in agriculture, he points out.

“Of the price we pay for a cup of coffee, only two cents goes to the producer. If they only received ten cents, we would put an end to hunger and misery. They would be able to maintain their production in a sustainable way and their children would be able to go to school”, says Morales-de la Cruz.

Furthermore, he states that measures to address child labor in the world include establishing and implementing “a sound legal framework based on International Labor Standards and social dialogue, the provision of universal access to good quality education and social protection, as well as direct measures to alleviate poverty, inequality, and economic insecurity, and to promote decent work for adult workers”.

Up to now, and twenty-three years into the 21st century, the world is still indebted to more than 300 million children who produce the goods consumed by the global population, a reality that exceeds governments, who have not been able to take effective measures to guarantee education for the entire population from their first years of life and profound changes in the labor practices of the sectors that currently employ the most unprotected children in the world.


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