Child Labor Remains a Global Scourge
Child labor remains a global scourge. Although it has made significant progress in reduction since 2000, the consequences of the pandemic and international conflicts of Covid 19 conflicts have pushed millions of families into poverty and threatens to stop progress.
Progress in Reducing Child Labor
The latest report by the Unicef and the International Working Organization (ILO) on the topic determines a decline in comparison to the last report four years ago. With 138 million involved in child labor in 2025, down from 160 million. "The results of our report offer hope and show that progress is possible," said the general director of ILO. "But we must not be amazed at the fact that we have a long way to go before we reach our goal of eliminating child labor."
What is Child Labor?
Child labor exploiters or oppressive workers from a minor or "all work in the sense is that it affects the training or health or well-being of a child". Harmful child labor is usually associated with the poorest countries in the world. According to Claudia Cappa, Senior Adviser for Statistics and Monitoring at Unicef, Africa is home to two thirds of all children south of the Sahara.
Child Labor in High-Income Countries
However, she warned that it is also a topic for parts of the world with higher incomes such as the European Union and the United States. "While child labor in countries with low incomes occurs more often, it still exists in high incomes," she told. "It is often hidden in agriculture, in informal work or in marginalized communities. Poverty, inequality and exclusion make certain groups susceptible to children, no matter where they live."
Increase in Child Labor
Nina Mast argues that children’s work injuries not only unpaid or dangerous work, but also about conditions such as working hours or "excessive or exploitial work that affects education". The main focus has been on the United States, in which the violations of the law on the state – the main legislation of the main worker in the country – have increased since pandemic. According to the US Ministry of Labor, rose by 31% between 2019 and 2024.
Child Labor in the United States
Mast is of the opinion that an increase in violations is related to increased enforcement measures by the US Ministry of Labor. "I think it is difficult to unravel the real increase in violations with the increased enforcement that simply defines more violations. But the more we look, the more we find," she said. "I think we should see this as a crisis that has not been solved in relation to the recent increase in violations," she added, pointing out that the Trump government had announced plans for the weakening of various occupational safety laws.
Child Labor in Agriculture
Another major problem, she added, was the agricultural industry, in which children at the age of ten are sometimes in harmful work. "A problem that we did not address in the United States is the fact that the standards in agriculture are much lower," said Mast. "Agriculture is the most deadliest industry for children in relation to the death rate. This is a problem that is not taken into account."
Child Labor in Europe
According to the International Labour Organization, around 71% of all child workers are in agriculture. Marco, director at Global March, a network of unions and organizations of civil society, which are devoted to the removal of child labor, slavery and trade, says that it has recently violated Albania, Romania and in the fruit and vegetable sector in Italy. "It doesn’t hit you like a child who works in the mines in the Congo," he said. "But it is a very dangerous work. The children work with pesticides and work under enormous heat stress. It is really unhealthy for the child."
EU Efforts to Combat Child Labor
The EU directive to protect young people at work requires Member States to ban children under the age of 15 or in full-time education with some exceptions. It also contains various obligations for employers regarding the health and security of young employees. Stephen Blight, Senior Adviser of Unicef for Child Protection, is of the opinion that the introduction of the EU Directive for Sustainability Diligence, which took effect in July 2024, was an important step to combat the problem.
Challenges in Combating Child Labor
However, he expresses concerns about the so-called omnibus proposal of the EU Commission, which aims to simplify and reduce certain regulations and reporting requirements for companies throughout the block. Blight argues that the proposal could weaken the progress in relation to EU supply chains, which points out that one of the plans is to limit the extent that the EU company must carry out care for suppliers. Marco Dubblelt agrees that one of the greatest challenges for the EU relates to her supply chains from outside the block in terms of child labor. He believes that the problem is greater than many estimates, but again emphasizes that a lack of reliable data is an important problem and that more research and reporting are required.
