Child labour begins to creep back up after two decades: UN agencies

Child labour has risen to 160 million worldwide, an increase of 8.4 million in the last four years as countries are trying to turn the corner and break the cycle of poverty and child labour, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF.

They also warn that nine million more children are at risk as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and this number could rise to 46 million if they do not have access to critical social protection coverage.

The progress to end child labour has come to a halt for the first time in 20 years, reversing the previous downward trend that saw child labour drop by 94 million between 2000 and 2016, says the Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward, unveiled ahead of World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June.

Children aged 5 to 11 years in child labour, now account for just over half of the total global figure. Also, children aged 5 to 17 years in hazardous work – defined as work that is likely to harm their health, safety or morals – has risen by 6.5 million to 79 million since 2016, according to the report.

The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed millions into poverty and child labour is directly linked to it.

“Child labour and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labour of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labour to the end of time,” said Grace Abbott, US social worker who specifically worked for improving the rights of immigrants and advancing child welfare, especially the regulation of child labour.

Child labour compromises children’s education, restricting their rights and limiting their future opportunities, and leads to vicious inter-generational cycles of poverty and child labour.

Economic shocks and school closures caused by Covid-19 mean that children already in child labour may be working longer hours or under worsening conditions, while many more may be forced into the worst forms of child labour due to job and income losses among vulnerable families, says the report.

“We are losing ground in the fight against child labour, and the last year has not made that fight any easier,” said UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore. “Now, well into the second year of global lockdowns, school closures, economic disruptions, and shrinking national budgets, families are forced to make heartbreaking choices.”

Henrietta added, “We urge the governments and international development banks to prioritise investments in programmes that can get children out of the workforce and back into school, and in social protection programmes that can help families avoid making this choice in the first place.”

“The new estimates are a wake-up call. We cannot stand by while a new generation of children is put at risk,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder. “Inclusive social protection allows families to keep their children in school even in the face of economic hardship. Increased investment in rural development and decent work in agriculture is essential.”