Child Labor
En Español

Children perform different types of work under a variety of conditions and for a variety of reasons. Therefore, in assessing child labor, the types and conditions of work, the age of the children who perform the work, and the developmental level of the country must all be taken into account. Because not all child work is considered to be detrimental to the growth and well-being of children, it is particularly important to distinguish between the different terms that are used in the literature. This section provides an overview of the ILO standards as codified in the Minimum Age Convention (No. 138) and the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (No. 182) and the proxy measure most often used to measure child labor, 'economically active children.'

Minimum Age and Worst Forms of Child Labor

ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182 distinguish between unacceptable 'child labor' that is to be abolished and 'child work' that may contribute to a child's healthy development. The Minimum Age Convention (No. 138) stipulates, 'national legislation should fix a minimum age or ages at which children can enter into different types of work' (International Labor Organization, 2002b). Although the convention states that the general minimum age should not be less than the age for completing compulsory schooling and in any event should not be less than 15 years of age -- the ultimate aspiration being 16 years -- it offers some flexibility for developing nations that are unable to meet this target by allowing them to set a minimum age of 14 until they are able to comply fully with the convention. Light work may be allowed for children 12 and older, and nonhazardous work is allowed for children 15 and older. Hazardous work and the worst forms of child labor are never allowed for children.

The ILO defines light work as work that is not likely to be harmful to children's health or development and not likely to be detrimental to their attendance at school or vocational training. In determining whether work is likely to be harmful, the ILO takes into consideration the duration of work, the conditions under which the work is done, and the effects on school attendance, among other factors. However, the ILO does not provide any operational guidance for assessing these factors and determining whether any given form of work would qualify as light work. Hazardous work includes 'work which by its very nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals of young persons' (International Labour Organization, 1973). It is left up to individual governments to determine which types of work fall under the rubric of light or hazardous.

The Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (No. 182) was adopted unanimously in 1999 and has already been ratified by 149 countries. It provides further limits to the kinds of work children may do. It identifies the following kinds of labor that are to be categorically abolished:

• all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage, and serfdom and forced or compulsory labor; including forced recruitment into the armed forces;
• the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
• the use, procuring, or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties; and
• work, which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

The first three fall into the category of the 'unconditional worst forms' of child labor that are absolutely prohibited. According to the ILO, about 8.4 million children aged 5-17 are engaged in this category of labor. The fourth type of work falls under the category of hazardous, as defined by national legislation. Hazardous work may be carried out in legitimate sectors of the economy but is not acceptable work for children (International Labour Organization, 2002b).

With respect to certain elements in the definition of child labor, the ILO has deliberately built in a large degree of national discretion, both in defining different categories of work (e.g., light or hazardous work) and in setting minimum ages for employment of children (which may vary with the level of development and with the ages of compulsory schooling). Although it is understandable and appropriate to allow national discretion in setting standards, variations across nations in standards make cross-country comparisons quite difficult. And the variability of national laws can also yield a seemingly odd result in terms of measuring progress. Countries that set higher or more ambitious standards for themselves may appear to be making less progress than countries that set lower standards. For example, if in one country some activities are declared as hazardous to children, but not in another country, even if the same proportion of children are found to be working in these activities, the former country would seem to be making less progress in meeting its own standards than the latter.

Collecting reliable data for measuring progress towards meeting child labor standards presents another problem. The problem arises in part from the fact that conventional data collection instruments, such as labor force surveys, are poorly designed to reflect in their questionnaires or protocols the nuances in the ILO definition of child labor, such as the distinction between acceptable and unacceptable forms of work for children. It also arises in part from the fact that the sample frame for household surveys, by definition, does not include children who are not part of any households (e.g., street children). It is also extraordinarily difficult to elicit truthful answers from respondents about children engaged in illegal activities (e.g., drug trade, pornography, and prostitution).

Economic Activity as a Proxy for Child Labor

Although the ILO distinguishes between child labor (defined as harmful to children's emotional and physical development) and child work, most readily available data on child labor actually measure another, simpler, but less satisfactory concept: whether or not a person (child or adult) is engaged in 'economic activity.' The economically active population is commonly defined as persons who 'furnish the supply of labor for the production of economic goods and services as defined by the United Nations Systems of National Accounts and Balances during a specified time-reference period' (International Labour Organization, 2000). The definition includes paid and unpaid employment, unemployment, and activity for household consumption (for a full discussion of 'economic activity,' see Ritualo, 2002).

Many countries have undertaken labor force surveys that define participation in the labor force as being engaged in 'economic activity.' Such surveys do not adequately capture the participation in economic, but illegal, activity and work that is unpaid and undertaken in household enterprises and whose product is mainly for household consumption. Also, some activities, while certainly involving work, are not deemed 'economic' and are therefore excluded from the survey. While many of these problems arise in canvassing information about adults as well as children, they are particularly severe in canvassing information about the work of children.

An economically active child may or may not be engaged in child labor by ILO definitions. For example, a 14-year-old child working in a family shop after school is considered economically active, but is probably not engaged in child labor, because this work may be categorized as light work appropriate for children over 12, since it is not physically or emotionally harmful and does not interfere with the child's education, or a child kept home from school to do unpaid heavy household work for long hours may be engaged in child labor, but might not be considered economically active.

Another serious problem involves children who are neither classified as economically active nor as students enrolled in or attending schools. In India, for example, this category of 'nowhere children' accounted for 45.2 percent of all children in the age group of 5-14 in India in 1991 while the economically active children accounted for only 5.4 percent of that age group (Government of India, Planning Commission, 2002). In parts of Africa where 'child fostering' is prevalent, it is often difficult to determine whether this is in fact disguised child labor. As such, economic activity as a proxy for child labor could understate the number of working children.