How Many People Are in Child Labor?
How many people are in child labor? According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), in 2020, there were approximately 160 million children in child labor, with 79 million of those involved in hazardous work.1 While the ILO works with UNICEF to compile its numbers, The World Counts compiles their statistics from multiple sources.3 What largely determines the difference in these numbers is how countries report and how they define child labor. For the purposes of this article, we will use ILO statistics.
Here are some ILO statistics regarding child labor:
- Boys outnumber girls in every area of child labor.
- Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of child laborers at 86.6 million.
- Central and South Asia have 26.3 million child laborers.
- Eastern and South Eastern Asia have 24.3 million child laborers.
- Northern Africa and Western Asia have 10.1 million child laborers.
- Latin America and the Caribbean have 8.2 million child laborers.
- Europe and Northern America have 3.8 million child laborers.4
The COVID-19 pandemic is reversing any progress made in the last decade in ending child labor. In fact, the number of children in labor could rise by 9 million worldwide by the end of 2022.5
Keeping children out of child labor, especially hazardous labor, is in large part connected to income options for their families. Without viable options to sufficiently meet needs, families might have to make the heartbreaking choice of removing their children from school and putting them to work. Survival at its most basic level is all they can manage.
GFA World has solutions for families on the brink of putting their children to work, or worse, selling them into slavery. Through GFA World’s Child Sponsorship Program, for example, parents can know their children are living out the basic human right of childhood while they work. For just $35 a month, children in this program will receive essentials such as food, basic hygiene, clean water and education assistance through the loving care of GFA workers.
Parents can be assured their child is safe and building toward a better future, one most of these parents cannot provide on their own. The program also releases precious resources in a family’s meager budget to take care of other necessities. The program, and its staff, becomes a trusted source of help and hope.
Give today, and you could help save a child from a childhood of difficult forced labor, exhaustion, injury or sex trafficking. Be light and hope to the world’s most vulnerable population. Help end child labor through the love of Jesus Christ.
Learn more about causes of child labor
1 “Child Labour: Global Estimates 2020, Trends and the Road Forward.” International Labour Office and United Nations Children’s Fund. 2021. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_797515.pdf.
2 “Child Labour: Global Estimates 2020, Trends and the Road Forward.” International Labour Office and United Nations Children’s Fund. 2021. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_797515.pdf.
3 “About the Data.” The World Counts. Accessed February 18, 2022, https://www.theworldcounts.com/about/the-data.
4 “Child Labour: Global Estimates 2020, Trends and the Road Forward.” International Labour Office and United Nations Children’s Fund. 2021. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_797515.pdf.
5 “Child Labour: Global Estimates 2020, Trends and the Road Forward.” International Labour Office and United Nations Children’s Fund. 2021. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_797515.pdf.