World Day Against Child Labour on June 12

• The International Labour Organisation (ILO) introduced the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002. 

• The day is observed annually on June 12. 

• Despite progress, 138 million children remain in child labour worldwide, including nearly 54 million in hazardous work.

• The 2026 World Day focuses on reinforcing and accelerating actions aimed at preventing and eliminating child labour, with a key message: “Red Card to Child Labour: Fair play for children, decent work for adults”. 

What is child labour?

• Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for elimination. 

• Children’s or adolescents’ participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, is generally regarded as being something positive. This includes activities such as helping their parents around the home, assisting in a family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays. 

• These kinds of activities contribute to children’s development and to the welfare of their families. They provide them with skills and experience, and help to prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life.

• Child labour is work carried out to the detriment and endangerment of a child, in violation of international law and national legislation. It either deprives children of schooling or requires them to assume the dual burden of schooling and work.

• Child labour to be eliminated is a subset of children in employment. 

It includes:

i) All “unconditional” worst forms of child labour, such as slavery or practices similar to slavery, the use of a child for prostitution or for illicit activities.

ii) Work done by children under the minimum legal age for that type of work, as defined by national legislation in accordance with international standards.

• The worst forms of child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age. 

• Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labour” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries. The answer varies from country to country, as well as among sectors within countries.

Prevalence of child labour

• Since 2000, child labour has almost halved, from 246 million to 138 million, yet current rates remain too slow, and the world has fallen short of reaching the 2025 global elimination target. 

• To end it within the next five years, current rates of progress would need to be 11 times faster.

• Sub-Saharan Africa continues to carry the heaviest burden, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all children in child labour — around 87 million. 

• While prevalence fell from 24 to 22 per cent, the total number has remained stagnant against the backdrop of population growth, ongoing and emerging conflicts, extreme poverty, and stretched social protection systems.

• Asia and the Pacific achieved the most significant reduction in prevalence since 2020, with the child labour rate dropping from 6 per cent to 3 per cent (from 49 million to 28 million children). 

• Although the prevalence of children in child labour in Latin America and the Caribbean stayed the same over the past four years, the total number of children affected dropped from 8 million to about 7 million.

• According to the data, agriculture remains the largest sector for child labour, accounting for 61 per cent of all cases, followed by services (27 per cent), like domestic work and selling goods in markets, and industry (13 per cent), including mining and manufacturing.

Child labour in India

• The problem of child labour continues to pose a challenge before the nation. The government has been taking various pro-active measures to tackle this problem. 

• However, considering the magnitude and extent of the problem and that it is essentially a socio-economic problem inextricably linked to poverty and illiteracy, it requires concerted efforts from all sections of the society to make a dent in the problem.

• According to the Census 2001 figures there are 1.26 crore working children in the age group of 5-14 as compared to the total child population of 25.2 crore. 

• As per survey conducted by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) in 2004-05, the number of working children is estimated at 90.75 lakh. As per Census 2011, the number of working children in the age group of 5-14 years has further reduced to 43.53 lakh.

• The government has enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 which came into force on September 1, 2016.

• The amended Act is now called the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) [CALPR] Act, 1986. The Act provides for complete prohibition of work or employment of children below 14 years in any occupation and process and adolescents in the age group of 14 to 18 years in hazardous occupations and processes. The amendment also provides for stricter punishment of employers for violation of the Act and made the offence cognizable.

• After strengthening the legislative framework through amendment in Child Labour Act, the government has framed the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2017 which inter alia specifies the duties and responsibilities of state governments and district authorities to ensure effective enforcement of the provisions of the Act.

International legal framework

• Freedom from child labour is a fundamental human right, enshrined in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998), the ILO Conventions and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

(1989). 

• ILO Convention No. 138 on the minimum age, adopted in 1973, has been ratified by 177 countries, including all EU Member States. 

• This key document lays down standards for the minimum age for employment.

• ILO Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour, adopted in 1999, has been ratified by 187 countries, including all EU Member States. It calls on members to take measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. 

• These include all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery; commercial sexual exploitation or illicit activities; and work likely to harm children. 

• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been ratified by 196 countries, including all EU Member States.

• The CRC confers upon children the right to protection from economic exploitation, and urges parties to set a minimum age for employment, regulate working hours and conditions, and provide for penalties. 

• Despite international commitments made by nearly all United Nations member states, 41 countries still lack important legal protections against children doing work that could be harmful or interfere with their education.

• The 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, held in Marrakech in February 2026, reaffirmed the urgent need to accelerate action and translate commitments into concrete results. 

• The Conference adopted the Marrakech Global Framework for Action against Child Labour, a renewed roadmap aimed at eliminating child labour by 2030 through a human rights-based approach centred on social dialogue and multi-sectoral cooperation. 

• The Marrakech commitments prioritise aligning national legal frameworks with international labour standards, ensuring universal access to quality education, and expanding social protection systems. 

• They also highlight the unique challenges within the African region, the agricultural sector, one of the largest for child labour, and the emerging threat of online exploitation.