Measuring Child Labor: Implications for Policy and Program Design

Abstract:     
Generally, children of different ages perform work of different types, for different reasons and under different conditions. Work, such as prostitution, debt bondage, and drug trafficking, can be extremely hazardous to the health and well-being of children. Other types of children's work may come at the expense of school attendance and performance. And still other forms of work, under the right conditions and circumstances, can be a positive factor in providing youth with the skills, financial stability, and resources to become self-supportive and positive contributors to their country's economy. The International Labour Organization's Conventions No. 138 (minimum age) and 182 (worst forms) are the most authoritative and comprehensive international labor standards related to children's work and child labor. The current paper discusses common definitions of child labor and the difficulties in translating these ILO labor standards into statistical definitions of children's work, child labor, and hazardous child labor. We also describe the availability and the strengths and weakness of existing data (ILO SIMPOC, World Bank's LSMS, UNICEF's MICS surveys, and other sources) for measuring children's economic activity, child labor and the worst forms of child labor. Finally the paper discusses key indicators that describe the present child labor situation at the national level and indicators of progress towards the elimination of child labor.

Keywords: Child labor, worst forms, hazardous work, economic activity, labor standards, ILO, children's work

Accepted Paper Series