Child labour
In its worst forms, child labour involves children living in slavery-like conditions, separated from their families or exposed to serious danger and illness. An estimated 8.4 million children are trapped in the worst forms of child labour.
We're on the ground, liaising with employers to ensure that these children are protected as much as possible.
We support projects that tackle child labour and its root causes in 15 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. We work at various levels, through education programmes and poverty reduction schemes.
We have a long experience in providing advice to the private sector on best practice in dealing with child labour in their supply chain. We work with companies directly and through the Ethical Trading Initiative.
Our advice to companies
Companies should adopt a responsible policy on child labour. This means:
- policy must adhere to international standards
- contain measures to get children out of work and into school/legal work
- compensate for income lost
- prevent child labour
Companies should not abruptly close down a chain of supply as this can push the youngest and most vulnerable workers into desperate measures and far more hazardous work. They should engage with their suppliers in order to phase child labour out responsibly. They should have in place policies that specify roles and responsibilities through the supply chain if child labour is found at any of the stages. Such policy needs to be communicated clearly throughout the supply chain.
Companies can play a key role by supporting education and community action programmes.
They should immediately address harm when children are concerned but also make sure that livelihoods are not damaged and families not sent into destitution. In doing this they should contribute and support the transition of children from work into school.
They need to think about the ramifications of their actions and decisions. In order to do so, they need to work in partnership with other agencies to ensure that their interventions can contribute to address child labour in the areas where they operate.
Our advice to consumers
Our advice for consumers is to buy responsibly and to keep asking questions of the retailers about their products.
More information
- Read the report The Small Hands of Slavery (PDF 193KB).
- TV presenter Davina McCall and our Vice-President Gordon Campbell Gray saw the grim realities of child labour on a visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh. Watch a short clip of their visit.
- See our complete collection of published papers on this issue.
