The International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) of the U.S. Department of Labor published its annual 2023 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor report and 2024 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (September 2024). The summary report, full report and searchable list of goods can all be accessed here. The report focuses on the efforts of many U.S. trade beneficiary countries and territories to eliminate the worst forms of child labor through legislation, enforcement mechanisms, policies and social programs.
Human Level’s Take: Approximately 160 million children are engaged in child labor, with 79 million in hazardous conditions. The latest ILAB report highlights 204 goods from 82 countries, including 72 newly identified items. While child labor is most prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, it exists globally, with agriculture having the highest incidence, followed by manufacturing and mining. Common goods produced with child labor include gold, bricks, sugarcane, coffee, tobacco, cattle, and cotton. For forced labor, prevalent goods include garments, bricks, cotton, fish, gold, sugarcane, and cattle. The report introduces 37 new goods previously unrecognized for labor exploitation and adds four new countries: Belarus, the Netherlands, Mauritius, and South Korea. Notably, this year’s list features 12 minerals critical to the energy transition. This includes raw cobalt, copper, gold, lithium, manganese, tantalum, tin, tungsten and zinc produced by children in artisanal and small-scale mines; aluminum, nickel and silicon processed or smelted by forced laborers; and indium extracted from ore that was mined by children. Some of these minerals involve both child and forced labor in their extraction or processing. ILAB pinpoints what needs to happen: a strong, independent, and democratic labor movement; voluntary labor market regulation through collective bargaining; and union membership and collective bargaining. And what shouldn’t happen: over-reliance on audits that - in ILAB’s words “have been shown time and again to be inadequate as the sole mechanism for addressing human rights risks.” Enter mechanisms where workers themselves are empowered to monitor and call out violations in the workplace as the way forward. The just transition depends on it.
Key points from the report:
- Profile of global child labour today: The ILAB report cites data from the ILO and UNICEF, which shows that there are 160 million children in child labour, with 79 million of those children in hazardous child labor. Sixty-one percent are boys and 39% are girls. In terms of sector, 70% of child labourers are found in agriculture, 19.7% in services, and 10.3% in industry. Child labour touches every part of the globe: 54.4% of child labourers are found in Sub-Saharan Africa (86.6 million children); 16.5% (26.3 million) in Central and Southern Asia; 15.3% (24.3 million) in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia; 6.3% (10.1 million) in Northern Africa and Western Asia; 5.1% (8.2 million) in Latin America and the Caribbean; and 2.4% (3.8 million) in Europe and North America. Certain groups of children are at even higher risk of child labour, including LGBTQIA+ children; Roma children (in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Caucasus); indigenous and Afro-descendant children (especially in the Americas); children with disabilities; refugee and migrant children; and children who are part of marginalised ethnic groups.
- New additions to the ILAB list: In total, this edition of the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor includes 204 goods from 82 countries and areas, with 72 of these being new items across sectors and countries. Agriculture has the highest number of goods produced with child and/or forced labor, followed by manufacturing, and then mining and quarrying. ILAB also breaks down goods with the greatest number of listings, by country. For child labour, the goods that feature most commonly on the list include: Gold (from 26 countries), bricks (from 18 countries), sugarcane (from 18 countries), coffee (from 17 countries), tobacco (from 17 countries), cattle (from 15 countries) and cotton (from 15 countries). For forced labour, the most common goods include: Garments (from 10 countries), bricks (from 9 countries), cotton (from 7 countries), fish (from 6 countries), gold (from 6 countries), sugarcane (from 6 countries), and cattle (from 5 countries). In addition, the list also includes 37 new goods previously unrecognized for labor exploitation and four new countries: Belarus, the Netherlands, Mauritius, and South Korea. Strikingly, this year the list has 12 minerals and materials critical for the energy transition. This includes raw cobalt, copper, gold, lithium, manganese, tantalum, tin, tungsten and zinc produced by children in artisanal and small-scale mines; aluminum, nickel and silicon processed or smelted by forced laborers; and indium extracted from ore that was mined by children. Some of these minerals involve both child and forced labor in their extraction or processing.
- Role of decent work and freedom of association to combat child labour: Among other challenges increasing the risks of child labour, the report focuses in on the importance of decent work and the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining as key tools in combatting child labour. As ‘enabling rights,’ these fundamental rights at work have ripple effects beyond a single workplace. Freedom of association allows workers and employers to form and join unions which can empower them to improve their own wages and working conditions, but can also play a key role in identifying, addressing and remediating other workplace violations like child labour. ILAB points out that a strong, independent, and democratic labor movement, along with voluntary labor market regulation through collective bargaining, can tackle the root causes of child labour. The report also cites recent research showing that union membership and collective bargaining improve workers' socioeconomic conditions, which is crucial for reducing child labor and improving children’s futures, especially in areas where poor job opportunities for adults drive child labor. Crucially, ILAB also underscores that freedom of association and collective bargaining can help bring forward abuses that may not show up in audits: “Companies are projected to spend over $27 billion a year by 2026 on social audits to report on labor abuses in their supply chains, even though audits have been shown time and again to be inadequate as the sole mechanism for addressing human rights risks. Promoting binding and enforceable agreements like the Bangladesh Accord—so workers themselves are empowered to monitor and call out violations in the workplace—is the way forward.”
