UN: Worldwide child labor jumps for first time in 2 decades

By the numbers: 63 million girls and 97 million boys were in child labour at the start of 2020, accounting for roughly 1 in 10 children worldwide. Boys were more likely to work than girls across all age groups, per the report.

• "The number of children aged 5 to 17 years in hazardous work – defined as work that is likely to harm their health, safety or morals – has risen by 6.5 million to 79 million since 2016."
• In sub-Saharan Africa, insufficient social protections, population increases and poverty have resulted in an additional 16.6 million children in child labour over the last four years. 
• Economic slowdowns and school closures spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns led many already-working children to work longer hours or endure deteriorating conditions, the report noted.
• "Child labour is frequently associated with children being out of school. A large share of younger children in child labour are excluded from school despite falling within the age range for compulsory education. More than a quarter of children aged 5 to 11 and over a third of children aged 12 to 14 who are in child labour are out of school," per the report.

Details: Key findings from the 2020 global estimates indicate...

• Child labor is more common in rural (13.9%) than urban areas (4.7%).
• Most (70%) of child labor takes place within the agriculture sector.
• 72% of all child labor happens in families, largely on farms or in small businesses.

What they're saying: “Many children feel they have no choice but to work to help their families survive, but a rise in child labor is not an inevitable consequence of the pandemic,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at HRW.

What to watch: Another 9 million children could be forced to work by the end of 2022 due to the pandemic, the report warns.