Glossary term
Child Labour
Subject: Sustainability and ESG, Human Rights, Labour and Supply Chain
Child labour is work by children that harms their health, safety or development, or takes them out of school, and that international standards and most national laws prohibit.
Explanation
It is narrower than all work by children. Light tasks suited to a child’s age, such as helping at a family shop outside school hours, are not usually counted. The ILO’s conventions set minimum ages, normally 15 (14 in some developing economies), with 18 for hazardous work, 13 or older for light work in some cases, and an immediate ban on the worst forms, such as trafficking, debt bondage, armed conflict and illicit activity. It is mostly found in agriculture, mining, textiles and informal work, often deep in supply chains and in subcontracted or home-based production. Companies look for it through supplier audits, age checks, worker interviews, mapping of raw material origins and remediation plans that avoid pushing children into worse work. Laws on supply chain diligence increasingly require this. A buyer that finds it is expected to act and repair the harm, not simply cancel the order.
Example
A garment brand’s audit of a subcontracted workshop finds three workers who appear under 15. Instead of ending the contract at once, the brand works with the supplier and a local charity to move the children into school, covers some lost household income for a period, and requires age verification at hiring. A follow-up audit confirms that the controls work.
Not to be confused with
- Forced Labour
- Forced labour is work under threat or coercion, for any age. Child labour is defined by the age and harm of the work.