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Specific conditions distinguish normal, age-appropriate tasks from child labour.

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Did you know?

Of the 215 million child labourers worldwide in 2008, about 60 percent, or 129 million, were engaged in the agriculture sector.
Child labour in agriculture includes farming, fishing, aquaculture, forestry and livestock.
Together, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa account for 72 percent of the 436 million poor livestock keepers.
ILO Convention No.182 defines the worst forms of child labour as:(a) slavery and forced labour, including child trafficking and forced recruitment for armed conflict;(b) child prostitution and pornography;(c) production and trafficking of drugs; and (d) work likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

Work that interferes with compulsory schooling may be considered child labour.

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Charmaine Wilkerson
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Chores versus child labour

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and ILO Conventions No. 182 (ILO, 1999) on the worst forms of child labour (including hazardous work), and No. 138 (ILO, 1973) on the minimum age for admission to employment and work, establish guidelines for defining child labour. Age-appropriate tasks for boys and girls can be a normal part of growing up if they do not expose children to conditions that are likely to cause them harm, do not have negative health or development consequences, and do not interfere with a child's compulsory schooling and leisure time.

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