This is especially the case in non-literate societies. In pre-industrial societies, there was little need for children to attend school. Pre-industrial societies were characterised by low productivity and short life expectancy preventing children from participating in productive work would be more harmful to their welfare and that of their group in the long run. The work of children was important in pre-industrial societies, as children needed to provide their labour for their survival and that of their group. In many societies, children as young as 13 are seen as adults and engage in the same activities as adults. Children often begin to actively participate in activities such as child rearing, hunting and farming as soon as they are competent. In pre-industrial societies, there is rarely a concept of childhood in the modern sense. History Child labour in preindustrial societiesĬhild labour forms an intrinsic part of pre-industrial economies. Nevertheless, the total number of child labourers remains high, with UNICEF and ILO acknowledging an estimated 168 million children aged 5–17 worldwide were involved in child labour in 2013. Globally the incidence of child labour decreased from 25% to 10% between 19, according to the World Bank. UNICEF notes that 'boys and girls are equally likely to be involved in child labour', but in different roles, girls being substantially more likely to perform unpaid household labour. Poverty and lack of schools are considered the primary cause of child labour. The vast majority of child labour is found in rural settings and informal urban economies children are predominantly employed by their parents, rather than factories. Worldwide agriculture is the largest employer of child labour. In 2017, four African nations ( Mali, Benin, Chad and Guinea-Bissau) witnessed over 50 per cent of children aged 5–14 working. This represents a decline in child labour over the preceding half decade. Īs of 2023, in the world's poorest countries, around one in five children are engaged in child labour, the highest number of whom live in sub-saharan Africa, where more than one in four children are so engaged. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labour laws, the incidence rates of child labour fell. These children mainly worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, mining, and services such as news boys – some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many children aged 5–14 from poorer families worked in Western nations and their colonies alike. Ĭhild labour has existed to varying extents throughout history.

Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation worldwide, although these laws do not consider all work by children as child labour exceptions include work by child artists, family duties, supervised training, and some forms of work undertaken by Amish children, as well as by Indigenous children in the Americas.

Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives them of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful.

Match the farm animals to their babies