Child labour

According to the ILO, there are 215 million children working throughout the world, many full-time. Of these, 115 million are exposed to hazardous forms of child labour.

Both India and China have recently featured in damaging revelations for an international fashion chain, where suppliers used by the company were found to be employing children for less than the minimum wage, however, it is the rural sector where 70% of child labour is found.

India is home to 14 to 16.4 million child workers. However, the US State Department puts the figure closer to 55 million. UNICEF estimates that private companies employ 200,000 children in Andhra Pradesh alone. Indian NGO, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, also reported in 2009 that children as young as 6-8 years old were found to be working in mines in Jharkhand and Bihar, which were extracting mica for export to the global cosmetics industry.

China now features in the supply chains of most multinational companies and it is thought there are between 10 and 20 million underage workers, working with suppliers in the textile, electronics and manufacturing sectors

41% of the children in Africa are economically active with 30% of children between 10 and 14 working in agriculture.