Executive summary
The case for accelerated global action targeting child labour and the lack of decent
work opportunities for youth is very clear. Some 168 million children remain trapped
in child labour while at the same time there are 75 million young persons aged 15 to
24 years of age who are unemployed and many more who must settle for jobs that fail
to offer a fair income, security in the workplace, social protection or other basic decent
work attributes.
This World Report focuses on the twin challenges of child labour elimination and
ensuring decent work for youth. This focus is driven by the obstacles that child labour
and the youth decent work deficit pose to implementing the Post-2015 Development
Agenda and by the close connection between the two challenges. The Report makes the
case that achieving decent work for all, one of the likely core Sustainable Development
Goals for the post-2015 period, will not be possible without eliminating child labour
and erasing the decent work deficit faced by youth.
The Report begins with a background discussion of standards, concepts and
policy. It then proceeds to a discussion of the two-way linkages between child labour
and youth employment: first, how child labour and early schooling leaving affect the
transition paths of youth and their eventual employment outcomes; and second, how
youth employment difficulties and low returns to education can impact on household
decisions concerning child labour and schooling earlier in the lifecycle. The Report
then addresses the issue of child labour among 15–17 years age group, the overlapping
group that is relevant to broader efforts relating to both child labour and youth
employment. The Report concludes with a set of recommendations for aligning and
improving the coherence of policies and programmes addressing child labour and the
youth decent work deficit.
Full report:
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