[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:53:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","global",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"work",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","bb2fd97b41ff1558e90482a5edf5439b","Entry","2021-11-11T07:07:53.602Z","2026-01-21T20:31:00.771Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",97,25,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":57,"wrongPercentage":94,"name":95,"questionText":96,"statistics":97,"veryWrongStatistics":99,"correctSentence":101,"youWereWrong":102,"youWereRight":103,"dataSourceShortText":104,"dataSourceLinkLongText":105,"extendedAnswerText":106,"headingVeryWrong":107,"youWereVeryWrong":108,"headingWrong":109},"53",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"f2d470fa1ef3f62cb1286d7c7e4a91b3","2021-11-11T06:53:45.850Z","2026-01-21T20:03:46.595Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},22,17,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"53-a1",false,true,"Industry",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"30d097ad3c5ec0eee28d377b6bb158a0","2021-11-11T06:53:47.270Z","2026-01-21T20:03:46.639Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":76},"53-a2","Agriculture",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"6981884cbe8efb57903cbd64eff6eda9","2021-11-11T06:53:48.888Z","2026-01-21T20:03:46.685Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"53-a3","Services",69,"Globally, around 160 million children are used for","Globally, around 160 million children are used for child labor. In what sector do the majority of them work?",[98],"uk 0.69",[100],"uk 0.61","60% of all child workers are used in agriculture, 27% in services and 13% in industry and mining.","You imagine that most children who are forced to work are in the service industry, but 60% of them work in agriculture.","They wrongly picture most victims of child labor as working in factories or services, not in the fields like they actually are.\n","Source: International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF","The ILO define child labor as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development and interferes with their schooling.\n\nAccording to the ILO and UNICEF, worldwide, around 140 million children aged 5-17 are used as child labor. Of those children, 54 million, work in hazardous child labor [1]. An estimated 60% of the 140 million work in agriculture, which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming. 27% work in Services, and 13% in the Industrial sector, including mining. \n\nIt is of course difficult to accurately estimate global levels of child labor and there are competing definitions[2]. However, the three independent experts we have spoke to trust the ILO’s data and have no doubt that the agriculture sector is responsible for the largest share of child labor. \n\n[1]  [ILO. “Global Estimates of Child Labour. Results and Trends 2024.” from 2025.](https:\u002F\u002Fdata.unicef.org\u002Fresources\u002Fchild-labour-global-estimates-2024\u002F?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=child+labour+global+estimates+2024&utm_campaign=Child%20Labour%20Global%20Estimates&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Mailjet)  \n[2]  [Our World in Data - Child Labor definitions and measurement](https:\u002F\u002Fourworldindata.org\u002Fchild-labor#definitions-and-measurement)  ","We often see images of child workers in factories or restaurants, but 60% of children who are forced into labor instead of going to school are stuck working in agriculture. The widespread romantic idea of small scale farming might make it hard for many to realize that a labor intensive farm could be like a prison for the children of poor families. \n\nMostly they work with the rest of their family on the fields, herding cattle, or working in the forest or fishing. This kind of child labor is not just the most common, it is also the most hidden. \n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nIn the industry and service sectors it is probably easier to spot and expose child labor. In agriculture, the child labor takes place in rural areas with fewer journalists, and the children are more often working as part of a family unit. When many children are lined up in a factory it’s easier to see how many there are, and maybe that’s one reason why the 60% of child labor that happens out on farms in the countryside doesn’t get much media attention.\n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about where most child labor takes place?\nAs long as parents need their children to work in the fields, they will try to have many children and they will keep them home from school. These are two good reasons to help end extreme poverty, but it is also the main component of child labor. When child labor is believed to be a problem of industry and services, activists may focus their attention and efforts to fight it in the wrong places. We end up thinking of industrialization as being bad for children when, in fact, the salary from a parent's job in a factory is often the reason why children can stop working in the fields.\n\n### Can I trust this data?\nYes. It is clearly agriculture that uses most children to work in deprived conditions. We trust this to be true (the latest data is from 2024), but it is difficult to be completely accurate when making global estimates about child labor.\n\n### Where can I see country data?\nSee the [local areas](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gapminder.org\u002Fdollar-street\u002F?max=66&topic=street-view) where the poorest have to work in Dollar Street. \n","Child farmers","When you think of child labor, you picture children in factories or mines. But most of them work in agriculture."," Child farmers"]