COVID-19 and Child Labour Report by the United Nations

June 13, 2020

The International Labour Organization and the UNICEF have released a report on Child Labour. The report has been released under the title

Title: COVID-19 and Child Labour: A Time of Crisis, A Time to Act

Key Findings

The report says that millions of children are to be pushed to child labour due to COVID-19 crisis. The report also says that the children already in laborious activities might end up working longer hours.

Poverty

According to the report, COVID-19 will increase poverty that will eventually drive the increase in child labour. The report predicts that 1% increase in poverty will lead to 0.7% increase in child labour.

This is because, as poverty increases in a country, schools close and the social services decrease. This forces more children turn into work forces. Currently, temporary school closure is affecting more than 1 billion students spread in 130 countries.

This will also push children into hazardous and exploitative jobs. The Gender Inequalities may grow with girls becoming vulnerable to exploitation especially in domestic works and agriculture.