How your company can help end child labor

September 2, 2024

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For many, Labor Day weekend marks the end of the summer season and a final long weekend to enjoy the warm weather before kids go back to school and otherwise prepare for a busy fall.

Few of us think about the origins of Labor Day, a federal holiday created by the U.S. Congress in 1894 to recognize and celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers and to remind us of the need to protect the rights, health and safety of workers.

130 years later, the need to protect workers' rights remains, but at the same time it is necessary to refocus attention on a problem that must be eradicated once and for all: the scourge of child labour.

It's a crisis I've been working to solve for nearly 30 years. I started when I was 12 years old, founding a small children's charity called Free The Children, which later grew surprisingly large, focusing on freeing enslaved children forced to work in factories in Pakistan and India.

Despite some progress over the years, the figures regarding the number of children denied an education and forced to risk their physical and mental development remain alarming.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), over 160 million children (aged 5 to 17) are involved in child labour. The number is highest in the least developed countries, where 23% of children are forced into labour.

70% of child labour (112 million) is in the agricultural sector, followed by 20% in the service sector (31.4 million) and 10% in industry (16.5 million).

Not surprisingly, there is a direct link between poverty and the prevalence of child labor. When Free the Children began its work in Southeast Asia, we helped remove children from the unsafe factories where they worked. But all too often, we found those same children back in the same factory a few weeks later because their families needed the income to survive.

At that time, we realised that we needed a holistic approach that focused on the root causes of child labour – poverty. But money was not the solution. Poor health care for the population, lack of access to clean water and food, poor education and lack of employment opportunities for adults – all contributed to child labour being seen as the only solution.

To break this vicious cycle, all root causes must be addressed simultaneously. Economic opportunities for parents mean that families are not dependent on their children to work. Direct access to healthy food and clean water means that children do not have to walk dozens of kilometers to get drinking water and food. Adequate health care ensures a healthy community where adults can work and children can go to school and thrive.

Related: How Marketing Masters (Like You!) Can Help Fight Human Trafficking

Addressing these issues in each individual village can help curb child labor at a micro level within communities. However, at a global, macroeconomic level, corporations play the biggest role in eliminating child labor from global supply chains.

The first step is to acknowledge the problem and make a public commitment to eliminating it. Global brands like IKEA and Costo have taken the lead in making such commitments.

IKEA has stated that as a global company it has a responsibility to show leadership and ensure that child labour is free from its own supply chain.

Costco has increased audits in the countries in its supply chain to ensure compliance with its Supplier Code of Conduct, which explicitly prohibits child labor and allows only workers over the age of 18 to work in potentially hazardous conditions or with heavy machinery.

But it's not just multi-billion dollar corporations that will be part of the solution. Companies of all sizes and industries can do their part by taking concrete steps to end child labor in their own factories and supply chains.

Related: 3 McDonald's franchisees fined for child labor law violations

Here are some steps you may consider for your own business or organization:

Join the ILO Child Labour Platform: Join other member companies such as Coca-Cola, Chanel, Samsung and IKEA in their commitment to ending child labour. Members get access to tools, events, workshops and partnerships with other companies to help them identify, prevent and eliminate child labour in their supply chains. Even if you don't officially join, the ILO website offers numerous resources to educate and combat child labour.
Conduct due diligence: These checks can help you understand where to look in your supply chain and what to look for. If you make clothes, you can make sure the cotton you use is not picked by children. If you are in agriculture, you can conduct checks to verify age or make sure children are not exposed to harmful pesticides.
Hire young people for appropriate tasks: There is nothing wrong with a 16-year-old getting their first job. In North America, this might be selling ice cream in a retail store or checking tickets at a movie theater. It is important to know the difference between this type of work for young people and child labor. The ILO defines child labor as work that deprives children of their childhood, potential and dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development.

Try to create opportunities within your company, such as student internships or summer jobs, that allow young people to save for college or buy a car in a safe environment with age-appropriate work.

These may be small steps, but every contribution helps in the global fight to permanently eliminate child labor. While you enjoy Labor Day, consider making a pledge this fall that your company will be part of the solution.