Author: Michael Rivas In commemoration of World Day Against Child Labor on June 12, 2025, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) released their joint report on the status of global child labor. This report, titled Child Labour: Global estimates 2024, trends and the road forward, is part of both organizations’ broader research and data collection initiative. Issued once every four years, these estimates play a key role in directing child labor responses around the world. The recent data from the 2024 report estimates that there are roughly 22 million fewer children engaging in child labor than there were in 2020. This means, in total, there are an estimated 138 million children engaged in child labor worldwide, with 54 million of them in “hazardous work” (defined as jeopardizing their health, safety, or development) in 2024.  The report notes this recent progress as “welcome news” amidst the fear of a continual increase in global child labor brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Historically, higher levels of socio-economic disparities correlate with an increase in child labor. However, the feared loss of progress did not materialize. While world governments did not meet their goal to end child labor globally by 2025, they have been able to return to a “path of progress.” While all regions of […]