There are many different causes for child labour, varying from country to country, from region to ‎region, and many times, even from person to person. Hardly ever is it possible to pinpoint one ‎single cause for child labour. More often, it is a matter of different root causes and contextual ‎factors interacting with each other at different times. It is for this reason that eradicating child ‎labour will require different methods in different places and situations. ‎
At the same time, child labour is also a problem that shows many similarities, worldwide. Root ‎causes, such as social norms and traditions, social exclusion and discrimination, poverty, poor ‎functioning education and child protection systems, and weak laws and/or law enforcement by ‎government are recognizable in all countries where child labour is occurring. And, in almost all ‎these places and situations, it is clear that providing access to quality education and training for ‎all children and youngsters is one of the most effective ways of eradicating child labour. ‎
Working in six different focus countries, the WNCB programme used similar approaches to ‎tackle child labour in different contexts. In all of these approaches, there was a special emphasis ‎on the gender perspective. ‎

‎Gender and social inequalities in a child labour programming

To understand child labour, how it occurs, what it looks like and what perpetuates it, we first need ‎to understand the impact of gender inequality on communities. A girl or boy’s gender largely ‎determines the work they do, how they develop and what job opportunities they have.‎

There are various economic, sociological and cultural explanations for why girls and boys ‎engage in different types of work. There are differences in how girls and boys are involved in ‎child labour. Girls are also more vulnerable than boys in communities. Additionally, women have ‎fewer opportunities than men to gain some economic power in communities. Thus, gender ‎inequality in communities is reflected in and perpetuates child labour.‎

Children – mostly girls – are widely involved in domestic work

Girls in child labour are much more likely than boys to work in services, including domestic work. ‎This is a generally underreported but widespread problem. Domestic work, including in third ‎party households, is a form of child labour that is usually hidden from the public view. It falls ‎outside the scope of labour inspectorates, making girls particularly vulnerable to abuse. ‎Domestic workers are also excluded from legal protection, making them even more vulnerable ‎to exploitation.

Globally, a total of 160 million children are in child labour. Among them are 63 million girls and 97 ‎million boys. This means that, in absolute terms, boys outnumber girls in child labour by 34 ‎million. However, when we expand the definition of child labour to include domestic work for 21 ‎hours or more per week, the gender gap between boys and girls aged 5-14 is almost halved.

The report, Harnessing the Power of Data for Girls: Taking stock and looking ahead to 2030, ‎provides the first global estimates of the time girls spend on household tasks such as cooking, ‎cleaning, caring for family members and collecting water and firewood. It also notes that girls’ ‎work is less visible than boys’ and is often undervalued.‎

7.1 million children worldwide are engaged in domestic work that constitutes child labour. 62 ‎percent of them (accounting for 4.4 million children) are girls. The majority of these girls, around ‎‎57 percent, are between 5 and 11 years old. We found that most child labour takes place in the ‎informal sector (including agriculture, domestic work and gold panning), where both girls and ‎boys are a profitable source of labour.‎

Gender equality and social inclusion in WNCB

One of the key cross-cutting themes of the WNCB programme was to address the different risks of child labour and protective factors for boys and girls. WNCB recognises that gender quality means that all people have equal opportunities and must be able to enjoy these opportunities in order to realize their full rights and potential. Our global Gender Equality Working Group has provided technical guidance on the development and implementation of a gender-sensitive approach in our programme areas. 

The overall vision of our gender equality strategy was ‘A gender equal and gender just world where all people, especially women and girls affected by child labour, are empowered to exercise their right to make free and informed choices about their education, future livelihoods and well-being‘. 

Through our activities, we aimed to reduce child labour by supporting gender equality and social inclusion in schools, workplaces (for those of legal working age), households and communities. Achieving gender equality and social inclusion was central to our programme’s objectives and contribution to the international community’s commitment to eliminating of all forms of child labour by 2025, as set out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8.7.

We initiated a context-specific gender analysis in 2022 in the six countries (India, Côte d’Ivoire, Jordan, Mali, Uganda, Vietnam) to ensure that gender was mainstreamed in the programme’s interventions. The results of these analyses were used to inform decision-making at the WNCB programme level on relevant country interventions. They have also been used to influence some of the more systemic changes in gender and child labour policies and practices. The six countries translated the results of the gender analysis into gender activities and interventions at the country level. We have built the capacity of staff in different countries to strengthen their knowledge and skills to work on gender issues within the WNCB programme.