What Industries Are Culprits in Child Labor Today?

Fashion and garment making – A child’s fingers are more suited for specific tasks necessary for garment making. This occurs all along the process of making a garment—from the cotton fields through the final steps of packaging a garment. Children cost less than adults, making it advantageous for companies to hire them.

Mining – Mines are a dangerous place for children. Kids are susceptible to falling down the mine shafts, getting trapped or having life-long physical results from their time in the mines. An example of child labor in the mining industry is found in The Democratic Republic of the Congo where cobalt mining is prevalent.[2]

Farming – Child labor in the farming industry is found in most parts of the world.[3] As an example, African children are often trafficked and forced to work in the cocoa fields. “Often, traffickers abduct the young children from small villages in neighboring African countries, such as Burkina Faso and Mali, two of the poorest countries in the world. Once they have been taken to the cocoa farms, the children may not see their families for years, if ever. … Some of the children use chainsaws to clear the forests, and other children climb the cocoa trees to cut bean pods using a machete.”[4]