What Are Child Slavery Facts?

Even today, child slavery remains a global issue. Here are some child slavery facts:

• 152 million children—roughly 1 in 10 children worldwide—between 5-17 years old are victims of child labor.¹
• Children 12 years old and younger perform one-quarter of all child labor worldwide.¹
• 32% of child laborers no longer attend school.¹
• Approximately 374 million children laborers get sick or injured while working annually.¹
• An estimated 2.78 million children laborers die annually.¹
• Child slavery occurs worldwide, but it is the worst in countries like Bangladesh, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Liberia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia.²
• Children are in bondage on cocoa farms, in brick kilns, in cobalt mines and in the fishing industry.³

Most child labor and child slavery occurs in territories or countries with extremely low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita.⁴ Thus, countries with extreme poverty often demonstrate high levels of child labor. Communities can experience poverty for many reasons, including the following:

• Natural disasters— Natural disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, famines or droughts can kill crops and animals, level homes and devastate entire communities.
• Prejudice — Racial or religious prejudices can create generational poverty for specific religious or ethnic groups.
• Lack of education — Many people cannot obtain well-paying jobs to provide for their families because they did not complete school. These individuals typically work in fields, mines, farms or other manual labor jobs that pay poorly.
• Violence — Extended war and genocide deplete community resources, which inhibits workers from providing for their families.

Every child in slavery has a unique story of how their work has affected them and their families. Some children could not attend school. Some children could not see their families for multiple years.