UN: Drop in Child Labor Not Fast Enough

The number of children doing dangerous work fell by half to 85 million from 2000 to 2012, but the rate of progress is not fast enough to meet the goal of having no child laborers by 2016, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported Monday. The U.N. labor agency’s quadrennial review of child-labor statistics highlighted the sharp decline. In 2000, 171 million children between ages five and 17 were doing work that directly endangered their health, safety, and moral development, the agency said. The ILO official directing the elimination of child labor, Constance Thomas, told reporters in Geneva that because of over-optimistic goals set in 2006, “we’re probably not going to reach the target at this pace” for ending all such hazardous work done by children.