Child Labor

Child labor is notoriously difficult to define. Largely, the term child labor differs from the term child work. The first term encompasses harmful work, and the second, work done without damaging consequences upon children. The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) defines work in terms of “economic activity.” It covers all market production (paid work) and certain types of nonmarket production (unpaid work), including production of goods for ones own use. Inside this larger concept of “economically active children,” the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) defined distinctions among “child work” (light work), “child labor,” and “worst forms of child labor.” The first category, “child work” or “light work,” is considered to be “children's participation in economic activity that does not ...