Childhood should be a time for learning, playing, and growing in safety. For millions of children, it is instead a time of exhausting and dangerous work. In June 2025, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF released new estimates showing that nearly 138 million children were in child labour in 2024.
Of these, around 54 million were in hazardous work likely to harm their health, safety, or development — in mines, on construction sites, in fields sprayed with pesticides, and in factories. There has been real progress: child labour has fallen by nearly half since 2000. But the world has now missed its target of ending child labour by 2025. The ILO and UNICEF warn that progress would need to be 11 times faster to end it by 2030.
Child Labour (ILO & UNICEF, 2025):
- Children working: Nearly 138 million in 2024.
- Hazardous work: Around 54 million children in work that endangers health, safety or development.
- Progress: Down from 246 million in 2000, and 20 million fewer since 2020.
- Missed goal: The target to end child labour by 2025 was not met.
- Pace needed: Progress must be 11 times faster to end child labour by 2030.
Why Children Are Still Working
Child labour is driven by poverty, lack of schools, conflict, and economic systems that profit from cheap labour. Families facing hunger often have no choice but to send their children to work. Laws prohibit it in nearly every country, but enforcement is weak where poverty is deep. Human efforts have reduced the problem, yet they have not been able to remove the forces that create it.
— Ecclesiastes 4:1
The Bible honestly describes a world in which the powerful exploit the weak. Children, the most vulnerable of all, have long suffered most from that injustice.
Jesus' Love for Children
Jesus showed a tender concern for children that reflects his Father's view of them. When others tried to send children away, he welcomed them warmly.
— Mark 10:14
As King of God's Kingdom, Jesus will ensure that no child is exploited for another person's profit. Poverty, which drives so much child labour, will be gone, and every family will have more than enough.
Childhood Restored
The Bible describes a world in which work is satisfying and rewarding, and families enjoy the fruit of their own labour without exploitation.
— Isaiah 65:23
The ILO, UNICEF, and countless advocates have rescued millions of children from labour, and their work deserves recognition. But the missed deadline shows that human solutions are falling short. God's Kingdom will bring a world where every child is free to learn, to play, and to grow up in safety and joy.