Around the world, nearly 250 million children, about one in every six children, ages 5 through 17, are involved in child labor. Children can be found in almost any economic sector. However, at a global level, most of them work in agriculture (70%). Approximately 2.4 million adolescents aged 16 to 17 years worked in the U.S. in 2006. Official employment statistics are not available for younger adolescents who are also known to work, especially in agricultural settings.
In 2006, 30 youth under 18 died from work-related injuries in the U.S. In 2003, an estimated 54,800 work-related injuries and illnesses among youth less than 18 years of age were treated in hospital emergency departments. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that only one-third of work-related injuries are seen in emergency departments, therefore it is likely that approximately 160,000 youth sustain work-related injuries and illnesses each year. The highest number of teen worker fatalities occur in agricultural work and the retail trades, according to recent data. Across Europe, 18- to 24-year-olds are at least 50% more likely to be injured in the workplace than more experienced workers.
Work that poses special risks for young workers
Because of their biologic, social, and economic characteristics, young workers have unique and substantial risks for work-related injuries and illnesses. Besides retail and agriculture, other areas of high risk for work-related injuries include construction and work activities involving motor vehicles and mobile machinery. Although safety requirements and child labor laws prohibit or restrict teen employment in certain kinds of industries and occupations, young workers may yet face risks on the job because an employer or a young employee may not be aware of applicable laws and may not be aware that a hazard exists, because the young employee may lack experience, or because there is inadequate training or supervision.
Child labor is the employment of children under an age determined by law or custom. This practice is considered exploitative by many countries and international organizations. Child labor was utilized to varying extents through most of history, but entered public dispute with the beginning of universal schooling, with changes in working conditions during industrialization, and with the emergence of the concepts of workers' and children's rights. Child labor is still common in some places. Even after passing child labor legislation, developing countries in particular still feature informal economies made up of child workers who are more exposed to human rights violations in the workplace.
Work in agriculture
There are roughly 250,000 children who work on U.S. farms, that do not live on the farm, and another 30 million children who visit farms annually. About every three days a child dies on a U.S. farm. In 2004, most youth work fatalities occurred in the agriculture sector. About two thirds of these fatalities could be attributed to transportation accidents. According to the "Occupational injuries among young workers" report, most of these transportation accidents occurred either by truck or by tractor. Tractor accidents alone counted for 1/4 of the youth worker fatalities from 1993 to 2002. For workers 13 years old and younger, agricultural fatalities accounted for 42 out of the 49 total fatalities for that age group between 1998 and 2002. There are fewer child labor restrictions on family-owned or operated farms; workers as young as 13 can legally operate tractors on farms if their family owns it or operates it.
Experiences and exposures across different sectors of agriculture vary greatly. For example, children who worked on tobacco farms experienced a number of negative health effects including nausea, heat exhaustion, and burning eyes.