Child labor
Key root causes of child labor
Child labor affects nearly 1 in 10 children worldwide across global supply chains, increasing to 1 in 5 in the world’s poorest countries.
Lack of fair and decent work for parents
When families can’t meet basic needs through decent work, children often help earn income. Where social protections are weak, child labor becomes a survival strategy.
Labor recruitment practices
Third-party recruiters reduce transparency, raising child labor risks when they favor speed, cost, and flexible hiring over proper age checks and accountability.
Vulnerable populations
Migrant and refugee children face higher risks. Some work with family to survive; unaccompanied kids are even more vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, or forced labor.
Lack of access to education and childcare
Barriers like cost, distance, and discrimination push children into work. Without accessible schooling or childcare, families—especially girls and minorities—face tough choices.
Labor shortages
Global labor shortages fuel child labor risks. To fill gaps, businesses may rely on informal recruiters, lower hiring standards, or skip age checks—especially in seasonal sectors.
Weak governance and law enforcement
Insufficient labor inspection and lack of enforcement of existing child labor laws create environments where violations go unpunished.
Strategic solutions
Verité partners with companies to identify, prevent, and address child labor risks through comprehensive systems-level approaches.
Supply chain risk assessment
We support businesses in mapping their supply chains to identify the countries, sectors, and levels of the supply chain where child labor risk is most likely—such as informal, remote, or subcontracted tiers—and prioritize them for deeper engagement.
Learn more about this serviceWorkplace audits and assessments
Our specialized labor assessments go beyond checklists, capturing hidden risks and root causes related to child labor, such as recruitment practices, subcontracting arrangements, age verification systems, and policies on working conditions for underage workers.
Learn more about this serviceTraining and capacity building
We deliver practical training for suppliers, auditors, company staff, and other stakeholders on identifying, preventing, and remediating child labor, grounded in international standards.
Learn more about this serviceHuman rights due diligence integration
We help companies build strong child labor policies and embed them into broader due diligence frameworks, including governance, monitoring, remediation, and supplier engagement strategies.
Learn more about this serviceFeatured project
Responding to child labor and forced labor in U.S. Manufacturing
This free e-learning helps U.S. manufacturers identify, address & prevent child and forced labor—building stronger, rights-respecting workplaces.
Featured project
Cooperation On Fair, Free, Equitable Employment (COFFEE Project)
The COFFEE Project pilots tools, training & a risk dashboard in Brazil, Colombia & Mexico to eliminate labor abuses and improve coffee-sector conditions.
Featured project
Senderos Project
A four‑year initiative in Mexico’s sugarcane & tobacco sectors empowering government, companies, and farmworkers to enforce labor rights, prevent child and forced labor, and improve health, safety, and grievance tools.
