ITUC-Asia Pacific raised the alarm that governments in Asia and the Pacific have failed to meet the global target to eliminate all forms of child labour by 2025, with more than 86 million children still working across the region.
Marking World Day Against Child Labour, the ITUC-Asia Pacific stressed that children across Asia and the Pacific continue to be forced into work instead of attending school – often in hazardous conditions and informal sectors such as plantations, garment factories, construction sites, and domestic work.
Estimates from the International Labour Organization show that over 160 million children remain in child labour globally, nearly half of them in hazardous jobs. While earlier decades saw progress, recent years have seen that trend reverse, driven by conflict, climate shocks, and growing post-pandemic inequality.
“This is not a failure of families. It is a systemic crisis, borne from the failures of governments to ensure decent jobs, social protection, and education for all,” said Shoya Yoshida, General Secretary of ITUC-Asia Pacific.
“Governments have known the 2025 deadline for years. Yet they’ve allowed exploitative models, weak enforcement, and poverty to drive children into labour instead of school,” Shoya Yoshida added.
ITUC-Asia Pacific stressed that child labour is fundamentally a trade union issue. Families facing low wages, job insecurity, and lack of social protection are often forced to send children to work. The erosion of public services and underfunded education systems worsens the situation.
Trade unions across the region have been: organising workers in the informal economy to bring visibility in sectors where child labour is rampant; negotiating for living wages and social protection to ensure families can meet their basic needs and not rely on children’s income; advocating for free, universal, and quality education to secure children’s future; and demanding stronger enforcement of laws protecting workers and children to eliminate exploitative practices and to uphold children’s rights.
The ITUC-Asia Pacific also linked the child labour crisis to the broader democratic breakdown across the world. In what the ITUC calls a “billionaire coup”, elites are expanding their wealth and control while workers lose voice, rights, and protections.
“Elite private schools for billionaires’ children, underfunded classrooms for ours. That’s not just inequality, but a system rigged against working families,” said Yoshida. “When billionaires can get away with paying taxes and leave public services gutted and under-resourced, children are among those who pay the price.”
“Ending child labour requires genuine democracy where workers can organise and speak out for their rights,” Yoshida said. ““Without those basic rights, we cannot truly eliminate child labour or build a just future for our children,” Yoshida said. “Democracy, decent work, and strong public services are not optional. They are the foundation of a society where every child can thrive.”
ITUC-Asia Pacific is calling on:
“It’s 2025. The deadline to eliminate all forms of child labour is about to end, but the fight continues,” said Yoshida. “Every child out of work and into school is a win for justice, dignity, and democracy.”
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