STORY-TRÅD·ekonomi

Child labor in Brazil falls 9.2% from 2024 to 2025

Brazil had 1.499 million children and adolescents engaged in child labor in 2025, representing 4 percent of the population aged 5 to 17. The data come from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), released on Friday (Oct. 16) by Brazil’s statistics bureau IBGE. The survey also shows that child labor declined by 9.2 percent from 2024, when 1.65 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 were engaged in child labor, representing 4.3 percent of that age group’s population. Notícias relacionadas:Brazil targets digital child labor in new national plan.Brazil’s Statute of the Child and Adolescent turns 36 years old.IBGE defines child labor as any paid economic activity or work for personal consumption performed by children up to 13 years of age. For adolescents aged 14 to 17, child labor includes any form of employment that does not comply with the following rules: at ages 14 and 15, only apprenticeship work is permitted; at ages 16 and 17, employment is allowed only with formal registration (a work permit signed by the employer). Work that is hazardous, unhealthy, or performed at night is prohibited for anyone under 18. According to IBGE researcher Gustavo Fontes, several factors contributed to the 9.2 percent decline over the past year. “There are public policies - including those implemented by the Labor Prosecutor’s Office itself - that aim to address this issue [child labor]. Brazil’s income-transfer program, Bolsa Família, may also have contributed to this decline by guaranteeing a minimum income for these families. Several factors are at play, including a strong labor market. The country’s unemployment rate has reached historic lows. Per capita household income increased in 2025, and income from employment also rose,” the researcher explained. Bolsa Família According to the IBGE survey, the average per capita household income among families with children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 who received Bolsa Família benefits in 2025 was BRL 660. The survey also examined the proportion of children and adolescents engaged in child labor who received Bolsa Família benefits, relative to the total population in that age group. In 2025, 4.4 percent of children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 living in households receiving Bolsa Família benefits were engaged in child labor, compared with 4 percent of the population in the same age group overall. The latter figure includes children and adolescents from households across all income brackets, including those that do not qualify for the social program. “We see a sharper decline in child labor among program beneficiaries, even though the rate remains slightly higher. Between 2016, when the time series began, and 2025, the number of children and adolescents engaged in child labor among Bolsa Família beneficiaries fell by 41 percent,” Fontes noted. Over the same period, the total number of children and adolescents engaged in child labor fell by 29 percent. Worst forms of child labor PNAD also found that, of the 1.499 million children and adolescents engaged in child labor, 525,000 were involved in the worst forms of child labor - that is, occupations that pose risks to their health, development, and moral well-being. These activities are listed in legislation enacted in 2008 and include illegal activities such as slavery, sexual exploitation, and drug trafficking. In 2025, the number of children and adolescents engaged in the worst forms of child labor reached its lowest level, accounting for 1.4 percent of the total population in this age group. In 2024, the figure stood at 560,000, or 1.5 percent. Age group Child labor increases with age. In 2025, 280,000 children aged 5 to 13 were engaged in child labor, representing 1.1 percent of the population in this age group. In 2024, the rate stood at 1.4 percent. Among adolescents aged 14 and 15, 348,000 were engaged in child labor in 2025, representing 5.9 percent of this age group. The rate was 6.2 percent in 2024. Among those aged 16 and 17, the number reached 871,000 in 2025, accounting for 14.5 percent of the age group, compared with 15.3 percent in 2024. Activity Most of the 1.499 million children and adolescents engaged in child labor - 1.141 million - were involved in economic activities. The data show that another 358,000 engaged exclusively in subsistence activities, working to support their own families. Among children aged 5 to 13, 90,000 were engaged in economic activities, while 190,000 were involved in subsistence work. Among adolescents aged 14 and 15, the figures were 268,000 and 80,000, respectively. For those aged 16 and 17, 783,000 were engaged in economic activities, while 88,000 were involved in subsistence work. Work hours Children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 often work long hours: 36.3 percent work more than 25 hours per week, while 21.4 percent work 40 hours or more. For children aged 5 to 13, the figures are much lower. Only 3.6 percent work 25 hours or more per week, including 0.8 percent who work 40 hours or more. The majority (87.1 percent) work up to 14 hours per week. The pattern changes for adolescents aged 14 and 15. Some 29.6 percent work 25 hours or more per week, including 17.5 percent who work 40 hours or more, while 43.3 percent work up to 14 hours per week. Older adolescents, aged 16 and 17, work the longest hours. Nearly half (49.6 percent) work 25 hours or more per week, including 29.6 percent who work 40 hours or more. Only 20.4 percent work up to 14 hours per week. School attendance School attendance is nearly universal among children aged 5 to 13 engaged in child labor, at 99.7 percent. Among adolescents aged 14 and 15, the school attendance rate is 98.1 percent for the overall population, compared with 95 percent among those engaged in child labor. The same pattern holds for adolescents aged 16 and 17: 89.6 percent of the overall population attends school, compared with 79.6 percent of those engaged in child labor.