Indicator 8.7.1 Proportion and number of children aged 5–17 years engaged in child labour, by sex and age

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

8.7 Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.

8.7.1 Percentage of children aged 5-17 in employment (“Working Children”):

- Total

- Female

- Male

SL_TLF_CHLDEA

1 May 2021

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Lao Statistics Bureau

Mr.Vilaysook SISOULATH

Department of Social Statistics

Deputy Director General

+856 20 55 795 043

+856 21 214 740

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vilaysooks@gmail.com

lstats@lsb.gov.la

https://www.lsb.gov.la

Definition:

The number of children engaged in child labour corresponds to the number of children reported to be in child labour during the reference period (usually the week prior to the survey). The proportion of children in child labour is calculated as the number of children in child labour divided by the total number of children in the population. For the purposes of this indicator, children include all persons aged 5 to 17. ) .

Concepts:

Three principal international legal instruments – ILO Convention No. 138 (Minimum Age) (C138), United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ILO Convention No. 182 (Worst Forms) (C182) together set the legal boundaries for child labour, and provide the legal basis for national and international actions against it. In accordance with these instruments, child labour is work that children should not be doing because (a) they are too young or (b) is likely to harm their health, safety or morals, due to its nature or the conditions in which it is carried out.

The resolutions adopted by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), the world’s acknowledged standard-setting body in the area of labour statistics, provide the basis for translating the legal standards governing the concept of child labour into statistical terms for the purpose of child labour measurement.

In accordance with the ICLS resolutions^[2], child labour can be measured on the basis of the production boundary set by the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA) or on the basis of the general production boundary. The former limits the frame of reference to economic activity, while the latter extends it to include both economic activity and unpaid household services, that is, the production of domestic and personal services by a household member for consumption within their own household, commonly called “household chores”.

Following from this, two indicators are used for measuring child labour for the purpose of SDG reporting, the first based on the production boundary set by the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA) and the second based on the general production boundary.

Indicator 1: Proportion and number of children aged 5-17 years engaged in economic activities at or above age-specific hourly thresholds (SNA production boundary basis)

Child labour for the 5 to 11 age range: children working at least 1 hour per week in economic activity;

Child labour for the 12 to 14 age range: children working for at least 14 hours per week in economic activity;

Child labour for the 15 to 17 age range: children working for more than 43 hours per week in economic activity.

Indicator 2: Proportion and number of children aged 5-17 years engaged in economic activities and household chores at or above age-specific hourly thresholds (general production boundary basis):

Child labour for the 5 to 11 age range: children working at least 1 hour per week in economic activity and/or involved in unpaid household services for more than 21 hours per week;

Child labour for the 12 to 14 age range: children working for at least 14 hours per week in economic activity and/or involved in unpaid household services for more than 21 hours per week;

Child labour for the 15 to 17 age range: children working for more than 43 hours per week in economic activity.^[3]

The concept of child labour also includes the worst forms of child labour other than hazardous (18^th ICLS paragraphs 33 to 34) as well as hazardous work (18^th ICLS paragraphs 21 to 32). The worst forms of child labour include all forms of slavery or similar practices such as trafficking and the recruitment and use of child soldiers, the use or procurement of children for prostitution or other illicit activities, and other work that is likely to harm children’s health, safety or well-being.

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The Labor Force Survey 2017

The Labor Force Survey that was implemented in Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 2017 (LFS 2017) adopts the new concept of work, employment and labor underutilization that was adopted by the19th International Conference of Labor Statisticians (ICLS) in 2013.

Sampling

Sampling Procedure

The 2015 Census of Population and Housing was applied for sampling frame for LFS 2017. Base on the Census, Lao PDR has a total population of 6,479,982 distributed into 1,197,926 households . The province of Savannakhet has the most population but Vientiane Capital has the most households. Population in Xaysomboun is lowest at 85,168, the province also has the lowest number of households at 14,316.

Two stage sampling is proposed, with selection of villages in

• the first stage and selection of households in the second stage. In the provincial domains, villages were selected using PPS (no need for stratification since there are fewer villages within each province).
• Second stage sampling comprise of systematic selection of 20 households from the updated list of households from the 2015 Census. Provincial Domains target 10,800 sample households at 3% and 6% margin of errors.

Data Collection: Start: 2017, End: 2017

Data collection Mode: Face-to-Face

2022

2023

Lao Statistics Bureau

Lao Statistics Bureau

Base on the statistical law and the National Strategy for sustainable Development of Statistical System 2016-2020 and vision for 2030, Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) throughout the Lao Statistics Bureau in cooperate with Ministry of Labor and Welfare has conducted the Lao Labor Force Survey in 2017.

Far too many children in the world remain trapped in child labour, compromising their individual future and our collective futures. According to the latest ILO global estimates, about 152 million children worldwide – 64 million girls and 88 million boys - are child labourers, accounting for almost 10 percent of the child population. These stark figures underscore the need for accelerated progress against child labour in the lead up to the 2025 target date for ending child labour in all its forms, and the accompanying need for child labour statistics to monitor and guide efforts in this regard. Reliable, comprehensive and timely data on the nature and extent of child labour provide a basis for determining priorities for national global action against child labour. Statistical information on child labour, and more broadly on all working children, also provide a basis for increasing public awareness of the situation of working children and for the development of appropriate regulatory frameworks and policies.

While the concept of child labour includes working in activities that are hazardous in nature, to ensure comparability of estimates over time and to minimize data quality issues, work beyond age-specific hourly thresholds are used as a proxy for hazardous work for the purpose of reporting on SDG indicator 8.7.1. Further methodological work is needed to validate questions specifically aimed at identifying children in hazardous working conditions.

Similarly, while the worst forms of child labour other than hazardous also form part of the concept of child labour more broadly, data on the worst forms of child labour are not currently captured in regular household surveys given difficulties with accurately and reliably measuring it. Therefore, this element of child labour is not captured by the indicators used for reporting on SDG 8.7.1.

In addition, ‘own use production of goods’, including activities such as fetching water and collecting firewood, falls within the production boundary set by the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA). However, for the purpose of SDG reporting of indicator 8.7.1, and with the goal of facilitating international comparability, fetching water and collecting firewood have been classified as unpaid household services (i.e., household chores), a form of production that lies outside the SNA production boundary.

More broadly, child labour estimates based on the statistical standards set out in the ICLS resolution represent useful benchmarks for international comparative purposes but are not necessarily consistent with estimates based on national child labour legislation. ILO Convention No. 138 contains a number of flexibility clauses left to the discretion of the competent national authority in consultation (where relevant) with workers’ and employers’ organizations (e.g., minimum ages, scope of application).^[4] This means that there is no single legal definition of child labour across countries, and thus, no single statistical measure of child labour consistent with national legislation across countries.

Children aged 5-17: Number of children aged 5-17 reported in child labour during the week prior to the survey divided by the total number of children aged 5-17 in the population, multiplied by 100.

Children aged 5-14: Number of children aged 5-14 reported in child labour during the week prior to the survey divided by the total number of children aged 5-14 in the population, multiplied by 100.

Children aged 15-17: Number of children aged 15-17 reported child labour during the week prior to the survey divided by the total number of children aged 15-17 in the population, multiplied by 100.

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The Labor Force Survey have been conducted at five-year intervals since 2010

Disaggregated by Location (U/R), sex, age group and wealth quintile.

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1. file:///C:/Users/BK/AppData/Local/Temp/5.Lao%20PDR%20Labor%20force%20Survey%202017.pdf
2. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/