Child labour is a violation of fundamental human rights and has been shown to hinder children’s development, potentially leading to lifelong physical or psychological damage.
Evidence suggests that there is a significant connection between child labour and poverty at home. Children from poor households have to work from early ages which keeps them out of school and therefore inhibits the possibility of their upward social mobility. Often due to these circumstances, poverty is inherited. Children have no chance of education and development which has been associated with slow economic and social improvements.
An ILO study found that the elimination of child labour could improve the economic performance of developing countries about seven times greater than the costs. The financial benefits mostly could be generated from investments in better education for children and social services. The fundamental ILO standards on child labour constitute the two legal pillars for the global fight against child labour. The ILO estimates that despite many ratified conventions by the international community, that still 350 million children are subject to child labour in the world.