Tim Fernholz notes that child labor has fallen substantially around the world since 2000:
Wondering how 168 million child laborers could be a positive thing? Well, the number represents about a third fewer workers aged 5 to 17 than there were in 2000. The fastest decrease in child laborers has come in last four years, even though child advocates had feared an increase because of the global recession. … The [International Labour Organization] points to two major reasons for the recent decrease: The poorer nations where child labor is concentrated recovered more quickly from the global recession, which meant fewer children were forced by impoverishment into child labor. Also, reduced labor demand meant that older children weren’t able to enter the workforce as quickly.
But Harriet Grant stresses that the number is still too high, especially with many working children hidden in the less formal pockets of the economy:
[ILO child labor expert Yoshie] Noguchi said that because the family-based model of working was so common, it remained difficult to tackle child labor through a model of transparency in supply chains. “Consumers can indirectly give a signal to business that they do not want [child labor] and then the supply chains might give a signal to suppliers, but the supply chain is very long now,” she said. “It’s not easy for enterprises to say no, because people can sub-contract down to even a family-based level that nobody comes to inspect. Child labor exists more in that kind of setting than anywhere else.”
The Dish 