About World Day Against Child Labour
World Day Against Child Labour is an International Labour Organization day held every 12 June, and in 2027 it falls on Saturday, 12 June 2027. The ILO started it in 2002 to keep attention on children who work instead of going to school. In India it is marked with pledges in offices, school programmes and rescue drives by the labour department.
What is World Day Against Child Labour?
World Day Against Child Labour is held every 12 June, and in 2027 it falls on Saturday, 12 June 2027. The International Labour Organization launched the first one in 2002 and has run it since, with a fresh theme each year.
The scale is still large. The ILO and UNICEF counted about 138 million children in child labour in 2024, of whom roughly 54 million were in work classed as hazardous. That is 22 million fewer than in 2020, and less than half the 246 million counted in 2000, but the world missed its own target of ending child labour by 2025. Agriculture accounts for about 61 per cent of it. Sub-Saharan Africa carries the largest share, about 87 million children, while Asia and the Pacific brought its rate down from 5.6 per cent of children to 3.1 per cent.
How much child labour is there in India?
The last full national count is Census 2011. It found 10.1 million working children aged 5 to 14, out of a child population of 259.6 million in that age group, or 3.9 per cent. That was down from 12.7 million in 2001. The ILO notes that the fall came mainly in villages, while the number of child workers in cities went up.
Those figures are now well over a decade old, and no newer census has replaced them. Anyone quoting a precise current number for India is estimating, not counting. What the more recent data shows is the enforcement side: the National Child Labour Project, running since 1988, says around 14 lakh children have been taken out of work and put into bridge schools under it.
What does Indian law say about child labour?
The governing law is the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, as rewritten by the 2016 amendment, which came into force on 1 September 2016. It is built to match the Right to Education Act, 2009, so that the age at which work is banned is the age at which school is compulsory.
| Who | What the law allows since 2016 |
|---|---|
| A child, under 14 | No work at all, in any job or process. The Act leaves an opening for helping in a family business outside school hours, which the ILO said needed clearer definition. |
| An adolescent, 14 to 18 | May work, but not in occupations and processes listed as hazardous. Before 2016 that bar was set at 14, so the change pushed it up by four years. |
| An employer | Employing a child is a cognizable offence, which means the police can register a case and act on it without first going to a magistrate. Penalties were made heavier in 2016. |
| A parent or guardian | Treated more leniently than an employer for a first offence, on the reasoning that poverty, not profit, is usually the driver. |
India ratified the two main ILO conventions on child labour on 13 June 2017: Convention 138, which requires a country to fix a minimum age for work, and Convention 182, on the worst forms of child labour, which covers slavery, trafficking, children in armed conflict and hazardous work.
Where do you report child labour in India?
If you see a child working in a shop, a dhaba, a workshop, a brick kiln or a house, there are three routes, and you do not need to pick between them.
- PENCIL portalThe Labour Ministry's online complaint system, live since 26 September 2017. Anyone can file; the complaint goes automatically to the nodal officer for that district.
- Child Helpline 1098A free number that works round the clock, now run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development under Mission Vatsalya and linked to the 112 emergency line.
- District labour officer or policeA written complaint to the labour department or the local police station. Employing a child is cognizable, so a station is required to act on it.
How is World Day Against Child Labour marked in India?
The Ministry of Labour and Employment and state labour departments hold pledge ceremonies and awareness drives on 12 June, and district task forces often time inspections and rescue operations around the date. Schools hold assemblies and poster competitions. It is a working day, not a holiday.
Non-government groups carry much of it. Bachpan Bachao Andolan, started in 1980 by Kailash Satyarthi, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 with Malala Yousafzai, has been the most visible of them and says it has rescued more than a lakh children.
What to write on World Day Against Child Labour
Skip the slogans. The best messages carry a number or a phone number.
Today is World Day Against Child Labour. If you ever see a child working, the PENCIL portal takes complaints online and 1098 answers all day and night. Worth saving both.
12 June is World Day Against Child Labour. Indian law says nobody under 14 may be employed, because at that age you should be in school. The law and your timetable were written to match.
You deal with the part of this that never makes it to a poster. On World Day Against Child Labour, thank you for the specific children you got back into school this year.
On 12 June, a small request: no one under 14 on site, for any reason. It is the law, and the case goes straight to the police.
A child washing dishes in a house is child labour too, and it is against the law. If you know of one in our area, call 1098. You do not have to give your name.
World Day Against Child Labour, 12 June. About 138 million children were working in 2024. India's own count, from Census 2011, was 1.01 crore aged 5 to 14. We can only fix what we are willing to see.
Read next: World Day of Social Justice, World Children's Day, International Day of Education and Labour Day.
How to wish someone on World Day Against Child Labour
This is a day for action, not wishes. The most useful message tells people two things they can act on: what Indian law actually bans, and where to report a child who is working. If you are writing to a teacher, a labour officer or an NGO worker, thank them for a specific case rather than for the cause in general.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.
When is World Day Against Child Labour in 2026 and 2027?
World Day Against Child Labour is on 12 Jun every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is World Day Against Child Labour in 2027?
World Day Against Child Labour 2027 falls on Saturday, 12 June 2027.
How many children work in India?
Census 2011, the last full count, recorded 10.1 million working children aged 5 to 14, which was 3.9 per cent of children in that age group and down from 12.7 million in 2001. No newer national census has updated that figure.
At what age can a child legally work in India?
Nobody below 14 may be employed in any occupation in India, under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act as amended in 2016. Those aged 14 to 18 may work, but not in occupations and processes listed as hazardous.
Where do I report child labour in India?
File a complaint on the Labour Ministry's PENCIL portal, which routes it to the district nodal officer, or call the child helpline 1098, which is free and answers at any hour. You can also complain in writing to the district labour officer or the police.
Is it child labour if a child helps in the family shop?
The 2016 amendment allows a child to help in a family enterprise outside school hours and during holidays, so it is not automatically an offence. The ILO has said this exception needs a clearer definition, because it can be used to cover work that keeps a child out of school.
What is the theme of World Day Against Child Labour?
The International Labour Organization sets a new theme each year, so it changes every 12 June. Recent themes have focused on social protection for families and on acting on commitments already made. The current one is published on the ILO website ahead of the day.
What should I post on World Day Against Child Labour?
Post something someone can use: that Indian law bars employment under 14, that the PENCIL portal takes online complaints, and that 1098 is the free child helpline. A number people can call does more than a slogan.
Last verified by the Kehdoo team on .