ABSTRACT
The complexity of the phenomenon of child labour is widely acknowledged. Child labour involves not only concerns about children’s welfare and development but also considerations of effects on macroeconomic and labour markets. The complexity of the phenomenon of child labour is particularly apparent in analyses of its causes. The increasing recognition of child labour located within a poverty matrix indicates much about the remedial strategies to tackle the problem, that is, strategies which integrate anti-poverty and wider development goals. The Africa and Asia and Pacific regions together account for almost nine out of every ten children in child labour worldwide. Child labour, a term that was first coined in Britain during the nineteenth century, became increasingly a matter of concern as the Industrial Revolution in Europe advanced. The literature on child labour consistently cites domestic work and the informal economy as areas where child labour is prevalent.
