ABSTRACT
Child labor is a global phenomenon. In 2000, 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 years were engaged in various economic activities around the world (International Labour Organization (ILO), International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), and Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC) 2002). However, the child labor phenomenon is more prevalent in less developed countries. Out of the 211 million children working worldwide, only 2.5 million, or 1.4 percent of child laborers, are active members of the economies of developed countries (Bass 2004; ILO, IPEC, and SIMPOC 2002). Of the developing countries, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest percentage of child labor participation (Bass 2004). The latest statistics on child labor reveal that in 2000, 48 million children-or one in every three children-were economically active in sub-Saharan Africa (ILO, IPEC, and SIMPOC 2002).
