The International Labour Organisation exposes worrying facts on poor youth’s employment

AS many as 47.5 million teenagers take on jobs classified as dangerous by the International Labour Organisation OIT.
The OIT’s report was released to mark World Day Against Child Labour, celebrated on June 12.
The number represents 40 per cent of the total workforce aged between 15 and 17, and displays the deficit of decent jobs for teenagers who are not yet adults but have reached the legal age to work. For the OIT, these dangerous jobs are the worst form of child labour and a violation of international work regulations.
These are not the only negative points of the report: a total of 168 million children in the world are victims of child labour.
Using data from 12 undeveloped countries, where between 20 and 30 per cent of youths start working at 15, the OIT reached the conclusion that those who drop out of school before reaching 15 years old are the most vulnerable group to remain completely excluded from the labour market.
Faced with these conclusions, the OIT has suggested a series of coherent policies to combat child labour and youth unemployment:
• Take children off the labour market and back into school.
• Promote decent job opportunities for youths.
• Eliminate child labour in the age group between 15 and 17 years old, especially those working in dangerous job positions.
• Tackle specific vulnerabilities of girls and young women, (vulnerability to early marriage and sexual exploitation amongst others).