Child Labour

The Employment and Social Trends 2026 flagship report highlights deepening structural weaknesses in labour markets that threaten progress on sustainable development and social equity.

Though illegal for nearly five decades, bonded labour in India remains a stark and shameful reality for countless men, women, and children.

Late at night at the Khamarbari intersection, groups of nearly 40 displaced individuals –including many children – huddle around small fires made from burning scraps of wood and paper. The flickering flames offer fleeting warmth against the biting chill, but the bare pavement beneath them provides no cushion or protection. Children in thin, filthy sweaters shiver as they chat or try to sleep, their bodies pressed together for shared heat.

Nepal’s battle against child labour remains a complex struggle of law, tradition, and socioeconomic fragility, even as pockets of progress emerge.

As the government prepares to publish more detailed data and possibly a national action plan, child rights activists are urging stakeholders to prioritise transparency, victim support and preventative outreach – especially in vulnerable communities where children remain at greatest risk.

Nepal’s efforts are guided by the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act of 2007, which imposes up to 20 years’ imprisonment for offenders.

Many experts emphasise the need for conditional cash transfer programmes, improved rural schooling, transportation support for students, and vocational training initiatives to ensure that families are not forced to choose between survival and education.

The rising child labour rate signals a regression: children are being diverted from education into work, simply because of economic precarity.