This photograph is of a boy between 6-10 years of age who works in the La Rinconada gold mine in the mountainous region of Peru. La Rinconada is the highest gold mine in the world, 5,500 meters above sea level in the Andes, and under a glacier, and its camp is populated by about 20,000 people who live under economically exploitative and impoverished conditions. The boy seen here works as a quimbalatero, or stone crusher, who quarries ore from gold-bearing rocks by striking them with a heavy hammer.

The image was taken as documentation of child labor by a photographer for the International Labour Organization (ILO) for its International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) project. According to ILO definitions, unacceptable types of child labor are those that can be harmful to physical and mental development, to children’s dignity, and of a kind that “deprives children of their childhood.” Such child labor should be eliminated if it is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; if it interferes with their schooling by preventing them from attending school, obligates them to leave school prematurely, or requires excessively long and heavy work so as to compromise children's ability to attend school or learn effectively. Mining work such as this meets the criteria as harmful because it exposes child workers to hazards of extreme cold, is physically demanding, and provides no protection for their eyes and hands. Children in mining camps are routinely exposed to mercury poisoning in so-called “artisanal mines,” family mining operations in which whole families are employed, sometimes including toddlers. Such operations often produce tiny amounts of gold by quarrying flakes from large quantities of rock, bringing in very little income for the expense in time and toxic exposure.

A recent ILO Global Report "The end of child labor: Within reach" published in 2006 showed that Latin American and Caribbean countries have experienced declining numbers of child laborers. Projects such as Bolsa Familia in Brazil offers families financial incentives to send their children to school, in addition to citing employers who exploit children, and educating parents and older children on the hazards of child labor. The number of children at work in the region has fallen by two-thirds, with just 5 percent of children now engaged in unsatisfactory child labor. The IPEC project in La Rinconada works to help families access health, education, and nutrition services, and to address working conditions for adults in the mines.

In the weeks and months before the start of Ramadan, the ninth lunar month when Muslims fast, traditional workshops like the one on Ahmad Maher Street in the medieval quarter of Cairo, turn recycled tin cans into glittering lanterns. In this "Street of the Lanterns," skills in cutting, hammering, perforating and framing colored glass that have been passed down through artisan families (who usually make ordinary items for the household), are set to the task of making the traditional Ramadan lanterns for children. Brass and tin strips cut from cans of cooking oil, fish, kerosene and cheese become the base, top, and frames for colored glass panes formed into numerous shapes. Many of the lanterns conform to a simple, tapered form like a carriage lamp. Others are shaped like multi-pointed stars, crescents called “a big slice of watermelon,” or simply very large and elaborately decorated versions of the smaller ones, but nearly as tall as an adult. Many of the artisans began making the lamps when they were 10 or 15 years old, like the boy in the photograph. Sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the older workers—likely a father, and uncle or grandfather—the youngest workers carry out the simple task of preparing the metal strips with tin snips and simple vice-like tools for drawing the metal straight and smooth. The older, more skilled artisans pierce designs, solder the metal strips, and frame the cut pieces of glass with tin or brass. A base for the candle, a lid, and a ring for hanging complete the lantern. In the second photograph, partly-finished lamps are visible. In the days before Ramadan, the lamps are hung in the shop on long poles for purchase.

While the sharp metal edges can injure young workers, the child labor nevertheless falls within the International Labor Organization guidelines. Acceptable work includes children helping parents around the home, earning pocket money after school and on holidays, and even helping in a family business. Such activity is viewed as beneficial to children's development and socialization. Unacceptable child labor, in contrast, is harmful to physical and mental development, to children's dignity, and "deprives children of their childhood." 1

The chart shows the employment sectors for male and female child laborers from age cohorts 5-14 and 15-17. The information is drawn from national child labor surveys in sixteen sample countries. It is based on nationally representative household surveys conducted between 1999 and 2007. The data comes from a study IPEC Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC). (Geneva, ILO, 2009). The sample countries and the dates of data in the survey were Colombia (2001), Ecuador (2006), El Salvador (2001), Guatemala (2006), Burkina Faso (2006), Malawi (2002), Mali (2005), Senegal (2004), Cambodia (2001), Mongolia (2002), Philippines (2001), Sri Lanka (1999), Azerbaijan (2005), Kyrgyzstan (2007), Turkey (2006) and Ukraine (1999).

The statistics provide a more detailed picture of global child labor than what had been available previously. The chart shows that the majority of children were employed in agriculture, a significant portion employed in services, which can include everything from shoe-shining and windshield washing to street vending and hauling. A minority of child laborers are employed in shops, craft production and manufacture, which can include construction, mining, quarry work and the like, all hazardous jobs for children.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) established the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) in 1992 with the goal of progressively eliminating child labor, through research, building countries' capacity to deal with the problem, and promoting a worldwide movement to combat child labor. For statistical purposes, a child is considered to be involved in child labor under the following classification: (a) children 5-11 years of age who did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work during the week preceding the survey, and (b) children 12-14 years of age who did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 28 hours domestic work during the week preceding the survey. Whether or not particular forms of "work" can be called "child labor" depends on the child's age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries.

IPEC classifies acceptable and unacceptable types of child labor. Acceptable work includes children helping parents around the home, earning pocket money after school and on holidays, and even helping in a family business. Such activity is viewed as beneficial to children's development and socialization. Unacceptable child labor, in contrast, is harmful to physical and mental development, to children's dignity, and "deprives children of their childhood." Child labor should be eliminated if it is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; if it interferes with their schooling by preventing them from attending school, obligates them to leave school prematurely, or requires excessively long and heavy work as to compromise children's ability to attend school or learn effectively. The most extreme forms of unacceptable child labor include enslavement or bonded labor, separation from their families, exposure to hazards and illness, or being forced onto the streets of large cities to sleep and work for a living.

The chart shows summative data for several world regions and types of countries on the subject of child labor. The figures refer to the percentage of children 5-14 years of age involved in child labor, meaning as a percentage of the total population of children in a country or region. The complete chart, showing all reporting countries can be accessed at http://www.childinfo.org/labour_countrydata.php. For statistical purposes, a child is considered to be involved in child labor under the following classification: (a) children 5-11 years of age who did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work during the week preceding the survey, and (b) children 12-14 years of age who did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 28 hours domestic work during the week preceding the survey.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) established the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) in 1992 with the goal of progressively eliminating child labor, through research, building countries' capacity to deal with the problem, and promoting a worldwide movement to combat child labor. Whether or not particular forms of "work" can be called "child labor" depends on the child's age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries.

IPEC classifies acceptable and unacceptable types of child labor. Acceptable work includes children helping parents around the home, earning pocket money after school and on holidays, and even helping in a family business. Such activity is viewed as beneficial to children's development and socialization. Unacceptable child labor, in contrast, is harmful to physical and mental development, to children's dignity, and "deprives children of their childhood." Child labor should be eliminated if it is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; if it interferes with their schooling by preventing them from attending school, obligates them to leave school prematurely, or requires excessively long and heavy work as to compromise children's ability to attend school or learn effectively. The most extreme forms of unacceptable child labor include enslavement or bonded labor, separation from their families, exposure to hazards and illness, or being forced onto the streets of large cities to sleep and work for a living.

During the modern Imperial period (1868-1945), daughters of poor Japanese families worked as komori taking care of their own siblings or working as indentured servants for other poor families. The state's efforts to foster Japanese citizenship and feminize the komori led to programs aimed at making them more maternal.

The first song is one that was sung by a teacher who taught komori girls in the town of Matsumoto around the turn of the century. This song was part of the broader educational curriculum designed to replace the songs of the komori that were deemed "coarse" and "vulgar" by teachers and other adults who represented the interests of the modern state.

The second counting song, typical of others by the komori, described exploitative working conditions and grave injustices. Based on peasant songs, those songs sung by the komori (of which there are many versions) enabled workers to express resistance to those who exploited them as well as those who sought to feminize them. Some songs mocked their mistresses and masters; other focused on the foods they were not allowed to eat as well as the inadequacies of their rations. The lyrics of others expressed hostility toward their charges: "What can we do with a naughty child?/Let's put him on the drum/and hit him with green bamboo sticks." The third song included here is representative of those that expressed the emotional pain of the komori and their need for their mothers. Not only did the komori sing about love but also lust, their bodies, sexual desire, and intercourse.

These songs and others that describe their daily lives (working, playing, trysting, venting) are useful sources of information that shed light on the everyday experiences of the komori and the lyrical cultural practices that expressed their alienation and resistance. In what ways are the komori similar to and different from babysitters in other cultures and at different times?

These photographs are included in an archive with over 600 images all taken by U.S. airman Glenn S. Hensley in 1945 in various locations where he was stationed. The island of Akyab in the Bay of Bengal, which is called Sittwe today, was occupied during World War II, first by the Japanese, then, in 1945, by the British and the Americans. It was a strategically important airfield from which supplies could be airlifted into Burma. These are two of a series of photographs documenting four different ways in which children pounded or ground grain for use. These small children wielded heavy hardwood implements for hulling rice or grinding grain. The tools have a timeless quality and show obvious signs of constant use. Similarly, the chores that the village children carry out in these images, and drawing water in others, were typical children's activities.

Hensley served the U.S. Army as a professional reconnaissance photographer. He and other American photographers Robert Keagle and Frank Bond had access to darkroom facilities, and often accompanied one another on photo excursions among civilians, so that each man's archive contains shots of the same scenes and people. For this reason, it is likely that wherever they went, "everyday" scenes took on an extraordinary quality for the people depicted. The archive, according to Hensley, was created and shipped to the U.S. for his wife to use in teaching world history courses in Missouri during World War II.

The image by 13th–century illustrator al-Wasiti is from the Maqamat (Assemblies), a collection of stories of a picaresque hero. The author, al-Hariri (1054-1122 CE), is an important figure in Arabic literary history. The illustrations belong to the Baghdad School of miniature illustration, and depict scenes of ordinary life. The scene illustrates aspects of a village life. Al-Wasiti used a composition technique in which multiple levels show different planes of the scene, allowing him to compress many aspects of village life into the small space of the painting. A date palm, the village mosque, and the individual brick or adobe houses line the village street. Al-Wasiti portrayed the intimacy of life in the village, with each door open to show the family dynamics and work being done. A girl stands in one doorway with a woman, probably her mother. A woman in another doorway appears to call to someone, while a husband and wife nearby converse or argue. Poultry roost on the roofs of houses, a woman spins thread, and people tend domestic animals, including sheep, goats and water buffalo, often the work of women and children.

The image by 13th–century illustrator al-Wasiti (fl. 1237) is from the Maqamat (Assemblies), a collection of stories of a picaresque hero. In the upper half of the illustration, a boy in a short tunic and cap with tiraz embroidered bands, leads animals yoked to the saqiyya, a geared water-raising device that irrigated fields and gardens. The boy grasps the tail of the animal and carries a switch as the animals pace around the circle, turning the wheel to raise the water. The water flows into the lower part of the illustration, where guests sit in a garden around a basin and decorative fountain, listening to poetry and music accompanied by a lute. Baghdad had many garden suburbs along the canals, so this scene reflects urban as well as rural social life. The social class of the boy is likely beneath that of the group attending the social gathering. He might be the son of the family who cultivated the land, or a servant. The author, al-Hariri (1054-1122 CE), is an important figure in Arabic literature. The illustrations belong to the Baghdad School of miniature illustration, and were popular even in al-Wasiti's time, depicting dynamic scenes of life within the small space of the page.

One of the major obstacles to consistent attendance at the new elementary schools was the fact that children played an important role in the household economy. One such role was that of caregiver for younger children. In this picture, we see an image that was striking to many European and American observers in the 19th century: older daughters–perhaps no older than nine or ten themselves–with younger siblings strapped to their backs. Japanese officials and educational reformers of the Meiji era often complained that rural parents were unwilling to send girls to school because they were needed to care for younger siblings– or, that they arrived at school with infants on their backs. This picture, therefore, captures one of the conflicts between the ideal of compulsory schooling and the realities of rural life.

Since 1810, social critics in Buenos Aires had long been concerned about young people from the lower classes—especially young men—exercising greater independence within the home. With the decline of parental authority, they were alarmed at the sight of growing numbers of young people as a potential source of disorder, and they looked to the state for solutions. As a result, the police were granted broad authority to place youngsters into jobs that would keep them off of the streets and supply businesses and homes with badly needed laborers.

In 1841, Benjamín Montes, a minor, signed a contract with Bourgan, Funge, and Company, a hat factory in Buenos Aires, to work for three years as an apprentice. At first glance, the terms of the contract seem harsh. It limited Montes's mobility, governed his behavior in and out of the factory, and the work was probably very grueling. However, this type of arrangement was also illustrative of the weakening of parental authority in favor of state authority. Montes's mother, Juana María Olivera, clearly transferred power over her son to the company (mothers could sign contracts if male heads of households were unavailable). These kinds of jobs provided greater opportunities for young people, like Benjamín, to gain enough income to make a life of their own when they reached adulthood.