Children in employment, self-employed, male (% of male children in employment, ages 7-14) - Country Ranking

Definition: Self-employed workers are people whose remuneration depends directly on the profits derived from the goods and services they produce, with or without other employees, and include employers, own-account workers, and members of producers cooperatives.

Source: Understanding Children's Work project based on data from ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Dominican Republic 35.25 2012
2 Venezuela 30.41 2013
3 Sudan 20.17 2008
4 Liberia 17.92 2010
5 Colombia 16.21 2015
6 Bangladesh 14.78 2013
7 Lao PDR 14.65 2010
8 Panama 13.84 2014
9 Uruguay 12.18 2009
10 Paraguay 11.56 2014
11 Rwanda 11.10 2011
12 Trinidad and Tobago 10.81 2006
13 Malawi 10.76 2015
13 Mali 10.76 2007
15 Uganda 10.50 2012
16 Vietnam 9.90 2012
17 Argentina 9.52 2012
18 Nicaragua 9.16 2012
19 Brazil 8.42 2015
20 Togo 8.01 2010
21 Pakistan 6.93 2011
22 Honduras 6.86 2014
23 Niger 6.70 2009
24 Romania 6.16 2000
25 Jordan 5.98 2016
26 Philippines 5.73 2011
27 South Africa 5.62 1999
28 Costa Rica 5.54 2016
29 Azerbaijan 5.50 2005
30 Albania 5.21 2010
31 Nepal 5.17 2008
32 Peru 4.41 2007
33 Zimbabwe 4.17 1999
34 India 4.16 2012
34 Yemen 4.16 2010
36 The Gambia 4.03 2015
37 Mexico 3.33 2013
38 Indonesia 3.24 2010
39 Sri Lanka 3.23 2009
40 Cameroon 3.15 2007
41 Guinea 3.12 2010
42 Senegal 2.89 2011
43 Kyrgyz Republic 2.88 2014
44 El Salvador 2.76 2013
44 Zambia 2.76 2008
46 Mongolia 2.68 2012
47 Cambodia 2.59 2012
48 Turkey 2.29 2006
49 Bolivia 2.23 2015
50 Tanzania 1.82 2014
51 Burkina Faso 1.59 2006
52 Moldova 1.49 2009
53 Guatemala 1.41 2015
54 Ghana 1.39 2012
55 Ecuador 0.31 2015
56 Namibia 0.20 1999
57 Madagascar 0.10 2007

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Development Relevance: In most countries more boys are involved in employment, or the gender difference is small. However, girls are often more present in hidden or underreported forms of employment such as domestic service, and in almost all societies girls bear greater responsibility for household chores in their own homes, work that lies outside the System of National Accounts production boundary and is thus not considered in estimates of children's employment.

Limitations and Exceptions: Although efforts are made to harmonize the definition of employment and the questions on employment in survey questionnaires, significant differences remain in the survey instruments that collect data on children in employment and in the sampling design underlying the surveys. Differences exist not only across different household surveys in the same country but also across the same type of survey carried out in different countries, so estimates of working children are not fully comparable across countries. In addition, the shares of three categories (self-employed workers, wage workers, and unpaid family workers) may not add up to 100 percent because of a residual category not included.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Data are from household surveys by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, and national statistical offices. The surveys yield data on education, employment, health, expenditure, and consumption indicators related to children's work. Since children's work is captured in the sense of "economic activity," the data refer to children in employment, a broader concept than child labor (see ILO 2009a for details on this distinction). Household survey data generally include information on work type - for example, whether a child is working for payment in cash or in kind or is involved in unpaid work, working for someone who is not a member of the household, or involved in any type of family work (on the farm or in a business). In line with the definition of economic activity adopted by the 13th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, the threshold set by the 1993 UN System of National Accounts for classifying a person as employed is to have been engaged at least one hour in any activity relating to the production of goods and services during the reference period. Children seeking work are thus excluded. Economic activity covers all market production and certain nonmarket production, including production of goods for own use. It excludes unpaid household services (commonly called "household chores") - that is, the production of domestic and personal services by household members for a household's own consumption. Country surveys define the ages for child labor as 5-17. The data here have been recalculated to present statistics for children ages 7-14.

Periodicity: Annual