Between October and December 2021, more than 508,000 children were reported in child labour, according to DANE

In the most recent report, the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) revealed that child labour rates in Colombia increased from 5 to 4.8% between the fourth quarter of 2020 and that of 2021. A reduction of one percentage point compared to what was recorded between October and December 2019 (5.8%).

During the October-December 2021 quarter, more than 508,000 minors were reported within the working population between 5 and 17 years of age. This represents a reduction of 9,000 minors in child labour compared to the same period in 2020.

Of the 508,000 children engaged in child labour, 346,000 are men and 161,000 are women. In addition, of the total, 171,000 are aged between 5 and 14 years, and 337,000 are in the range of 15 to 17 years.

According to the Dane report, the main reason children work (40.1% of cases) is because they must participate in the family's economic activity; 30.8% indicated that they like to work to have their own money; and 13.9% said they must contribute with household expenses or help pay for the study.

The activity that most concentrated child labour was agriculture, livestock, hunting, forestry and fishing (45.6% participation). It was followed by trade and repair of vehicles (18.4 per cent) and manufacturing industries (11.6 per cent).

The Global Employment Rate, which refers to the ratio between the economically active population and those considered to be of working age, and the Unemployment Rate and the labor force in Colombia.

Overall, there was a significant recovery at the national level in the labour market, although some departments did not achieve positive results. One of the most notable points of the statistics is that the national unemployment rate fell 2.2 percentage points in 2021, compared to 2020.

Nariño was one of the departments that recorded negative figures, 1.1 percent, while the worst was Norte de Santander, which fell 2.8 percentage points. Even, the latter was together with the Meta, the territories with the highest unemployment figures, 18.1%, Quindio also recorded the worst figures in this regard with 17.5%.

The reported data show that the Meta department has 414,000 workers available, of whom approximately 91,000 are unemployed. The largest number of workers are in trade-related activities and vehicle repair, while the least seen is in jobs such as: “Mining and quarrying; supply of electricity, gas, water and waste management; information and communications; financial and insurance activities; real estate activities” . This same behavior occurs in Norte de Santander, according to DANE.

In terms of the employed population, by department, in 2021, the largest increases occurred in Cesar with 12.2% and Quindio with 11.8%, on the other hand, the reductions in Chocó of 11.3% and 0.5% in Córdoba, are the most outstanding.

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