child labour

British

noun

the full-time employment of children below a minimum age laid down by statute

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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There is no unified definition of a child or child labour in Pakistan, although a federal law prohibits children under the age of 14 from working in unsafe and hazardous environments, such as factories.

From Barron's • Oct. 13, 2025

Laws pertaining to child labour can vary across the country, but children under the age of 15 cannot be employed as domestic workers in the province of Punjab.

From BBC • Feb. 18, 2025

Producers are supposed to monitor their entire supply chain to make sure there is no child labour.

From BBC • Aug. 26, 2024

Under the new rules, any child labour or forced labour violations have become grounds for immediate termination of contracts.

From BBC • Aug. 23, 2024

Several school medical officers report on the question of child labour during 1909.

From Boy Labour and Apprenticeship by Bray, Reginald Arthur

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023