Ammon News - The number of children working around the world has risen by 160 million children laborers, a joint study by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) indicated.

The study showed that the number of child laborers increased by 8.4 million in the past four years due to the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report, published on the UN official website, warned that this is the first rise in child labor in two decades, noting that another nine million children will be pushed into child labor by the end of 2022.

It said economic disruptions and school closures following the COVID-19 pandemic could push children already in child labor to work longer hours and under worsening conditions. Many more children, the report said, risk being forced into the worst forms of child labor due to job and income losses among vulnerable families.

A full 79 million children were considered to be doing such hazardous work at the start of 2020, up 6.5 million from four years earlier, the report showed.