The United Nations estimates that 250 million children around the world are forced to work so their familes can survive. Even in countries where child labor laws exist, such as the U.S., they are not always enforced.

Click here to learn about the history of child labor, major child labor issues and child labor laws in the United States

One organization that helps kids fight child-labor abuses is Free the Children. The organization has two main purposes:

• To free children from poverty and abuse.
• To give children a voice, leadership training, and opportunities to take action on issues which affect them from a local to an international level.

Child labor doesn't just happen in poor countries, it also happens here in the United States. Read the New York Times article 'Farm Work by Children Tests Labor Laws' and learn about:

• Illegal child labor in the U.S.
• How child labor affects the kids who must work for little money under terrible conditions from the kids themselves.

UNICEF, an organization of the United Nations, works to protect the rights of children around the world. UNICEF seeks to educate children and adults so that all children may have the opportunity to live a safe and healthy life. After you read about child rights, you can do a search on child labor to:

• Learn about children who are forced to work as soldiers in Uganda.
• Talk to a child labor expert.