Guatemala

Regarding child labor and its worst forms, in Guatemala nearly 350,000 boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 14 are working, according to estimates by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MINTRAB) based on the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure (ENIGH) 2022–2023. This represents 17.8% of the population in that age range.

According to the National Survey on Living Conditions (ENCOVI) 2023, the number of working children under 14 is 341,454, marking an increase compared to 2011, though lower than the 519,503 recorded in 2000, reflecting a rise in risk factors.

Of the children who work: two out of three are Maya, 60.8% work without pay, and 57.6% are employed in agriculture.

Those most affected are between 14 and 17 years old, and the highest incidence occurs in departments with large indigenous populations, which also concentrate the highest rates of chronic malnutrition and low school coverage.

The Worst Forms of Child Labor, as defined by ILO Convention 182 (ratified by Guatemala in 2001), include slavery, trafficking, forced labor, sexual exploitation, and hazardous work.

The following modalities are documented in Guatemala:

1. Trafficking and labor exploitation: Between January and May 2025, the Office for Children and Adolescents (PNA) received 278 complaints of economic exploitation of children and adolescents: 254 cases of trafficking and labor exploitation, and 24 of forced begging. Throughout 2024, 601 complaints were documented and 35 children were rescued.
2. Commercial sexual exploitation: Traffickers exploit Guatemalan minors through forced labor such as begging, street vending, and street performing, particularly in Guatemala City and along the border with Mexico. Online sexual exploitation of minors has also been recorded through live internet broadcasts.
3. Recruitment by organized crime: Criminal organizations, including gangs (maras), exploit girls in sex trafficking and coerce urban children and youth into selling or transporting drugs, participating in extortion, or committing murder.
4. Hazardous industrial work: Documented hazardous activities include garment manufacturing, chemical production, fireworks manufacturing, and gemstone polishing, among others, causing respiratory diseases, poisoning, burns, eye injuries, and hearing loss.”
5. Child domestic work: Girls are the most affected in domestic work; the hours and responsibilities placed on them often prevent access to education or medical care, and expose them to physical and sexual abuse.
6. Work in garbage dumps: In landfills, approximately 82% of child workers suffer cuts or other injuries; 56% experience eye burns from decomposition gases, and 40% suffer headaches due to sun exposure.

Guatemala is one of the countries that has developed, with the support of the ILO and ECLAC, a Child Labor Risk Identification Model (MIRTI) — Guatemala, within the framework of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labor.

The MIRTI is a model that identifies which municipalities have the highest likelihood of child labor, to concentrate preventive efforts there. It is based on data from the 2018 Census and the ENCOVI 2014.

Key data for Guatemala include:

• 18.2% of children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 are employed
• The most affected group: ages 14–17 (34.5% employed in that range)
• 71% of employment in the country is informal
• 59.3% of the population lives in poverty; 23.4% in extreme poverty
• 43.7% of the population is indigenous

The 18 municipalities with the highest risk (>80%) are concentrated in Alta Verapaz (14 municipalities), Baja Verapaz (2), and Chiquimula (2).

The MIRTI identifies four risk factors:

1. Mother’s employment outside the home — multiplies risk by 2.7 (up to 6 times in Petén)
2. Belonging to an indigenous people — doubles risk nationally; triples it in the Northern Region
3. Rurality — increases risk by 1.7 times (up to 3 times in the Northern Region)
4. School lag — multiplies risk by 1.2

Among the public policy recommendations, the document proposes actions in five areas: formalization of female employment with childcare services; priority attention to indigenous peoples; rural development and infrastructure; strengthening of health and education systems; and culturally relevant awareness campaigns.”