Morocco: 200k Economically Active Children in 2019 (HCP)

Morocco counted, in 2019, 200,000 economically active children among the 7,271,000 children aged 7 to 17 years, marking a decrease of 23.5% compared to 2017, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP).

 Of these economically active children, 119,000 are engaged in hazardous work, which corresponds to an incidence rate of 1.6 per cent compared to 2.3 per cent in 2017, said the HCP in a statement on data from the 2019 national employment survey, issued on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour, which is celebrated on 12 June under the theme “Covid-19: Protect Children from Child Labour, Now More Than Ever”.

The same source added that 74.4% of the children involved in this type of work are from rural areas, 84% are male and 75.6% are between 15 and 17 years of age.

 The HCP also reported that four regions account for 68.1 per cent of children engaged in hazardous work, noting that Casablanca-Settat leads the way with 27.9 per cent, followed by Marrakech-Safi (16.1 per cent), Fez-Meknes (13.1 per cent) and Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (11 per cent).

 The HCP also pointed out that 12.1 per cent of children in hazardous work are in school, 83.7 per cent have left school and 4.3 per cent have never been to school.

 Furthermore, it indicated that hazardous child labour is still concentrated in certain economic sectors and differs according to place of residence. In rural areas, children engaged in this type of work are found in particular in the “agriculture, forestry and fishing” sector (75.4%). In cities, on the other hand, they are concentrated in “services” (54.8%) and “industry including crafts” (31.3%).