Brazil Reports Record Child Labor Removals After Intensified Inspections

Overview

• The federal government reported on Friday that 4,318 children and adolescents were removed from child labor in 2025 after 10,234 labor inspections, the highest annual number recorded by the Labor Inspection in the last decade.
• Inspections continued in early 2026, with 2,901 actions between January and April that led to 1,108 removals and a higher share of worst-form cases at about 76.99 percent.
• National survey data show the problem is far larger than administrative removals alone: IBGE estimated 1.6 million children in work in 2024, including about 560,000 in the most dangerous or exploitative activities.
• A review of court decisions recorded roughly 26,000 rulings from 2020–2025, about 80 percent involving children up to age 14, and judges have in some cases validated childhood work years for pension purposes or ordered damages and medical treatment for victims.
• Inspections have focused on sectors long linked to child labor—retail, street food, restaurants, supermarkets, mechanical workshops, some industry and agriculture—and the highest removal totals came from states such as Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, a pattern that concentrates harm and points to where protection and social services must expand.