In developing countries, child labour is often used in agriculture, manufacturing and services such as domestic help, and in many places, it is prohibited (see Child labour laws ).
In developed countries, employment of children is illegal. Children’s rights advocates argue that child labour is harmful to children, and that it interferes with their schooling, trapping them in a cycle of poverty.

They further argue that child labour undercuts adult wages and that the practice violates children’s rights, which include the right to education, the right to be protected from economic exploitation, and the right to be protected from performing jobs that are hazardous. Cases of child labour, when it is illegal, are seen as a violation of human rights and public morals.