WORLD Policy Analysis Center

What is the minimum age for hazardous work?

This map tells us whether countries legislate a national minimum age for hazardous work and what that age is.

Hazardous work is work that is harmful to children’s health, safety or morals.

For countries that define hazardous work in their legislation, that definition was used.

For countries that do not define hazardous work, we used the International Labour Organization’s definition: “(a) work which exposes children to physical, psychological or sexual abuse; (b) work underground, under water, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces; (c) work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; (d) work in an unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose children to hazardous substances, agents, or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging to their health; (e) work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for long hours or during the night or work where the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer.”

In cases where countries do not specify a separate minimum age for hazardous work, but do have a minimum age for admission to employment, the latter age was used based on the assumption that if children are not permitted to work, they are not permitted to do hazardous work, and similarly that once they reach the minimum working age, they will be permitted to engage in hazardous work.

Countries

Marshall Islands - No national minimum age

Micronesia, Federated States of - No national minimum age

Palau - No national minimum age

San Marino - No national minimum age

Tonga - No national minimum age

Australia - 14 or 15 years old

Belize - 14 or 15 years old

Croatia - 14 or 15 years old

Dominica - 14 or 15 years old

New Zealand - 14 or 15 years old

Oman - 14 or 15 years old

Pakistan - 14 or 15 years old

Solomon Islands - 14 or 15 years old

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - 14 or 15 years old

Eswatini - 14 or 15 years old

Tuvalu - 14 or 15 years old

Antigua and Barbuda - 16 or 17 years old

Barbados - 16 or 17 years old

Canada - 16 or 17 years old

Cabo Verde - 16 or 17 years old

Chad - 16 or 17 years old

Republic of the Congo - 16 or 17 years old

Hungary - 16 or 17 years old

Israel - 16 or 17 years old

Jordan - 16 or 17 years old

Democratic People's Republic of Korea - 16 or 17 years old

Lebanon - 16 or 17 years old

Mali - 16 or 17 years old

Myanmar - 16 or 17 years old

Namibia - 16 or 17 years old

Nepal - 16 or 17 years old

Nigeria - 16 or 17 years old

Portugal - 16 or 17 years old

Qatar - 16 or 17 years old

Singapore - 16 or 17 years old

Somalia - 16 or 17 years old

Syria - 16 or 17 years old

Timor-Leste - 16 or 17 years old

United Arab Emirates - 16 or 17 years old

Zambia - 16 or 17 years old

Afghanistan - 18 years old

Albania - 18 years old

Algeria - 18 years old

Andorra - 18 years old

Angola - 18 years old

Argentina - 18 years old

Armenia - 18 years old

Austria - 18 years old

Azerbaijan - 18 years old

Bahamas - 18 years old

Bahrain - 18 years old

Bangladesh - 18 years old

Belarus - 18 years old

Belgium - 18 years old

Benin - 18 years old

Bhutan - 18 years old

Bolivia - 18 years old

Bosnia and Herzegovina - 18 years old

Botswana - 18 years old

Brazil - 18 years old

Brunei - 18 years old

Bulgaria - 18 years old

Burkina Faso - 18 years old

Burundi - 18 years old

Cambodia - 18 years old

Cameroon - 18 years old

Central African Republic - 18 years old

Chile - 18 years old

China - 18 years old

Colombia - 18 years old

Comoros - 18 years old

Democratic Republic of the Congo - 18 years old

Costa Rica - 18 years old

Cote d'Ivoire - 18 years old

Cuba - 18 years old

Czech Republic - 18 years old

Denmark - 18 years old

Djibouti - 18 years old

Dominican Republic - 18 years old

Ecuador - 18 years old

Egypt - 18 years old

El Salvador - 18 years old

Equatorial Guinea - 18 years old

Eritrea - 18 years old

Estonia - 18 years old

Ethiopia - 18 years old

Fiji - 18 years old

Finland - 18 years old

France - 18 years old

Gabon - 18 years old

The Gambia - 18 years old

Georgia - 18 years old

Germany - 18 years old

Ghana - 18 years old

Greece - 18 years old

Greenland - 18 years old

Grenada - 18 years old

Guatemala - 18 years old

Guinea - 18 years old

Guinea-Bissau - 18 years old

Guyana - 18 years old

Haiti - 18 years old

Honduras - 18 years old

Iceland - 18 years old

India - 18 years old

Indonesia - 18 years old

Iran - 18 years old

Iraq - 18 years old

Ireland - 18 years old

Italy - 18 years old

Jamaica - 18 years old

Japan - 18 years old

Kazakhstan - 18 years old

Kenya - 18 years old

Kiribati - 18 years old

Republic of Korea - 18 years old

Kuwait - 18 years old

Kyrgyzstan - 18 years old

Laos - 18 years old

Latvia - 18 years old

Lesotho - 18 years old

Liberia - 18 years old

Libya - 18 years old

Liechtenstein - 18 years old

Lithuania - 18 years old

Luxembourg - 18 years old

North Macedonia - 18 years old

Malawi - 18 years old

Malaysia - 18 years old

Maldives - 18 years old

Malta - 18 years old

Mauritania - 18 years old

Mauritius - 18 years old

Mexico - 18 years old

Moldova - 18 years old

Mongolia - 18 years old

Montenegro - 18 years old

Morocco - 18 years old

Mozambique - 18 years old

The Netherlands - 18 years old

Nicaragua - 18 years old

Norway - 18 years old

Panama - 18 years old

Papua New Guinea - 18 years old

Paraguay - 18 years old

Peru - 18 years old

The Philippines - 18 years old

Poland - 18 years old

Romania - 18 years old

Russian Federation - 18 years old

Rwanda - 18 years old

Samoa - 18 years old

Sao Tome and Principe - 18 years old

Saudi Arabia - 18 years old

Senegal - 18 years old

Serbia - 18 years old

Seychelles - 18 years old

Sierra Leone - 18 years old

Slovakia - 18 years old

Slovenia - 18 years old

South Africa - 18 years old

South Sudan - 18 years old

Spain - 18 years old

Sri Lanka - 18 years old

St. Lucia - 18 years old

Sudan - 18 years old

Suriname - 18 years old

Sweden - 18 years old

Switzerland - 18 years old

Tajikistan - 18 years old

Tanzania - 18 years old

Thailand - 18 years old

Togo - 18 years old

Trinidad and Tobago - 18 years old

Tunisia - 18 years old

Türkiye - 18 years old

Turkmenistan - 18 years old

Uganda - 18 years old

Ukraine - 18 years old

United Kingdom - 18 years old

United States of America - 18 years old

Uruguay - 18 years old

Uzbekistan - 18 years old

Vanuatu - 18 years old

Venezuela - 18 years old

Vietnam - 18 years old

Yemen - 18 years old

Zimbabwe - 18 years old