Although the internationally recommended minimum age for work is 15 years and the number of child workers under the age of 10 is far from negligible, almost all the data available on child labour concerns the 10-to-14 age group.
Traditionally, the protection of working children has been much higher in rural than in urban areas?nine out of ten are engaged in agricultural or related activities. In the towns and cities of India where child labour has increased steadily as a result on the rapid urbanization of recent years, working children are found mainly in trade and service and to a lesser extent in the manufacturing section.