"The categories generally used to study child labour in “developing countries” are not sufficient -in fact, not right- for studying the same phenomenon in industrialised countries. The point is that dividing lines between child working and child exploitation, schooling and work, socialization and exclusion by child working, become blurred when looking at the relations that exist between similar categories in African and Asian countries where child labour, sometimes in its most appalling form, is a visible fact that has long been studied, resulting in a large body of statistical and social research facts and figures.In Europe, however -both in the EU and Eastern Europe- child labour is a signally under-researched and -reported issue. The popular view is that child labour has been rooted out of our Western societies. Not so, however, and it would be instructive to look more closely at the forms it takes in economically advanced countries. Understanding and identifying the similarities and differences between how the different regions approach the state of childhood and adolescence will help lay the foundations of future strategies, policies and action plans to stamp out social inequalities."

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