童工是指在工作场合下雇佣儿童，剥夺儿童的童年成长，干预他们正常上学，在精神上、身体上、社交上或道德上造成威胁或损害。许多国际组织都认为这一行为是剥削。世界立法机构都禁止童工。这些法律并不认为所有儿童从事的工作都是童工；例外如儿童艺术家、在监督下的训练，或是当地原着居民儿童所从事的劳动，等等。

童工在历史上广为流传。在1940年以前，5-14岁的儿童在欧洲、美国和其它殖民地劳动。这些儿童在农业、家庭作坊、工厂、矿山或做报童等。做夜班的有些一直干到12小时。随着家庭收入的上升，学校的兴起和童工法案的通过，童工率有所下降。

Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organisations. Legislation across the world prohibit child labour. These laws do not consider all work by children as child labour; exceptions include work by child artists, family duties, supervised training, certain categories of work such as those by Amish children, some forms of child work common among indigenous American children, and others.