Child labour is widespread in home based manufacturing activities in the informal sector in most developing countries. This form of child labour will not attract the penal provisions of a country's laws banning child labour. This paper draws on surveys carried out in five Asian countries - two low-income (India, Pakistan) and three middle-income countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand) - where production of manufactured goods is subcontracted to home based workers widely. It examines the incidence of child work in such households, the child's schooling, reasons why children are working, their work conditions, their health, and gender issues. To download the pdf version of the document, visit: www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/iwp96.pdf For more information, contact: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre Piazza SS. Annunziata, 12, 50122 Florence, Italy Tel: 00 39 55 20330; Fax: 00 39 55 244 817; Email: florence@unicef.org Website: www.unicef-icdc.org Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3461&flag=report