The State of Children’s Rights & Business

Consumer Discretionary

Sector Focus

About this sector

Consumer Discretionary

Consumer Discretionary includes companies that produce and commercialise consumer goods.

A risk of child labour

Within the Consumer Discretionary sector, child labour is one of the most recognised negative impacts on children’s rights. But there are a number of other ways in which the rights of children are impacted – as dependents of workers, as workers themselves, and as community members surrounding factories and farms.  A concerted effort by industry bodies and individual companies is needed to understand how children are affected in all aspects by their business operations and value chains.

It’s also important to remember that children are consumers of the products produced by companies within this sector. Young people are vulnerable to harmful impacts from marketing and advertising, which must be conducted responsibly.

The sector includes the following industries:

  • Apparel & Footwear
  • Motor Vehicle & Parts – B2C
  • Passenger Transport
  • Retail

Read on to discover insights into the performance of this sector based on our unique benchmark series, The State of Children’s Rights and Business.

Want to know more?

How did this sector perform?

Watch a summary of the Consumer Discretionary 2024 Benchmark Results

Sector Scorecard

Consumer Discretionary

Need a summary of this sector’s benchmark performance?

Download Sector Scorecard
Top 5

Best performing companies

Since 2013, Global Child Forum has been benchmarking the world’s most influential companies, assessing how they respond to children’s rights. Our data can be used by corporates to increase their social impact, and for investors to inform their decision-making.

 

The scores in this top list come from the Global Benchmark 2024, and are based on the total selection of 1,802 companies – find out more about which companies were benchmarked here.

 

Choose your industry to the right to see the top five scoring companies. You can also search for a specific company name in the field below.

Select sector:
Company Average score
Wilmar International
PLDT
Hershey
Musim Mas
PepsiCo
Siemens
Bouygues Group
Owens Corning
Iberdrola
Holcim
Norsk Hydro
Lundin Mining
Teck Resources
Newmont
Suzano
Puma
ANTA
Kering
Fung Group
Hyundai Motor
Neste
Idemitsu Kosan
OMV
BP
Formosa Petrochemical
Lodha
Sun Life Financial
UOB
KB Financial Group
Maybank
Wilmar International
Hershey
Musim Mas
PepsiCo
Aldi Nord
Merck
Bayer
Sun Pharma
Aspen Pharmacare
Lupin
PLDT
Telenor
Verizon
Telia
Tele2
Governance &
Collaboration
Workplace
Marketplace
Community &
Environment

What can Consumer Discretionary learn from other sectors?

Collaboration with Other Partners
Best Practice: Wilmar International

See how Wilmar International reported to score 10 on indicator 1.3.2

Programmes - Minimum Employment Age
Best Practice: Millicom

See how Millicom reported to score 10 on indicator 2.3.2

Board Accountability
Best Practice: Shoprite Holdings

See how Shoprite Holdings reported to score 10 on indicator 1.2.1

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Matthew Goodwin

Head of Sustainable Investing

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Matthew is pioneering a new role at Global Child Forum as Head of Sustainable Investing, responsible for building Global Child Forum’s relationship with the financial services sector and ensuring that our sustainability data on children’s rights is made available to investors, asset managers and asset owners, helping them integrate children’s rights into their operations and investment decision-making process. Prior to joining Global Child Forum, he spent eight years at Lloyds Banking Group in London. Matthew studied Law and French at Université Paul Cézanne, Aix Marseille III and The University of Sheffield.
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Clémence Gervais

Benchmark manager

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Clémence is Global Child Forum’s Benchmark Manager. She oversees the realization of the Children's Rights and Business' Benchmark as well as GCF's Benchmark Report, the State of Children's Rights and Business, in partnership with BCG. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the French School of Public Health (EHESP), as well as a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Sciences Po Rennes (France). Before joining Global Child Forum, Clémence worked in several organizations in France, Peru, and Sweden, coordinating projects and missions related to social work and public health.
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