15% of the World’s Most Influential Companies Fail to Protect Children, Raising Urgent Concerns

Today, Global Child Forum and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released their largest benchmark report to date, assessing over 1,800 of the world’s largest and most influential companies.

The findings reveal a troubling decline in corporate scores for protecting children’s rights, marking one of the lowest average scores since the benchmark was established and a significant 12% drop from 2023. Notably, 15% of the assessed companies have also failed to demonstrate any meaningful actions to safeguard children across critical areas such as supply chains, advertising practices, and community impact.

A key factor in the sharp decline is the expansion of the assessment from 795 companies last year to over 1,800 this year. This broader evaluation has revealed that a significant number of these newly assessed companies have not adequately addressed their responsibilities regarding children’s rights, contributing to the drop in overall scores.

“The findings are deeply concerning,” said Ekin Björstedt, Secretary General of Global Child Forum. “It is alarming to see so many influential companies – especially in sectors like IT and financial services – fail to explicitly mention children in their policies or reporting, with little to no programmes addressing their impact on children’s rights.”

Despite the challenges, there are positive developments. More than half of the companies benchmarked in previous years showed improvements, with 56% making strides in their efforts to protect children. Nordic companies, in particular, have demonstrated notable leadership.

The report further highlights regional disparities, with many companies in lower-income regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia, lagging behind their counterparts in Europe and North America, where stricter reporting requirements drive greater accountability.

Sector performance also varied significantly, with the healthcare sector emerging as the highest-performing industry, overtaking technology and telecommunications, which previously led.

The energy and financial sectors ranked among the lowest, showing minimal progress in addressing children’s rights despite having some of the highest revenues globally.

Despite the extensive use of the internet for social connection among young people, the IT Software and Services (B2C) industry – a sub-sector of the Tech and Telecom sector – also performed the poorest within its category, with an average score of just 4.4 out of 10. This raises serious concerns, given the growing focus on youth mental health.

“These results are a wake-up call, underscoring the urgent need for stronger regulation and greater transparency to drive meaningful progress,” said Johan Öberg, Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG. “While some companies are stepping up, the data makes it clear that far too many are still falling short and that prioritising children’s rights must be at the forefront of corporate agendas.”

Media Contacts:

Jenny Harler
+46 73 904 8585
jenny.harler@scencia.com

Linda Ravin Lodding
+46 72 387 0248
linda.lodding@globalchildforum.org

Founded in 2009 by the Swedish Royal Family, Global Child Forum is a leading forum for children’s rights and business dedicated to innovative thinking, knowledge-sharing and networking. Global Child Forum believes in the power and responsibility of business, working in partnership with all parts of society, to create a prosperous, sustainable and just society for the world’s children. In addition to forums, Global Child Forum delivers research perspectives, best practices and risk assessment tools designed to unlock opportunities for business to integrate children’s rights into their operations and communities. For more information, please visit: www.globalchildforum.org.