Victor Caranqui's vocational school in a rough part of Quito is noisy, drafty and in disrepair. He gets up early. He wears a uniform. There's a schedule to keep. And the studies can give the 15-year-old boy fits. But Victor is happy to be there. School sure beats a job.

For two years, Victor was like millions of youngsters across Latin America who spend their time at work instead of in the classroom.

Victor's job was sorting garbage to recycle. Luzgarda Callapina Chani, a 15-year-old girl with a shy smile and a heartbreaking story, keeps house. Luis Negron Huanca is an apprentice baker with big dreams. And Augusto Huamani Chino? A shoeshine boy.

None of these kids is 16 yet, but all have been working for more than a third of their lives.

Yet amid the tales of hardship—and Luzgarda, Luis and Augusto have many—things are getting better.

The number of working children age 5 to 14 plummeted by about 66 percent in Latin America between 2000 and 2004, according to the International Labor Organization. Less dramatic but still significant gains were made among youngsters in the 15-17 age bracket, according to World Trade Organization statistics.

The progress shows that not all social problems are intractable. It shows that government and private business can work together to address even the most daunting challenges. And it shows that developing countries are learning that short-term costs in protecting their young can pay long-term dividends.

The benefits go far beyond a chance for children to enjoy an irretrievable part of their childhood. Getting children to hit the books rather than punch the clock helps countries as a whole.

Children start out as unskilled laborers and, generally, stay that way. Education gives them a shot at something more: the time and resources to develop skills that they, and their countries, will need to compete in a globalized economy.

Studies in Brazil show strong links between poverty being passed down from generation to generation and the tradition of child labor being passed down as well. Researchers also tie Vietnam's explosive growth and recent success against poverty into a virtuous circle of declining child labor rates.

An International Labor Organization study said eliminating child labor in Latin America could produce $340 billion in benefits over the next two decades. That's more than three times the $105 billion that the study estimated it would cost to achieve that goal.

Those benefits depend, of course, on the children getting access to education and health care that they miss by working.