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Non-adult child supervision practices in Lao People's Democratic Republic
Mónica Ruiz-Casares1, José Ignacio Nazif-Muñoz2
1Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Insights
Young children in Lao People's Democratic Republic are frequently left unsupervised or cared for by other children, especially in rural areas. This highlights critical gaps in child protection and supervision policies in low-income countries.
Area of Science:
- Child Development and Welfare
- Public Health Policy
- Socioeconomic Determinants of Health
Background:
- Limited research exists on child supervision practices in low-income countries.
- Understanding unsupervised child care is crucial for developing effective interventions.
- Non-adult child supervision poses significant risks to young children's safety and well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence of young children being home alone or cared for by another child in Lao People's Democratic Republic.
- To identify factors associated with these unsupervised care arrangements.
- To inform policy development for enhanced child protection in low-income settings.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the 2011-2012 Lao Social Indicator Survey.
- Employed multi-level Poisson regression analyses.
- Examined subsamples for children home alone (N=10,740) and children cared for by another child (N=10,539).
Main Results:
- Significant provincial and urban-rural disparities in child supervision were observed.
- Children in rural areas were over five times more likely to be unsupervised (IRR 5.2) and nearly twice as likely to be cared for by another child (IRR 1.9) compared to urban children.
- Child's age was a significant factor influencing both unsupervised care and care by another child.
Conclusions:
- Rurality is a key factor associated with increased risk of unsupervised child care.
- Existing child care and supervision policies require adaptation to address rural-specific vulnerabilities.
- Targeted interventions considering geographic disparities are essential to improve child protection in Lao People's Democratic Republic and similar settings.
Abstract:
Researchers have paid little attention to non-adult child supervision and the prevalence and factors influencing this practice in low-income countries. A better understanding of this phenomenon is needed to inform the development and implementation of policies and interventions to enhance child supervision in those settings. This study explores the prevalence and factors associated with young children being home alone or under the care of another young child in Lao People's Democratic Republic. Using the 2011-2012 Lao Social Indicator Survey (N = 10,740 for the subsample of 'child was home alone' and N = 10,539 for the subsample of 'child cared by another child < 10 years of age'), multi-level Poisson regressions were performed to determine the number of days children under five years of age were home alone or under the care of another child younger than 10 years of age. Large discrepancies across provinces and between urban and rural populations within each province were found. Children living in rural areas were more than five times more likely to be unsupervised than children living in urban settings (incidence rate ratio, IRR 5.2; 95% CI: 1.8-15.2), and children living in rural areas were nearly twice more likely to be under the care of another child than children living in urban settings (IRR 1.9; 95% CI: 1.3-2.8). Age was also a common factor in explaining variation in both dependent variables. Policies aimed at facilitating adequate child care and supervision should consider rurality to increase children's protection.