Prevalence and correlates of child labour in five low-income countries: a descriptive study based on UNICEF Multiple
Nick Spencer1, Geir Gunnlaugsson2, Shanti Raman3,4
1Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of Warwick Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK N.J.Spencer@warwick.ac.uk.
Insights
Nearly half of children in five African nations are in child labor, with many in hazardous conditions. This highlights significant risks to their health and development, underscoring the need for protective measures.
Area of Science:
- Child health and development
- Global public health
- Socioeconomic factors influencing child welfare
Background:
- Child labor violates international conventions protecting children from hazardous work and developmental interference.
- The study addresses the critical need to understand child labor prevalence and contributing factors in low-income African nations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence and correlates of child labor in five low-income African countries.
- To analyze child labor rates across different demographics and work categories.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the sixth wave of UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS6) in Chad, Guinea Bissau, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
- Analyzed child labor prevalence (household chores, economic activity, hazardous work) stratified by gender, age, wealth quintile, and urban/rural residence.
Main Results:
- 42% of 140,598 children (aged 5-17) were engaged in child labor, with the highest rates in 12-14 year olds (61.1%).
- Rural children (47.5%) and those in the poorest quintile (46.9%) were significantly more likely to be in child labor compared to urban (25.6%) and wealthiest quintile (23.7%) children.
- Over one-third (35.3%) of working children faced hazardous conditions, with older, male, rural, or poor children disproportionately represented.
Conclusions:
- Child labor is highly prevalent in the studied sub-Saharan African countries, with a substantial proportion in hazardous work.
- While MICS6 data do not directly measure child labor's health impacts, the findings strongly suggest significant risks to children's health and development.
Background:
The Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children need to be protected from 'any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development'. We aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of child labour in five low-income African countries using the sixth wave of UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS6).
Methods:
Data on child labour, reported by the household respondent for a randomly selected child (5-17 years), were extracted from MICS6 reports from Chad, Guinea Bissau, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Togo. Prevalence rates were extracted from three categories of child labour (household chores, economic activity and hazardous work) stratified by gender, age, wealth and residence.
Results:
140 598 children aged 5-17 years (61.2% 5-11; 22.0% 12-14; 16.8% 15-17) were included in the reports; 59 090 (42%) were engaged in child labour. The highest proportion of child labourers by age was 12-14 years old (61.1%) followed by 15-17 years old (51.1%) and 5-11 years old (36.1%). There were differences between countries, with Chad having the highest proportion of working children. Gender differences in working were limited (43.9% boys vs 40.3% girls); rural children were almost twice as likely to be working compared with urban children (47.5% rural vs 25.6% urban) as were children in the poorest quintile compared with those in the wealthiest quintile (46.9% vs 23.7%). Over a third (35.3%) of working children were exposed to hazardous conditions. Older, male, rural or poor children were over-represented among those in hazardous work.
Conclusions:
Almost half of all children in these five sub-Saharan African countries are engaged in labour, of which one-third are in hazardous work. MICS6 surveys do not report on working children's health; however, working puts their health and development at risk.
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