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Child Work and Labor among Orphaned and Abandoned Children in 5 Less Wealthy Nations

Child Work and Labor among Orphaned and Abandoned Children in 5 Less Wealthy Nations. Rachel Whetten , MPH Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research Duke University Tuesday, April 5 th 2011. Children and Work – What do we know?. 215 Million children - child labor

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Child Work and Labor among Orphaned and Abandoned Children in 5 Less Wealthy Nations

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  1. Child Work and Labor among Orphaned and Abandoned Children in 5 Less Wealthy Nations Rachel Whetten, MPH Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research Duke University Tuesday, April 5th 2011

  2. Children and Work – What do we know? • 215 Million children - child labor • 2004-2008 - Recent decrease overall BUT increase by 7% in boys and ages 15-17 see 20% increase • Little empirical data related to OAC and child labor • Hypothesize OAC and child labor associations

  3. What is work and what is ‘too much’ work? • UNICEF Definition of Child Labor (focus on health) • Hazardous work • 28 hrs/more a week of any kind of work (under age 15) • ILO - fewer hours used as cut-off (worried about education) • Unpaid labor/chores

  4. Positive Outcomes for Orphans - POFO Longitudinal study over 3000 children to examine the effects of: • life events • Placement (family, inst, alt. care) • caregiver characteristics • cultural setting on the children’s: 1) behavioral and emotional adjustment; 2) learning and development; and 3) health outcomes

  5. POFO Methods - Sample • Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO) sampled 1,480 OAC ages 6-12 living in family settings in 309 randomly selected clusters in 5 countries (6 sites): India (Hyderabad, Nagaland), Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania • 50 sampling ‘clusters’ • Geographic and political boundaries • Four of six clusters equal urban/rural split

  6. POFO – Sampling cont. definitions • Family dwelling selection: single or double orphan or child abandoned by both parents who was living in a family situation as opposed to an institution or on the streets • Five children from each sampling ‘cluster’; chosen from available list or house-to-house census • Caregiver Selection: Children’s self-identified primary caregiver (n=1480)

  7. POFO –Methods • Interviewers trained • Baseline data collected between May 2006 and April 2007 continues thru 2008 • Informed Consent by all caregivers • Assent by all children • Ethical approval by Duke University IRB and local and national IRB’s at each site

  8. POFO – Child Labor Measures • Child Measures: caregivers reported on demographics, school attendance, relationships to caregiver(s), child health

  9. Child Labor Measures • Child labor measures: ask caregiver: “During the past week did the child do any kind of work for anyone who is not a member of this household?” “During the past week did child engage in household chores such as farming, child care or other housework?” “Approximately how many hours for each activity?”

  10. Caregiver Measures • Caregivers reported on: demographics, education, health, income, and # of children they care for • Wealth Index constructed comparable to DHS summarizing assets and physical characteristics of households

  11. Child Characteristics

  12. Caregiver Characteristics • Majority are female (85.3%) and avg. 42.5 years old • More than half widowed (61.3%) • 46.5% reported in good or very good health; 19.9% reported poor or very poor health • 29% reported no income • Mean years of education = 5.3 • Caring for average of 3 children (sd=2.1)

  13. Schooling Associations • OAC not attending school were 4 times more likely to engage in child labor than those in school (AOR=5.04, not causal just association) • Children engaged in child labor were twice as likely to not attend school compared to those working less than 28 hours • School attendance significantly associated with working vs. not working, not associated with working < 21 hours or 21-27 hours therefore significance driven by child labor

  14. Conclusions • OACs are at risk • One in seven OAC engaged in child labour. • female OAC, particularly in rural areas and poor households. • Target the family/household, not just the child/orphan – caregivers need care in order to care for the OACs

  15. Conclusions • Burden on girl children • Need to further examine influence of 21 – 27 hours of work on child schooling • Study supports UNICEF definition of 28 hours or more

  16. Limitations • Caregiver report thus possible under-representation • Lack of detail on work (Chores/work delineation and hazardous work) • Past week reference (seasonal differences in work/labor patterns) • Need longitudinal data to see if increased work burden results in decreased schooling and poor health

  17. Nagaland District, IN Hyderabad, IN Battambang District, KH Addis Ababa, ET Bungoma District, KE Kilimanjaro Region, TZ

  18. http://pofostudy.org

  19. For more information about POFO, please see the study website at http://pofostudy.org

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