Child Labor and School Enrollment Statistics using MICS: Work and Hazardous Work Estimates for 47 Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Deborah Levison, University of Minnesota
Deborah S. DeGraff, Bowdoin College
Anna Bolgrien, University of Minnesota

SDG 8.7 aims to eliminate the worst forms of child labor and, by 2025, end child labor in all its forms. Despite the SDG inclusion, addressing harmful child labor has largely fallen off global policy budgets in recent decades. MICS6 data on work hazards can help target children most likely to be in highly problematic work. This paper presents estimates of child labor force participation from pooled IPUMS MICS round 6 data from 47 low- and middle-income countries with a focus on exposure to work hazards for 5-17 year-olds. Participation in chores in a child’s own home is also estimated. Completed estimates by gender, age group, and urban/rural show that some kinds of hazards are very common, and that many children experience either hazardous working conditions or are engaged in work with some level of risk of harm. Reducing hazards with higher probabilities of harm would contribute to the wellbeing of young workers. Additional estimates in progress include interactions between work, work hazards and school enrollment. Initial findings show more hazards reported for non-enrolled children. As a side product, a dataset of estimates can be made publicly available.

Keywords: Human Capital, Education, and Work, Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Population and Development, Economic Demography

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