The majority of children in sub-Saharan Africa are engaged in some form of work, whether paid or unpaid. In Ethiopia, evidence from Young Lives shows that 90 per cent of 8 year olds undertook some form of work. Understanding how work affects children’s development and well-being, including their schooling, is critical for designing more effective child protection policies. We examine how work impacts on children’s opportunities to learn, physical health and subjective well-being.

Children and Work: Key Findings

• Children face competing pressures on their time from working and attending school. Working may be essential to pay for school related costs but repeated absence often leads to children dropping out.
• Work can have both positive and negative impacts on children’s well-being and children take pride in being able to contribute to their families’ livelihoods.
• Poverty, shocks and adverse events, such as illness or death of caregivers, are common causes of child work.
• Promoting children’s well-being and development requires an integrated approach which addresses the broader social and economic context. Key is child-sensitive social protection, which targets the age- and gender-specific risks and vulnerabilities of children and avoids adverse impacts.

This Brief draws on research presented at an East African Regional Symposium on Child Work/Child Labour hosted by Young Lives and Save the Children, with the support of the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), in Addis Ababa. The symposium was funded by the Oak Foundation and opened by the Chair of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. It brought together researchers, policymakers and practitioners from across Africa to share findings on children’s work and to stimulate regional action towards the development of better policies and practices for child protection.

Reference

Children's Well-being and Work in Sub-Saharan Africa, ACPF/Save the Children/Young Lives Policy Brief, June 2014

Presentations from the Symposium are available on Slideshare:

Tatek Abebe: Reframing Children’s Work in Ethiopia Using the Lens of Political Economy Perspective.

Michael Bourdillon: Child Work in Africa: Distinctive Features.

Gina Crivello, Alula Pankhurst and Agazi Tiumelissan: Comparisons of Case Studies of Child Work in Young Lives Sites in Ethiopia.

Lemlem Fisseha: Child Labour: A Legal and Human Rights Perspective.

Ibtisam Satti Ibrahim: Child Labor in Sudan: Factors and Repercussions.

Emebet Mulugeta: Children Sustaining Families: A Look into the Lives of Working Children in Addis Ababa.

Felix Muramutsa: Protection of Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children Working in Tea Production: Best Practices of Winrock International.

Magdelene Muoki: Policy and Practice on Child Labour in Kenya.

Eric Ochen: Forced Child Labour during Armed Conflict in Northern Uganda: Implications for Post-conflict Reintegration.

Yisak Tafere: Child Work and Education: Examples from Young Lives Sites in Ethiopia.

Gladwell Wambiri: Compatibility of Work and School: Informal School-Work Arrangements in Central Kenya.

Anslem Wandega: Emerging Good Practices on Involving Children in Implementing Child Labor Free Zones in Uganda.

Josephine Wouango: Children’s Perspectives on their Working Lives and on Public Action against Child Labour in Burkina Faso.

Saleshi Zeleke: Child Work as Viewed by Children Themselves: Positive and Negative Features.