The complexities of intergenerational and gendered intra-household resource allocations are frequently overlooked in poverty reduction policies. To address this lacuna, this article focuses on links between macro-development policies and children's paid and unpaid work burden in Ethiopia. Using a mixed methods approach, quantitative household survey data results highlight the importance of household wealth and assets, family composition and access to education services, while the qualitative results underscore the role of culturally ascribed gendered and age-specific conceptualizations of work, parental attitudes and children's agency. The article concludes with a discussion of the challenges national development plans need to address to tackle childhood poverty more effectively.

The final published version of the article is available on the journal website.