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Explaining variation in child labour estimates

Explaining variation in child labour estimates. Claudia Cappa, Statistics and Monitoring Section, UNICEF NY ccappa@unicef.org. Objectives. Review concepts, definitions, data sources and measurement tools

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Explaining variation in child labour estimates

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  1. Explaining variation in child labour estimates Claudia Cappa, Statistics and Monitoring Section, UNICEF NY ccappa@unicef.org

  2. Objectives • Review concepts, definitions, data sources and measurement tools • Describe some of the methodological challenges related to the measurement of child labour • Present current and planned activities in this area

  3. Background • Legal standards define the problem and the underlying concepts in general terms • Child labourers: children who are too young to work and children involved in work potentially harmful to their physical, psychological, social or educational development • Difference between child labour and child work • Currently there is no internationally accepted measure of child labour • Controversial elements: how to quantify harm/hazard

  4. Parameters for measuring child labour • Age of the child : 5-11, 12-14, 15-17 • Type of activities (economic, unpaid household services, worst forms of child labour other than hazardous work) • Intensity of work (i.e. average number of hours spent in a week) • Working conditions (heavy loads, confined spaces, dust/fumes, etc.)

  5. Work activities • Economic activity = any paid or unpaid work for someone who is not a member of the household or work for a family farm or business (1993 UN System of National Accounts – activities included in GDP) • Unpaid household services (household chores) = cooking, cleaning, washing, shopping and caring for children, old or sick people

  6. Differences between UNICEF and ILO

  7. Nature of the differences • Differences in questionnaire (content, structure and respondents) • Differences in operational definitions/indicators • Differences in reporting • Differences in implementation protocols and technical assistance Different country estimates Different global estimates

  8. Differences in child labour estimates

  9. UNICEF’S and ILO’s standard definitions • UNICEF = involvement in unpaid household services and/or in economic activities • Children aged 5–11 years engaged in at least 1 hour of economic work or 28 hours of domestic work per week • Children aged 12–14 years engaged in at least 14 hours of economic work or 28 hours of domestic work per week • Children aged 15-17 years engaged in at least 43 hours of economic work or domestic work per week • Children of any age in hazardous working conditions • ILO = involvement in economic activitiesonly • Children aged 5–11 years engaged in at least 1 hour of economic work • Children aged 12–14 years engaged in at least 14 hours of economic work • Children aged 15-17 years engaged in at least 43 hours of economic work • Children of any age in hazardous working conditions

  10. In bold: Denote activities that are considered child labor. Reference: adapted from Dayioglu (2012).

  11. SIMPOC surveys • Commissioned by governments and implemented with technical support from ILO • Not conducted at regular intervals • Some 60 surveys conducted so far since 1993 • Use module questionnaire (with country adaptations) but national definitions of child labour used to calculate prevalence

  12. The case of Rwanda: national definition • Child Labour Survey of 2008 • Child labourers: children aged 5-17 in economic activities before the minimum age of admission to employment (16 years of age) • NOT included (regardless of the intensity of work): children helping parents around the house, assisting in a family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays • Applying the national definition, only 6.6% of children aged 5-17 years were considered child labourers

  13. Impact of fetching water/collecting firewoodon child labour estimates

  14. Background • Fetching water and collecting firewood included in the UN System of National Accounts (SNA) as economic activities (1993, Statistical Commission) • MICS3 = fetching water or collecting firewood as household chores (at least 28 hours per week) • MICS4 = fetching water or collecting firewood as economic activities (at least 1/14 hours per week) • New estimates also recalculated for DHS surveys that used MICS4 modules (Burkina Faso, Burundi, Rwanda)

  15. Children engaged in fetching water/collecting firewood, by age groups and by hours

  16. Current and planned activities • New module questionnaire for MICS5 (background data analyses, testing) • Data analysis on household chores and impacts on education to support threshold for household chores • Data analysis on fetching water and collecting firewood • Preparatory meeting with ILO • ICLS 2013

  17. Thank you ccappa@unicef.org

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