Is work in the agricultural sector more hazardous for child laborers in Ghana than work in other sectors?

Abstract

Abstract

This study examines child labor in Ghana to determine if children working in agriculture are more likely to sustain occupational injuries than children working in other sectors. In 2000, an estimated 2.5 million children, or 4 of every 10 children aged 5-17, were economically active in Ghana. Of these, nearly two-thirds work in agriculture. In rural areas this number is higher, where nearly three-fourths work in agriculture. No study to date has examined the actual risk of injury for children working in Ghanaian agriculture. Using cross-sectional data from the Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC) Ghana Child Labor Survey of 2001, a nationally representative survey of 6,796 economically active children living in 10,000 households in Ghana, it is possible to determine whether children who work in agriculture have an increased likelihood of being injured. I use logistic regression model to determine the factors associated with occupational injury for economically active children. Controlling for a variety of characteristics of the child and the job, I find that agricultural work is associated with a higher likelihood of occupational injury for children.