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Determinants of child labour practices in Ghana

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Abstract

Aim

This study aims to determine the factors associated with child labour practices in Ghana.

Subject and methods

Data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey Round 6 (GLSS 6) conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in 2012 was used for the analysis. The target population was children aged 5–17 years. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between child labour, as a dichotomous outcome, and a set of possible factors.

Results

The result showed that the child’s age, gender and current grade, mother living in the household, and region and location of residence were the main factors that scientifically and significantly influence child labour in Ghana.

Conclusion

These findings highlight the importance of raising awareness about the dangers of child labour and exploring avenues for its prevention. Our recommendation is that policy-makers should especially target the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern, Upper East, Upper West and Volta regions where child labour is rampant.

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Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to Prof. N.N.N. Nsowah-Nuamah, Dr. Eric N. Aidoo (Department of Mathematics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana), Dr. Richard Parker and Dr. Smart Sarpong (Kumasi Technical University, Kumasi, Ghana) and Dr. Samuel Iddi from the University of Ghana for their useful comments and suggestions. Any errors are my own responsibility. I am also thankful to the management of the Ghana Statistical Service.

Funding

This research received no grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Statistics, University for Development Studies, P.O. Box 24, UE, Navrongo, Ghana

    Lucy Twumwaah Afriyie & Abukari Alhassan

  2. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Kumasi Technical University, P.O Box KS854, Kumasi, Ghana

    Bashiru I. I. Saeed

Authors
  1. Lucy Twumwaah Afriyie
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  2. Bashiru I. I. Saeed
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  3. Abukari Alhassan
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Correspondence to Lucy Twumwaah Afriyie.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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The study used a data set that is available online in the public domain; hence, there was no need to seek ethical consent to publish the results in this study.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Afriyie, L.T., Saeed, B.I.I. & Alhassan, A. Determinants of child labour practices in Ghana. J Public Health (Berl.) 27, 211–217 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-018-0935-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-018-0935-3

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