Understanding Child Work and Child Labor in the 21st Century

Abstract

Child labor is on the increase and this is exacerbating an already desperate situation in Africa. Past research has focused on which levels of determinants are most effective in influencing the decision on children's activities. Using the Malawi Integrated Household Survey and the Tanzania National Panel Survey, this research seeks to unearth the factors that influence the number of hours that child workers and laborers work. I can conclude that the greatest degrees of change are at the individual level as child's enrollment status is significant for child workers from Malawi and Tanzania and laborers from Tanzania. At the community level, the rural residence factor is associated with child workers and laborers from both countries. More resources need to be invested in developing interventions at the individual and community levels to overcome the child labor problem. Evidently, there seems to be greater divergence between children in Malawi and Tanzania.