Unpaid household services and child labour

Drawing on data from national household surveys, this paper presents evidence from a range of countries on children’s household chores as part of a broader effort towards developing common statistical criteria for classifying household chores as child labour. The resolution on child labour statistics emerging from the 18 th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) call for the development of a standard methodology for estimating child labour at the international level, and the study is aimed at helping to inform this effort. We find that children’s involvement is extensive, but not similarly intensive. In only a few countries do children perform chores for an average of at least 14 hours per week, the suggested ICLS measurement threshold for distinguishing ‘light’ work in employment, and in no country do chores account for an average of 28 hours per week, the threshold used in some publications for including household chores as child labour. Intensive involvement in household chores adversely affects children’s ability to attend school. The negative effect on the probability of school attendance is small and constant up to about 20 weekly hours in household chores, and starts increasing thereafter. The limited evidence on the health impacts of children’s household chores is inconclusive. Gender is an important determinant of children’s involvement in chores, and we find a positive correlation between involvement in household chores and early marriage. Unpaid household services and child labour