The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has revealed that close to 900,000 children aged 5 to 17 years are involved in employment work across the country. This announcement coincides with the World Day Against Child Labour, which is observed annually on June 12th to raise awareness and promote action against child labour.
The 2023 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey highlights that over 1.1 million children in the same age bracket were engaged in various forms of work during the fourth quarter of 2023, representing 10.3% of children in this demographic. Among these, approximately 893,000 children are engaged in paid employment.
The survey further indicates a gender disparity in child labour, with males comprising 56% of working children. Alarmingly, nearly half a million working children (458,443) are not attending school, including 68,500 who have never attended and 389,943 who had previously attended but are no longer in school.
Geographically, urban areas account for over a quarter (28%) of working children, while rural areas have a significantly higher proportion (72%). Regionally, the Ashanti Region leads with the highest percentage of child workers at 13.6%, followed by Bono East (12.1%) and Northern Region (11.8%). The regions with the lowest percentages of child workers are Ahafo (0.8%), Greater Accra (1.6%), and Western North (1.8%).
A detailed breakdown of child labour types shows that 35.4% of children work as family help, 31.2% in farm work, 11.7% as unpaid trainees, and 7.3% in own-use production. Other forms of child labour include non-farm work (6.2%), wage work (5.3%), and domestic, non-productive agriculture, voluntary work, or apprenticeship (2.9%).
The occupational landscape for these children is dominated by elementary occupations (60.4%), followed by craft and trade-related work (19.8%), and skilled agricultural, forestry, and fish-related work (17.7%). The least represented occupations include service and sales workers (1.7%), plant and machine operators and assemblers (0.2%), and managers (0.1%).
The services sector employs the vast majority (91.7%) of working children, with agriculture and industry engaging 4.8% and 3.6%, respectively. Additionally, 80.4% of working children are involved in contributing family work, 11.7% in unpaid apprenticeships, 1.9% are self-employed, 0.5% are paid employees, and 4.9% fall into other employment categories.
This year’s World Day Against Child Labour theme, “Let’s Act on Our Commitments: End Child Labour,” urges intensified efforts to fulfill pledges to eliminate child labour and protect children’s rights.
Disaggregated statistics on child work can be accessed from the Ghana Statistical Service StatsBank at [https://statsbank.statsghana.gov.gh](https://statsbank.statsghana.gov.gh).
Attached below is a press state:
GSS Press Release_Child_work_20240612
About The Author
