By Adedapo Adesanya
Data has shown that 50.5 per cent of Nigerian children, aged between 5 and 17, are engaged in some form of economic activities.
This was disclosed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its report titled Nigeria Child Labour and Forced Labour Survey 2022 released on Thursday.
Child Labour, according to the bureau, refers to work for which children are either too young or that may be physically or psychologically injurious to their health and well-being.
“50.5 per cent ( 31,756.302) of all children aged 5 – 17 years old in Nigeria are engaged in economic activity,” the NBS said.
The report said 39.2 per cent of children (24, 673, 485) are in child labour and 22.9 per cent of children (14,390,353) are involved in hazardous work.
According to the report, the North-west geopolitical zone had the highest number of children in child labour (6,407,102) and in hazardous work (3,266,728).
However, in terms of the percentage of children in child labour and hazardous work, the NBS said the South-east region has the highest prevalence of children involved in child labour at 49.9 per cent.
“In the 5-17 age group, nearly 94 per cent of children in child labour are involved in own-use production of goods (including collection of firewood and fetching water), 24 per cent are in employment and 11 per cent perform unpaid trainee work,” the report said.
It said children aged 5-14 years old in child labour are less likely to be in employment and more likely to be engaged in own-use production of goods than children aged 15-17 years old in child labour.
It explained that almost 96 per cent of children in child labour who live in rural areas are engaged in own-use production of goods and nearly 26 per cent are in employment compared to 89 per cent and 20 per cent respectively of children in child labour who live in urban areas.
It added that in the 5 -17 age group, children in child labour spend an average of 14.6 hours per week working, while older children in child labour spend more time per week at work than younger children.
The NBS data said children aged 15 – 17 years old in child labour spend an average of 24.6 hours per week working compared to 19.4 hours for children aged 12 – 14 years old and 9.8 hours for children aged 5 – 11 years old.
“Children in child labour who live in rural areas spend 2.3 more hours working on average than children in child labour who live in urban areas. Boys in child labour spend more time working per week on average than girls in child labour,” it said.
However, the NBS noted that these estimates do not include time spent performing household chores.
The bureau said employment is the most time-intensive form of work on average for children in child labour with children spending on average 16 hours per week.
“Time-intensity in employment and unpaid trainee work is substantially higher in urban areas than the national average. Children in child labour are less likely to attend school than those not in child labour,” it said.
The report added that in the 5-17 age group, 53.3 per cent of children in child labour have been exposed to at least one workplace hazard.
“Children in child labour who live in rural areas are more likely to be exposed to workplace hazards than those who live in urban areas.
“16.3 per cent of children in child labour have experienced a work-related injury. Boys in child labour are more likely to have experienced a work-related injury than girls in child labour,” it said.
The bureau further explained that girls are more likely to be engaged in household chores than boys.
“62.2 per cent of girls performing household chores compared to 50.8 per cent of boys. Children are often engaged in household chores in addition to work in economic activities. 73.1 per cent of children are both in child labour and household chores,” it said.
The report added that in the 5-14 age group, 77.6 per cent of children attend school while 46.5 per cent are working and 11.2 per cent are exclusively working.
“Children in the urban areas are substantially less likely to be working only and more likely to attend school only than their rural counterparts. There are few differences between boys and girls.
“In the 5-17 age group, more than two-thirds of children are working and 21.9 per cent are exclusively working. Children living in rural areas are 12 percentage points more likely to be working and 17 percentage points less likely to attend school than children living in urban areas,” the report said.
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