Author

Marokey Sawo

Date of Award

Spring 2020

Degree

MS

Advisor

Thomas Masterson, Ph.D.

Abstract

This paper examines the differences in how Tanzanian children across various socioeconomic axes spend their time across schooling, unpaid care work, and income-generating activities. Previous research and theory have primarily focused on child employment and its dynamics with education, neglecting a substantial amount of work borne by some children to maintain their households’ livelihoods. Using time use and consumption survey data, this paper fills the current gap in the literature by applying a multidimensional framework called the Levy Institute Measure of Time and Consumption Poverty. The results indicate that child employment is quite prevalent in mainland Tanzania across different tiers of household consumption expenditures. Rural children are significantly more likely to be working children than their urban counterparts, although employed children in urban areas tend to work higher weekly hours. Furthermore, although girls have comparable work incidence and employment hours as boys, they bear disproportionately high shares of housework, cumulating to their higher work burden and time poverty rates. The findings support a multidimensional policy approach to ensuring children’s stated rights, including policies to mitigate the effects of removing children’s productive labor and sociological changes to address the gendered maldistribution of care work.

Access Control

Open Access

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