Unmasking wealth flows, fertility, and parental engagement of children in labor in the Ashanti region of Ghana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65746/gpp8Keywords:
children; engage; families; fertility; labor; parents; unmasking; wealth flowsAbstract
Background: In high-fertility contexts, evidence suggests that children produce more than they consume and therefore provide net wealth to parents. Objective: Based on this, the study attempts to examine whether wealth flows in families and fertility influence parents to engage their children in labor in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design with a four multistage sampling technique was used for the study. Primary data were collected from 682 respondents through structured questionnaires administered in the field and were processed with SPSS version 27. Frequency distribution, chi-squared test, and binary logistic regression were used to summarize the data. The binary logistic regression was used to assess the influences of the IVs on the DV. Results: The majority of parents (75.0%) engaged their children in labor. Parents who believe that children should contribute financially to the household income had increased odds of engaging children in child labor. Parents who endorsed that they would stop a child from working when financial support is readily available, parents who do not know whether they would stop a child from working when financial support is readily available, and fertility were associated with decreased child labor. Conclusion: The findings underscore the need for a multifaceted response to child labor that goes beyond legal prohibition alone. Strengthening and enforcing existing legal frameworks, raising public awareness of the long-term consequences of child labor, and expanding social protection mechanisms to support vulnerable households are essential.
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