Child labor in Benin

This study explored the determinants of child labour in the municipalities of Banikoara and Nikki, two municipalities located in northern Benin, West Africa. The study was based on a two-stage stratified random sample of 636 children aged 5 to 17 from 257 households in the two municipalities. At the end of the study, approximately 56% of children were found to be involved in child labour. Agriculture and domestic tasks are the main sectors of employment for child labourers. Unpaid family labour is the dominant status of the activities carried out by these children. The factors revealed to explain child labour are: the age, sex, level of education of the child and the nature (urban or rural) of the child’s environment; the age and level of education of the child’s head of household; the size of the household; the quality and frequency of awareness campaigns for households on child labour; and finally, the quality of management (good or bad) by the household of the micro-loans it takes out from microfinance institutions.