Experience of paid childhood work activity and adulthood self-reported health status in a cohort of adults in Ghana

Abstract

Background: There is a dearth of literature from sub-Saharan Africa on the effects of early (< 15 years) onset of paid work in children on future health status. This analysis was conducted to establish the effect of early onset of paid work in children on the adulthood health status of a cohort of adults in Ghana.
Objective: This study aimed to establish the association between early-onset (engaged in work activities before the age of 15 years) paid child labour work activity (CL) and future older adult health status in Ghana.
Methods: The World Health Organization study on global AGEing and adult health Ghana Wave 2 dataset was used for this study. A multistage cluster sampling design was used to select a nationally representative of 4735 Ghanaians aged ≥ 18 years. The Modified Poisson and Logistics Regression were employed to assess associations between early onset of child labour and future health status. All analyses were performed with STATA Statistical Software and p < 0.05 was deemed significant.
Results: The prevalence of CL was 4.20% [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.30 – 5.20] and poor self-reported health (SRH) was 15.61% (95% CI: 13.92 – 17.60). Overall, SRH was significantly associated with CL. The prevalence of poor SRH among older adults with experience of CL was 41% [from Modified Poisson estimations: adjusted Poisson ratio (aPR) = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.01 – 1.96] and 47% [from Logistic regression: aOR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.01 – 2.17] compared with those with no experience of CL.
Conclusion: A positive relationship existed between child labour and the future health status of individuals in this nationally representative study sample. These results reveal another collateral benefit (healthier adult populations) from the national government’s quest to provide universal and free education up to the secondary level in Ghana. Equitable distribution of education and social opportunities for the current younger population and children in Ghana will reap several demographic and health dividends.