Learning versus Working; Factors Affecting Adolescent Time Allocation in Pakistan

In: The Pakistan development review: PDR, Band 51, Heft 2, S. 131-151

Abstract

This paper explores how family, school and community factors
influence adolescents' time allocation among market work, domestic work,
learning and leisure. We model adolescents' time use in a multivariate
framework, using explanatory variables characterising the household as
well as labour demand, school access and school quality at the district
level. This research shows that the amount of time children spend
working, whether at home or in the market, is strongly correlated with
household poverty, as proxied by an asset index. Consistent with the
literature on the predictors of school enrolments of adolescents, the
time spent on learning is also significantly lower among the poor. In
Pakistan the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) census poverty
score database, which includes information on household assets, would be
a very promising tool to target efforts to increase children's time
allocated to learning. JEL classification: D60, I24, I30 Keywords:
Pakistan, Education, Child Labour.