Work

Estimating how much children work: Questionnaires versus time use diaries

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Current estimates of child labour often rely on questions such as, “How many hours did you work last week?” While biases in adult self-reports are well documented in high-income countries, there is limited evidence on the accuracy of children’s responses in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Using data from nine LMICs, including China and India, this paper shows that time diaries report considerably more work hours than standard questionnaires. The gap is particularly large among younger children, with ratios of diary to questionnaire estimates exceeding five at ages 5–11 and remaining above two even among adolescents aged 15–17. This suggests that current estimates may substantially understate child labour. Moreover, certain forms of work—such as collecting water or firewood—appear to contribute to these measurement gaps.

Source: Journal of Development Economics

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2026.103797

Authors: Juana Lamote de Grignon Pérez, Wenbin Wang, Tanay Kasyap, Matthew Henglong Luo, Jialu Tang

Institutions: University College London, Inner Mongolia University, Yale University, University of Oxford, Southwest Jiaotong University

Language: English

Topic: Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,590