Background
to the
Research
- Until recently little was
known about the employment experiences of children
- To remedy this situation,
Save the Children commissioned a series of United Kingdom-wide research
projects into children's employment, canvassing the views of children
themselves and this report represents the Northern Ireland findings.
Research
Approach
- A total of 545 pupils aged between the
ages of 15 and 16 from 12 Belfast secondary schools completed questionnaires.
In addition the children participated in classroom discussions and
focus groups.
Profile of the Sample
- Forty-five percent of the sample attended
a Grammar school, 48% a secondary school and 7% an integrated school.
- Fifty-eight percent (317) of the sample
were boys and 42% (228) were girls.
Main Findings
- Twenty-two percent of the sample had a
current term-time job and 53.7% of children had experienced employment
at some time in their lives.
- Twenty-nine percent of the sample had
worked before the legalised age of 13 years, 32% were aged 13 when
they first began to work, 22% were aged 14 and 17% were aged 15.
- Thirty-two percent of the sample were
employed in delivery work - delivering newspapers, milk, coal etc.
Shop work accounted for 17.5% (21) of the sample with manual work
the third most frequent type of work accounting for some 13.3% of
the sample.
- The types of jobs undertaken showed a marked
gender divide with delivery work accounting for 37% of all work done
by boys. Manual work was the second most frequently cited type of
work for boys. Conversely, shop work and hotel and catering represented
50% of all the girls' jobs
- Thirty-seven percent of the sample worked
between 1 and 5 hours per week, 25% worked between 5 and 10 hours
per week and 29% worked over 10 hours per week. Girls tended to work
longer hours than boys.
- Thirty-five percent of the sample worked
beyond 7pm, 32% worked more than the recommended 2 hours per school
day, with 5% exceeding the 7 hours for Saturday and 2 hours for Sunday
limits.
- The average hourly rate of pay for the
sample was between £1-£3, just under 12% earned less than £1 per hour
and 5% earned over £5 per hour. The lowest rate was 15p per hour.
More boys than girls were represented in the upper wage range of the
sample and more girls than boys in the lower wage range.
- Children reported that their main reason
for working was to 'earn money' however, when listing the benefits
of work only 25% listed 'money'.
- Sixty-five percent of the sample felt their
work had brought about more interaction with adults, valuable work
experience and helped them develop new skills and a sense of responsibility.
- Forty-one percent of the sample thought
they had missed out on other things because of work, the majority
citing socialising with friends as the greatest loss.
- The majority of children spent their earning
on consumer items, a number stated that they saved a percentage of
their wages and some 24% reported that they gave some of their wages
to their parents; these children were more likely to live in unemployed
households and to attend secondary school.
- Twenty-six percent of the sample thought
that work did affect their school work, 25% stated they often felt
tired during school hours due to work, with only 4% missing school
at some time because of work commitments.
- Sixty-one percent of the sample stated
that their employer had told them about safety regulations, however,
26% had had an accident at work and 28% considered their work to be
dangerous.
- Seventy-five percent of the sample thought
that children should be able to work after 7pm, over 50% thought children
should be permitted to work more than 2 hours on a school day and
almost 75% disagreed with the 2 hour Sunday working limit.
Recommendations
- Any future government reviews of employment
legislation should take children's views into account.
- There should be a co-ordinated approach
to the enhancement of children's economic rights by all interested
parties.
- Any new legislation regulating child employment
should be sensitive to the realities of children's working lives.
- Education and Library Boards should review
existing arrangements for publicising child employment legislation.
- Trade Unions need to recognise that many
of today's workers are children under the age of 16 and review ways
of promoting the interests of working children through their organisation.
- The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations
and Assessment, in conjunction with the Department of Education for
Northern Ireland, should explore ways in which information about term
time employment could be effectively incorporated into Key Stage 4
curriculum.
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