Francavilla, F. and Lyon, S. 2003. Household chores and child health: preliminary evidence from six countries. UCW Working Papers. Rome, Italy Understanding Children’s Work Project.
| Title | Household chores and child health: preliminary evidence from six countries. UCW Working Papers |
|---|---|
| Authors | Francavilla, F. and Lyon, S. |
| Type | Technical report |
| Abstract | This paper uses survey datasets from six countries in an attempt to shed light on the relationship between involvement in household chores and child health. The descriptive statistics presented in the paper reveal no clear correlation between household chores and health in the six countries. Children spending at least four hours daily on household chores are not clearly worse-off health-wise than children without chores responsibilities, and children spending more time on chores actually appear better-off health-wise than children for whom household chores constitute only a relatively small time burden. Some types of chores appear to have more impact on health status than others, but the variation in reported illness by chore type is generally quite small. It is argued that these results are primarily a reflection of shortcomings in the measurement of the chores-health link. The simple measures of child health employed in the paper - reported illness and Body Mass Index - fail to account for the dynamic nature of the relationship between chores involvement and health, and for the potential endogeneity of chores involvement to health outcomes. |
| Year | Oct 2003 |
| Publisher | Understanding Children’s Work Project |
| Place of publication | Rome, Italy |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | Oct 2003 |
| Web address (URL) | http://www.ucw-project.org/pdf/publications/standard_hhchores_health_oct03II.pdf |