Putting Children First: Identifying solutions and taking action to tackle poverty and inequality in Africa. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 23-25 October 2017 This three-day international conference aimed to engage policy makers, practitioners and researchers in identifying solutions for fighting child poverty and inequality in Africa, and in inspiring action towards change. The conference offered a platform for bridging divides across sectors, disciplines and policy, practice and research.

1. unite for
children
Gendered time allocation over the life-course:
Youth transitions to productive activities in
Ethiopia
Zlata Bruckauf & Yekaterina Chzhen
Putting Children First, Addis Ababa, 23-25 October 2017

2. 2
Motivation
•To understand what drives youth decisions on economic activity or further training
in low-income context
•To understand the dynamic nature of children’s time allocation
•To explore the degree of interdependence in adolescents’ time use as they grow
older
SDG GOAL 8: Target 8.6: NEET rates.
SDG GOAL 5: Target 5.4: Value of unpaid care and domestic work

3. 3
Research Questions
•RQ1: Is there a path dependency in adolescents’ time allocation over
time?
•RQ2: What is the direction and strength of the relationship between time
allocation to different activities across time?

4. 4
Evidence on gendered time allocation in Ethiopia
• Strong gender division of roles from early age (girls in household chores and care, boys in
unpaid and paid work); Time use varies by the type of settlement
• Children's time use is associated with family wealth, family composition, shocks and public
`programs;
• Intrahousehold dynamics: reciprocal connections within the household;
Contribution: This paper investigates the interdependence of
children’s time allocation across the life course, using dynamic
structural equation modelling

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A conceptual framework and hypothesis
H2: Reciprocal connection
• More time spent in schooling will contribute to
young people’s hours of paid work at age 19
• More time spent in paid and unpaid work at
earlier ages will affect negatively their hours of
schooling at older ages
• Children’s input in care and household chores at
younger ages will be detrimental for average time
allocated to paid and unpaid work at age 19.
Premise 1: Skills acquisition and
specialisation over time.
H1: Path dependency
There is a self-reinforcement pattern in
children’s time allocations to different activities
between ages 12-19
Premise 2: Trade off and complementarity
of time use decisions persistent over time

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Data: Young Lives Ethiopia
Round 1 2 3 4 5
Fieldwork 2002 2006/07 2009/10 2013/14 2016/17
Younger Cohort age 1 5 8 12 15
Older Cohort age 8 12 15 19 22

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Outcome variables
Number of hours on a typical day (adding up to 24 hours)
‘schooling and extra study’ – combined
‘household production’ – caregiving and household chores (combined)
‘paid work’ – activities for pay
‘unpaid work’ – household tasks (tasks on family farm, cattle herding, other family
business, sheep herding, piecework or handicrafts done at home)
Correlation: Older cohort, age 19 (round 4, 2013)
Girls age 19 Boys age 19
care chores unpaid work school care chores uwork pwork school
Care 1 1
Chores 0.21 1 0.15 1
Unpaid activities 1 1
Paid work -0.13 -0.24 -0.17 1 -0.11 -0.18 -0.31 1
School -0.33 -0.38 -0.27 -0.35 1 -0.1 -0.38 -0.45 1
Study -0.28 -0.34 -0.28 -0.32 0.66 -0.33 -0.39 0.65
N 419 483

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Relative gender gap (ratio g/b) in average hours allocated to various
activities across ages (two cohorts). Includes ‘zeros’.

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Path diagram of autoregressive and cross-lagged relationship
between hours of schooling and paid work over three waves
β22
γ21
γ22
β12
School (t3)
Paid activity (t3)
β11
γ21
γ11
β21
School (t2)
Paid activity (t2)
ε2
є2
School (t4)
Paid activity (t4)
ε3
є3
β22

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Results on path-dependency (Older Cohort)
Age 15 Age 19
School/
study
Paid
work
Unpaid
work
Care/
chores
School/
study
Paid
work
Unpaid
work
Care/
chores
Path dependency (t-1)
Boys 0.30*** 0.46* 0.33*** 0.04 0.28* 0.33** 0.47*** 0.08*
Girls 0.39*** 0.12 0.16*** 0.10* 0.32** 0.16 0.21* -0.04

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Results on reciprocal effects (Older cohort)
Age 15 Age 19
School/
study
Paid
work
Unpaid
work
Care/
chores
School/
study
Paid
work
Unpaid
work
Care/
chores
Reciprocal effects (t-1)
Paid work (boys) -0.42* 0.07 -0.10 -0.37* 0.08 -0.05
Paid work (girls) 0.05 0.04 -0.10 -0.13 0.04 0.18
School/study (boys) -0.04 0.01 -0.12*** -0.01 0.02 -0.05
School/study (girls) -0.00 -0.02 -0.03 -0.11 0.11* -0.19*
Unpaid work (boys) -0.05 -0.00 -0.09** -0.20 -0.01 -0.08
Unpaid work (girls) 0.09 -0.04 0.06 0.09 -0.09 -0.20
Care/chores (boys) 0.06 0.07 -0.08 -0.10 0.15 -0.05
Care/chores (girls) 0.06 0.00 0.00 -0.05 0.10 0.13

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Results on path dependency (Younger Cohort)
Age 8 Age 12
School/
study
Unpaid
work
Care/
chores
School/
study
Unpaid
work
Care/
chores
Stability effects (t-1)
Boys 0.15*** 0.14* 0.01 0.19*** 0.23*** 0.11***
Girls 0.17*** 0.12** 0.10** 0.11* 0.15*** 0.11***

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Summary and key messages
• Children’s time allocation decisions can be self-reinforcing but they
are not rigid. The strongest path dependency: unpaid work and
education
• Gendered stories:
• Boys – specific skills acquisition by age 19, particular concern for rural boys
• Girls – time allocations are driven by current household necessity
• Previous education might not guarantee paid work at age 19, but
paid work in early adolescence impedes further training

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Thank you!
zbruckauf@unicef.org
ychzhen@unicef.org