The latest report issued by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).has revealed that a total of 419,254 children aged 5 to 17 years were engaged in economic activities in Ghana in 2021.

The report said 76,439 children aged 5 to 9 years were engaged in economic activity, 153,189 aged 10 to 14 years were engaged in economic activities, and 189,626 children aged 15 to 17 years were involved in such activities.

They were captured during the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC).

In the seven days preceding Census Night, children aged 5 to 17 worked an average of 29.2 hours.

Children aged 15 to 17 worked 35.2 hours on average, while children aged 10 to 14 worked 26.5 hours (about 5 hours per weekday). Children aged 5 to 9 worked an average of 19.8 hours per week (roughly 4 hours per weekday).

The GSS also discovered that children who worked as paid apprentices worked the most hours, on average 48.4 hours.

This was nearly double the number of hours worked by contributing family workers, who averaged 25.0 hours. Children in the service sector worked an average of 36.8 hours per week, while those in agriculture worked an average of 25.6 hours per week.

The GSS also discovered that 153,773 children between the ages of 5 and 17 who were involved in economic activity had never attended school. 37,963 of these children were aged 5 to 9 years.

During the census, 94,748 children aged 5 to 17 years engaged in economic activity were also attending school.