Youth at work: Exploring the relationship between social status, a history of child labour, and health.

Despite positive post-pandemic changes, youth are still employed in work environments and conditions that threaten their health. To evaluate individual, family, and work-related factors associated with physical and mental health, and the relationship between health, social status, and child labour among young apprentices. A cross-sectional study. The study involved 417 young workers between December 2023 and April 2024. Data were gathered using the Social Status Index Form, Brief Symptom Inventory, physical examinations, and analyzed through IPWRA, hierarchical regression, and decision tree analysis. Being male, having five or more siblings, and having a father with low education were significant predictors of a history of child labour. After adjusting for objective social status, key risk factors for young workers' physical health included being female, having poor mental health, having a lowly educated mother, and working long hours. Approximately one-quarter of the variability in young workers' mental health could be attributed to factors related to low family status, such as the mother's employment, a history of child labor, having a sibling not in formal education, low subjective social status, working in the service sector, and being in an inappropriate working environment. Low family social status, a history of child labor, and unsafe working conditions emerge as key shared predictors of both physical and mental health risks. In line with the decent work goal, macro-level policies aimed at improving social status and regulating working conditions are essential to supporting youth in the workforce. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Emine Öncü, Elif Okay, Yağmur Çelik, Kadir Uçar. Youth at work: Exploring the relationship between social status, a history of child labour, and health. Social science & medicine (1982). 2025 Jan;365:117579

Mesh Tags

PMID: 39644774

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