Invisible work: Child work in households with a person living with HIV/AIDS in Central Uganda

Figures & data

Table 1. Dimensions of children’s and young people’s care work in Africa.

Caring activity	Examples
Household chores	Cooking, washing dishes, sweeping, cleaning and tidying, fetching water and firewood, laundry, heating water for baths, shopping, cultivating food for consumption, tending livestock, cutting wood, running errands
Health care	Reminding parent/sibling/relative to take medication, giving and collecting medication, accompanying them to hospital and providing care while in hospital, assisting with mobility, preparing special nutritional food, cleaning, treating and dressing sores, infections and wounds, massaging the body
Personal care	Washing/bathing parent/relative, assisting to eat, dress and use the toilet
Child care	Getting siblings ready for school, bathing siblings, supervision, resolving arguments and conflict between siblings, help with school work
Emotional support	Talking and comforting parent/sibling/ relative, giving advice and guidance, being there for them
Self-care	Personal care of self, taking medication, getting ready for school, private study, personal development, training, developing life skills and livelihood strategies
Income generation activities	Cultivating crops and produce for sale, rearing livestock, casual agricultural and construction work, fishing, working in a factory, shop or bar, selling produce, cooked food, charcoal and other goods, domestic work, running errands for neighbours, begging
Household management	Allocating tasks, paying school contributions, organising school/vocational training, reminding parent/sibling/relative about appointments, paying bills and resolving financial problems, budgeting, future planning and decision-making
Community engagement	Maintaining social networks, seeking support from and cooperating with relatives, neighbours, friends, NGOs, members of faith community, participating in neighbourhood, school, faith community, youth and NGO meetings, activities, celebrations and events

Source: Evans and Becker (2009, p. 130) and Evans (2010, p. 1481, 2014, p. 1898).

Fig. 1. 2010/2011 Centre for Health Economics Uganda HIV Survey sampling framework.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of children 4–18 years and household-level characteristics.

Outcome variable	Overall sample (N = 1410)	PLWHA (N = 1098)	Non-PLWHA (N = 312)
Farm work participation	51.3%	53.2%	44.5%
Domestic work participation	80.6%	81.7%^+	76.9%^+
Child individual characteristics
Age in years	10.9 (4.10)	10.9 (4.04)	10.9 (4.33)
Girl	52.1%	51.8%	53.2%
Enrolled in school	86.4%	86.5%	85.2%
Orphan	37.5%	40.6%	26.8%
Maternal orphan	10.2%	11.3%	6.4%
Mother resident in household	69.2%	68.9%	70.3%
Chronic disease	16.5%	17.7%	12.3%
Household characteristics	N = 452	N = 349	N = 103
Household head age	44.5 (11.03)	44.3 (10.54)	45.0 (12.58)
Head married	43.4%	37.8%	62.1%
Head separated/divorce	16.1%	17.8%^+	10.7%^+
Head widowed	40.5%	44.4%	27.2%
Head agricultural occupation	59.7%	59.6%	60.2%
Head non-agricultural	35.4%	35.0%	36.9%
Head no occupation	2.0%	2.0%	1.9%
Head years of education	5.7% (3.62)	5.4% (3.44)	6.5% (4.08)
Head no education	58.8%	62.5%	46.6%
Head primary education	37.6%	35.5%	44.7%
Head secondary plus	4.4%	2.9%	9.7%
Number of adult females	1.4 (0.80)	1.5 (0.83)	1.3 (0.67)
Number of adult males	0.8 (0.82)	0.8 (0.83)^+	1.0 (0.79)^+
Number of adults	2.3 (1.18)	2.3 (1.19)	2.3 (1.13)
Number children <5 years old	0.8 (0.98)	0.8 (0.98)	0.9 (0.96)
Low wealth	27.4%	27.2%	28.2%
Average wealth	34.1%	34.4%	33.0%
High wealth	38.5%	38.4%	38.8%
Has savings	25.8%	25.3%	27.4%
Has loans	26.4%	28.6%	18.6%
Has experienced recent shock	85.6%	87.4%^+	79.2%^+
Owns land	65.5%	63.3%^+	72.8%^+
Urban residence	22.8%	24.9%	15.5%
Head Muslim	15.0%	14.9%	15.5%
Head Catholic	54.6%	54.4%	55.3%
Head Anglican	20.8%	20.1%	23.3%
Head other Christian	9.5%	10.6%	5.8%

Notes: Bold indicates significant difference between PLWHA and non-PLWHA at 95%; ⁺p < .10; values are mean (SD = Standard deviation) or %. For tests of the mean, the t-test assumes equal means; for proportions, a chi squared test is performed.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics of child-work activities within the household space.

Work type-N, mean, 95% CI	PLWHA	NON-PLWHA	Girls	Boys	Older child	Younger child	Rural	Urban
Domestic work (N = 1137)	810	326	610	527	457	680	881	256
	10.80 [10.25, 11.36]	12.50 [11.15, 13.84]	12.56 [11.70, 13.42]	9.80 [9.16, 10.44]	13.50 [12.48, 14.54]	9.78 [9.19, 10.37]	10.93 [10.34, 11.52]	12.45 [11.12, 13.85]
Family farm work (N = 723)	527	195	356	367	330	393	628	95
	4.87 [4.35, 5.38]	7.48 [6.17, 8.80]	5.54 [4.70, 6.38]	5.60 [4.97, 6.23]	6.83 [5.92, 7.74]	4.51 [3.95, 5.07]	5.41 [4.86, 5.97]	6.58 [4.99, 8.17]
Looking after the sick (N = 350)	254	96	200	150	192	158	246	104
	3.18 [2.71, 3.65]	4.34 [3.30, 5.38]	4.23 [4.70, 6.38]	2.52 [2.17, 2.88]	3.97 [3.40, 4.54]	2.92 [2.23, 3.62]	3.31 [2.78, 3.84]	3.94 [3.11, 4.76]
Child care (N = 454)	321	132	284	170	223	231	331	123
	3.67 [3.30, 4.04]	4.25 [3.44, 5.06]	4.40 [3.89, 4.90]	2.89 [2.51, 3.27]	3.94 [3.43, 4.46]	3.72 [3.24, 4.21]	3.42 [3.04, 3.81]	4.93 [4.18, 5.69]

Notes: Bold indicates significant difference between PLWHA and non-PLWHA and older and younger child at 95%; older child refers to child aged 13–18 years old; values are N, mean hours and 95% CI in square brackets.

Table 4. Descriptive statistics of child work outside the household space-paid work and non-paid (in-kind-payment) work.

Work type-N, mean, 95% CI	PLWHA	NON-PLWHA	Girls	Boys	Older child	Younger child	Rural	Urban
Paid work (N = 48)	19	29	10	38	41	7	33	15
	7.89 [1.44, 14.35]	22.69 [16.07, 29.31]	22.8 [8.20, 37.40]	15.26 [9.86, 20.67]	17.24 [11.66, 22.83]	14.43 [−0.80, 29.66]	14.91 [9.02, 20.79]	21.07 [10.59, 31.54]
In-kind-payment^a (N = 20)	8	12	7	13	14	6	15	5
	26.84 [1.13, 52.54]	23.17 [6.62, 39.71]	24.39 [−4.44, 53.21]	24.77 [8.87, 40.67]	34.00 [17.96, 50.04]	2.78 [0.89, 4.67]	19.47 [5.87, 33.06]	40.14 [0.36, 79.92]

Notes: Bold indicates significant difference between PLWHA and non-PLWHA and older and younger child at 95%; older child refers to child aged 13–18 years old; ^arefers to non-paid work outside the household; values are N, mean hours and 95% CI in square brackets.

Table 5. Bivariate associations between the outcome variables, PLWHA and child-level characteristics.

	Farm work participation	PLWHA	Age	Gender (girl child)	Enrolled	Orphan	Chronic disease
Logistic regression
Total-Labour participation OR [95% CI]	–	0.52 [0.18, 1.57]	1.05 [0.93, 1.18]	1.14 [0.88, 1.50]	0.64 [0.16–2.56]	1.12 (0.51, 2.43)	1.47 [0.53, 4.04]
Farm work participation OR [95% CI]	–	1.41^+ [0.99, 2.01]	1.17 [1.13, 1.21]	0.79 [0.64, 0.97]	2.10 [1.50–2.95]	1.84 (1.39, 2.42)	1.21 [0.90, 1.63]
Domestic work participation OR [95% CI]	10.66 [6.68–17.01]	1.26 [0.86, 1.82]	1.20 [1.14, 1.27]	1.38 [1.05, 1.81]	4.55 [3.20, 6.47]	1.91 (1.36, 2.68)	1.43^+ [0.94, 2.20]

Notes: Bold indicates significant at 95%; ⁺p < .10; Odds Ratio and coefficients for logistic and OLS model, respectively; 95% CI in square brackets; total labour is aggregated labour that combines both domestic and farm work.

Table 6. Multivariate logistic model for farm work participation.

	(1) Bivariate	(2) CHLD	(3) HHD	(4) Other
	Logistic	Logistic	Logistic	Logistic
PLWHA	1.41^+ [0.99–2.01]	1.35 [0.92, 1.98]	1.71 [1.12, 2.60]	1.84 [1.17, 2.89]
Child aged 6–12 years		10.98 [5.70, 21.15]	11.64 [5.85, 23.16]	6.06 [2.82, 13.01]
Child aged 13–18 years		15.17 [7.93, 29.03]	16.05 [7.86, 32.77]	8.85 [4.01, 19.56]
Girl child		0.71 [0.56, 0.89]	0.83 [0.63, 1.09]	0.74 [0.54, 1.00]
Enrolled in school		1.43^+ [0.96, 2.12]	1.47 [0.91, 2.37]	1.26 [0.77, 2.07]
Orphan		1.41 [1.04, 1.92]	1.54 [1.01, 2.33]	1.54 [1.01, 2.36]
Chronic disease		1.17 [0.86, 1.59]	1.39^+ [0.98, 1.97]	1.26 [0.87, 1.83]
Mother resident			0.87 [0.60, 1.26]	0.84 [0.57, 1.25]
Head age			1.01 [0.99, 1.03]	1.01 [0.99, 1.03]
Head separated^a			1.03 [0.60, 1.78]	0.93 [0.51, 1.70]
Head widowed			0.93 [0.56, 1.53]	0.87 [0.52, 1.46]
Head agricultural^b			3.71 [1.35, 10.18]	4.77 [1.69, 13.46]
Head non-agricultural			2.70^+ [0.94, 7.74]	3.82 [1.29, 11.28]
Head primary			0.72^+ [0.49, 1.04]	0.72 [0.48, 1.08]
Head secondary plus			1.93 [0.85, 4.36]	1.47 [0.62, 3.50]
Number adult females			1.13 [0.81, 1.57]	1.21 [0.87, 1.69]
Number children <5 years			0.94 [0.77, 1.15]	0.92 [0.75, 1.13]
High wealth^c			2.91 [1.70, 4.97]	3.05 [1.71, 5.45]
Average wealth			2.87 [1.72, 4.78]	2.95 [1.73, 5.03]
Savings			1.28 [0.87, 1.89]	1.66 [1.09, 2.53]
Experienced shock			1.16 [0.68, 1.99]	1.22 [0.70, 2.12]
Own land			1.71 [1.15, 2.55]	1.89 [1.23, 2.89]
Urban residence			0.60^+ [0.35, 1.03]	0.48 [0.28, 0.85]
Head Catholic^d			0.93 [0.55,1.57]	0.89 [0.52,1.53]
Head Anglican			1.09 [0.57, 2.11]	0.98 [0.49, 1.95]
Head other Christians			0.63 [0.29, 1.35]	0.63 [0.29, 1.37]
Domestic work participation				10.92 [6.55, 18.21]
Constant	0.80 [0.99, 2.01]	0.06 [0.03, 0.12]	0.002 [<0.01, 0.01]	<0.001 [<0.01, 0.001]
N	1410	1392	1253	1253

Notes: Bold indicates significant at 95%; ⁺p < .10; Odds Ratios shown; 95% confidence intervals in square brackets; models clustered at household level.

^aBase is married.

^bBase is no occupation.

^cBase is low wealth.

^dBase is Muslim; N = Number of observations.

Table 7. Multivariate logistic model for domestic work participation.

	(1) Bivariate	(2) CHLD	(3) HHD	(4) Other
	Logistic	Logistic	Logistic	Logistic
PLWHA	1.26 [0.86, 1.82]	1.08 [0.71, 1.67]	1.01 [0.64, 1.59]	0.83 [0.51, 1.34]
Child aged 6–12 years		10.48 [6.75, 16.27]	13.38 [8.12, 22.02]	8.72 [5.01, 15.15]
Child aged 13–18 years		9.96 [6.23, 15.92]	13.43 [7.72, 23.37]	7.56 [4.01, 14.30]
Girl child		1.20 [0.86, 1.66]	1.30 [0.91, 1.87]	1.48^+ [0.99, 2.21]
Enrolled in school		2.37 [1.59, 3.53]	2.48 [1.59, 3.86]	2.19 [1.37, 3.52]
Orphan		1.28 [0.88, 1.85]	1.27 [0.78, 2.07]	1.07 [0.62, 1.83]
Chronic disease		1.36 [0.89, 2.07]	1.39 [0.87, 2.22]	1.21 [0.72, 2.04]
Mother resident			0.97 [0.64, 1.48]	0.95 [0.60, 1.49]
Head age			1.02 [0.99, 1.04]	1.01 [0.99, 1.04]
Head separated^a			1.33 [0.71, 2.49]	1.26 [0.60, 2.67]
Head widowed			1.31 [0.77, 2.23]	1.34 [0.74, 2.40]
Head agricultural^b			0.30^+ [0.08, 1.16]	0.20 [0.05, 0.86]
Head non-agricultural			0.27^+ [0.07, 1.05]	0.20 [0.05, 0.85]
Head primary			0.70^+ [0.47, 1.06]	0.75 [0.48, 1.16]
Head secondary plus			2.27 [0.75, 6.88]	1.73 [0.54, 5.57]
Number adult females			0.81 [0.60, 1.10]	0.75 [0.58, 0.97]
Number children <5 years			1.15 [0.91, 1.45]	1.25^+ [0.98, 1.59]
High wealth^c			1.36 [0.79, 2.36]	0.96 [0.52, 1.79]
Average wealth			1.59 [0.91, 2.79]	1.26 [0.69, 2.31]
Savings			0.54 [0.33, 0.86]	0.44 [0.27, 0.71]
Experienced shock			0.80 [0.42, 1.55]	0.73 [0.39, 1.39]
Own land			0.90 [0.57, 1.42]	0.70 [0.43, 1.13]
Urban residence			1.98 [1.06, 3.68]	2.66 [1.34, 5.28]
Hevad Catholic^d			1.06 [0.63, 1.78]	1.14 [0.67, 1.94]
Head Anglican			1.28 [0.68, 2.39]	1.39 [0.70, 2.79]
Head other Christians			0.57 [0.24, 1.45]	0.74 [0.29, 1.88]
Farm participation				11.05 [6.43, 18.98]
Constant	3.72 [2.71, 5.13]	0.24 [0.15, 0.42]	1.43 [0.06, 3.00]	0.97 [0.11, 8.00]
Observations	1410	1392	1253	1253

Notes: Bold indicates significant at 95% CI; highlighted is significant at 90% CI; ⁺p <. 10; Odds Ratios shown; 95% confidence intervals in square brackets; models clustered at household level.

^aBase is married.

^bBase is no occupation.

^cBase is low wealth.

^dBase is Muslim; N = Number of observations.

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