Issue:
A surprising number of 12 to 14 year olds in North America work for pay outside their homes. Our school-based survey in Ontario found that just over half of 12 to 14 year olds in 2003 reported working for pay during the school year. Gender segregation is substantially even among 12 to 14 year olds, so examining gender differences is necessary. There is a need to characterize perceived benefits and risks that underlie 12 to 14 year olds’ and their parents’ understanding of work and work safety. While the overall project will examine youth and parent perspectives, we will start with exploring parents’ perspective. We would expect parents and youth to have different perspective on youth work. However, given that parents presumably give youth permission to work, and might facilitate their work, they are implicated.
Objectives:
• To characterize the perceived costs and benefits of youth work from the parent perspective.
• To examine parent understandings about work hazards and safety training in youth’s workplace.
• To explore gender differences in the understanding of health and safety issues (e.g., whether parents conceive of injury risk differently for sons compared to daughters).
Anticipated Results:
This project will provide some of the most detailed information on the earliest part of the work life trajectory to date. To protect the health and educational opportunities of 12 to 14 year olds, we need to find out from youth and parents what benefits and risks they perceive at work. This project is relevant to OHS system priorities by providing an understanding of the socialization of workplace safety at this early stage in work life. It will also provide evidenced-based information to support future policy/legislative changes and monitoring/surveillance of work safety for this age group.
Investigators:
Curtis Breslin, Ellen MacEachen, Marie Laberge, Mieke Koehoorn, Élise Ledoux, Luc LaBerge, Carol Runyan
