1300.1.55.001 - Statistics News NSW, Mar 2007  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/03/2007   
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CHILD EMPLOYMENT

Almost 7% of children worked at some time in the 12 months to June 2006.

Child Employment, Australia, June 2006 (cat. no. 6211.0) was released on 15 February 2007. The survey included children aged 5 to 14 years who worked in the 12 months to June 2006. Details were collected on whether they worked in school holidays or during school terms, their occupation, hours and time of day worked.

Key findings from the publication include:

In Australia:

  • There were 175,100 children aged 5 to 14 years who worked at some time during the 12 months to June 2006, representing 6.6% of all children in this age group.
  • Most children worked during both school holidays and school terms (53%), while 17% worked in school holidays only and 31% worked in school terms only.

In NSW:
  • There were 51,800 children who had worked during the year to June 2006, representing 5.8% of all children in the 5-14 age group in NSW.
  • More than half of the 51,800 children who worked had worked for an employer (58%), 33% had worked in a family business or farm and 13% had worked for themselves (children may have worked in more than one type of job).
  • There were 28,700 children who worked during both school terms and school holidays, while 15,400 worked during school terms only and 7,700 worked during school holidays only.
  • The most common occupation for boys in their main job was 'Leaflet or Newspaper Deliverer' during both school terms and school holidays (33% and 28% respectively). The most common occupation for girls was 'Carers and Aides' (26%) during school terms and 'Sales Workers' during school holidays (23%).
  • The most common main reason children worked was 'Money for spending' (59%), followed by 'Money for saving' (16%).

For further information, please contact Andrew Major (02) 6252 6181, email client.services@abs.gov.au.
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