Child Labor and the Influencing Factors: Evidence from less Developed Provinces of Iran

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to calculate the child labor rate and establish the factors affecting this phenomenon in the less developed provinces of Iran. METHODS: This study has used the secondary data of population and housing census gathered by Iranian Statistical Center in 2011. The data belonged to 14859 children between 10 and 14 of 9 less developed provinces of Iran. A multiple regression model was hypothesized drawing on related literature and accordingly using data; the logistic regression was estimated. Data cleaning process was also conducted prior to the analysis. RESULTS: The child labor force participation rate for all children between 10 and 14 years old was 1.7%, of which boys’ child labor rate was higher than girls’ (2.4% over 1%). As such, the mothers’ fertility rate and education were of the strongest, yet converse, effect on child labor supply in the country. CONCLUSION: A little proportion of children in less developed regions of Iran was suffering from child labor. However, given the diminishing and rising effects of, respectively, variables such as mothers’ literacy and working on the child labor; the authorities could restrict child labor attending more to such a group. The factors identified could also be of a high value for the policy-makers at both national and international level such as the Health and Welfare ministries, EMRO, ILO and UNICEF.