Employment patterns and work injury experience among Canadian 12 to 14 year olds

BACKGROUND: Work participation is a common activity for young adolescents. Yet it may impact upon other aspects of their lives and their health. We sought to provide some of the first Canadian population-based estimates of 12 to 14 year olds' employment and work injury experiences, a group typically excluded from labour force statistics. METHODS: Secondary data analysis of school-based surveys in Ontario (ON) in 2003 and British Columbia (BC) in 2005. Questions provided information on participation in formal and informal work during the school year, number of hours worked, and the occurrence of a medically attended work injury for students 12 to 14 years old. Different sampling strategies were accounted for in the analyses, including the calculation of 95% confidence intervals (CI) on prevalence estimates. RESULTS: Overall, 52.9% (95% CI 48.7-57.1) of ON and 41.5% (39.7-43.3) of BC 12 to 14 year olds reported working during the school year. Mean hours per week ranged from 3.3 (2.5-4.0) among Ontario 12 year olds engaged in non-formal work up to 11.7 (10.0-13.3) among British Columbia 14 year olds engaged in formal work. Work injuries were reported by 6% (4.0-8.9) of ON young workers and 3.5% (2.6-4.8) of BC workers. INTERPRETATION: Our findings point to the active presence of young adolescents in the labour market. Systematic approaches to active surveillance of work participation and work health and safety for young adolescents across Canada should be developed. Differences in work injury patterns by province may be worthy of further investigation