Child labour directly contributes to 11 per cent of the economic productivity of agricultural communities in Cote d'Ivoire, researchers say.

But a new study — which examines the lifestyles of more than a thousand children aged 6 to 14 years — shows that this work can have a negative impact on children's education.

The researchers, led by James A. Levine of the May Clinic in Rochester, United States, found that children who work are less likely to attend school, and that girls work 60 per cent longer than boys.

Poverty and low parental education play a key role in predicting child labour, they say.

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