Impact of Early Work Experience on Egyptian Adolescents

The present study is a trial to investigate the impact of early work experience among Egyptian adolescents on their continuation in the educational system, and their future employment status. Data of Survey of Young People in Egypt, 2011 is utilized to achieve the study goals. About one-third of all adolescent interviewed in the survey has experienced a type of early work in their childhood period. Male adolescents are more exposed to join the early work experience 2.5 times higher than female. Early work experience is mainly motivated by the shortage of families’ income to finance the continuation of their children in educational system, and the mass need of families to raise their income. Only 20% of adolescents with early work experience have completed the secondary level. Early work experience may not lead to better opportunity to be employed in the future. The strength of unemployment is higher among females with early work experience than females without early work experience. Activating the laws of preventing children from work until age of 15 combined with reducing the burden of educational costs, especially for poor families will help in reducing the phenomena of early work experience among adolescent.