Parents of children aged 12 and older were asked how many hours their children had spent in the past week working outside the home for pay. Overall, 22.7 percent of children aged 12-17 had worked for pay; the parents of those who did work outside the home reported that their children worked an average of 11.2 hours.

Children in lower-income families are less likely to work for pay than children in higher-income families. Of 12- to 17-year-old children with family incomes below the poverty level, 15.7 percent worked for pay, compared to 20.9 percent of children with family incomes between 100 and 199 percent of poverty. Of children in higher-income families, approximately one quarter worked for pay: 26.7 percent of children aged 12-17 with family incomes between 200 and 399 percent of FPL and 24.9 percent of children with family incomes of 400 percent of FPL or more worked outside the home.

White children aged 12-17 were the most likely to work for pay: 27.2 percent did so, followed by 19.3 percent of multiracial children, 15.3 percent of Black children, 16.4 percent of children of other races, and 13.8 percent of Hispanic children in this age group.