Although children’s work has been much researched in Africa, the complex ways in which the
intersection of culture and gender shapes the type of work children do is less understood within
childhood studies. The main aim of this research was to explore the gendered perspectives and
experiences of work identifying the type, duration and range of productive and reproductive
work children perform, and exploring how the societal perspectives and attitudes towards
gendered social roles shape children’s work in rural Uganda. More concretely, the study
achieves the following interrelated objectives; a) to explore family and societal expectations
from the children, b) to find out the different work roles or tasks performed by children, c) how
the community in Rakai perceive children’s contributions towards the community and d) to
explore how girls and boys combine work, play and leisure.