In turn, adolescents tend to seek or sustain work that can be detrimental to their own well-being (Mkandawire et al., In contexts where old systems, modernity and economic stress collide, and the former support structures to parents have given way, it is possible that practices for rearing children may become harsher and neglect may increase. However adolescents may continue trying to earn through activities that pose health and social risks where they are expected to co-provide for younger siblings alongside mothers or older relatives, especially in small, fragile (and often mobile) family units.