Child labor, urban proximity, and household composition

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in Child Labor, Urban Proximity and Household CompositionMarcel Fafchamps Jackline Wahba The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit company supported by Deutsche Post World Net. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its research networks, research support, and visitors and doctoral programs. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. ABSTRACT Child Labor, Urban Proximity and Household Composition *Using detailed survey data from Nepal, this paper examines the determinants of child labor with a special emphasis on urban proximity. We find that children residing in or near urban centers attend school more and work less in total but are more likely to be involved in wage work or in a small business. The larger the urban center, the stronger the effect is. Urban proximity is found to reduce the workload of children and improve school attendance up to 3 hours of travel time from the city. In areas of commercialized agriculture located 3 to 7 hours from the city, children do more farm work. Urban proximity effects are accounted for by a combination of local labor supply and demand conditions, most notably the local importance of agriculture, the education level of the parents, and the local wage rate. Child servants, which represent a small proportion of all children, work much harder than other children and appear particularly at risk.JEL Classification: J10, J22, J24, J40, N35

How do low-income Kurdish migrant families in Turkey negotiate child/adolescent characteristics in child labor decisions? Insights from Kurdish mothers

“…However, contrary to the literature that suggests a strong correlation between child labor and birth order (Emerson and Souza, 2008;Fafchamps and Wahba, 2006), mothers' accounts showed that child birth order was not determinative. A child was not forced to work if he/she did not want to or could not find a job.…”

“…Blunch and Verner, 2000;Fafchamps and Wahba, 2006), children in Turkey are more likely to work as they get older (Dayıog˘lu, 2006;Dayıog˘lu and Assaad, 2003). In the urban child labor section of the ''Working Children 2006'' data, children in the 15-to-17 age group were more likely to work compared to children in the 12-to-14 and 6-to-11 age groups (Kıral and Tıraş , 2013).…”

Flexibility of Household Structure: Child Fostering Decisions in Burkina Faso

“…Most international development organizations and many researchers believe fostering has negative consequences for a child's welfare outcomes (Haddad and Hoddinott 1994;UNICEF 1999;Fafchamps and Wahba 2006). This negative view of fostering is often rationalized by arguing parents reap the benefits of the practice while children shoulder the costs (see Edmonds and Pavcnik 2005 and Suri and Boozer 2007 for a related discussion of parental agency and child labor).…”

Does Urbanization Affect Rural Poverty? Evidence from Indian Districts

“…Third, proximity to urban areas stimulates the nonfarm activities that are instrumental to agricultural trade (which is increased by urbanization), such as transport and marketing. Recent evidence from Asia provides strong support for the effect of cities in stimulating high-return nonfarm employment in nearby rural areas (Fafchamps and Shilpi 2003;Fafchamps and Wahba 2006;Deichmann et al 2008;Thanh et al 2008).…”