Does Child Labour Have a Negative Impact on Child Education and Health? A Case Study in Rural Cambodia

Abstract

This paper examines whether child labour affects the acquisition of a child's human capital. For this purpose, a behavioural model in which child labour is itself a choice and simultaneous equation models with limited dependent variables are employed to examine the determinants of human capital formation and its relationship with child labour. No trade-off relationship could be found between child labour and child schooling attainment. However, it was found that child labour is not detrimental to a child's health and nutritional status; rather, it improves these if children work within a critical threshold level.

Reevaluating the relationship between education and child labour using the capabilities approach: Policy and implications for inequality in Cambodia

“…This work, however, depending on the type, can be just as dangerous and detrimental to children's well-being. While there is a general consensus that the worst forms of child labour are unacceptable, the effects of domestic and agricultural activities are more ambiguous (Edmonds and Pavcnik, 2005;Kana et al, 2010;Kim, 2009). What constitutes child labour in comparison to child work is circumstantial.…”

“…What constitutes child labour in comparison to child work is circumstantial. Some work may be detrimental, as much or more so than work in formal sectors, but some may also be beneficial depending on the amount and type of work performed (Edmonds and Pavcnik, 2005;Kana et al, 2010;Phoumin, 2008). For instance, child work may teach children valuable skills, provide useful experiences, promote autonomy, boost self-esteem or provide additional income to support schooling (Edmonds and Pavcnik, 2005).…”

“…Multiple factors, which will be discussed in more detail in the following sections, have caused low expectations of the school system, and thus, education often fails to be an attractive choice considering opportunity costs (Chansopheak, 2009;Dy, 2004b). Understanding the attractiveness of the educational system and its interplay with the most cited reasoning for children being out of school, child labour, is important to understanding how to keep children enrolled in school and improve completion rates (Kana et al, 2010). Furthermore, the relationship between education and child labour has serious implications for equality within the school system and larger society.…”

Communication Methods in Medical Practice

“…Kana, Phoumin and Seiichi [16] concluded after conducting household surveys in four rural Cambodian villages that child labour had a positive effect on children's school attainment. These villages relied heavily on farming as their main source of income.…”

“…These villages relied heavily on farming as their main source of income. It should be noted that Kana, Phoumin and Seiichi [16] conducted their research during the month of September when children engage in limited agricultural work-related tasks. Therefore, this could have resulted in under-reporting of working hours for the children.…”