The trade‐off between child labour and human capital formation: A Tanzanian case study

Akabayashi, Hideo; Psacharopoulos, George

doi:10.1080/00220389908422594

Cited by 142 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…There is stronger evidence that child labor lowers time spent in human capital production, even if it does not lower enrollment per se. Psacharopoulos (1997) and Sedlacek et al (2003) reported that child labor lowered years of school completed and Akabayashi and Psacharopoulos (1999) discovered that child labor lowered study time.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Labor and School Achievement in Latin America

Gunnarsson

Orazem

Sanchez

2006

The World Bank Economic Review

136

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Child labor's effect on academic achievement is estimated, using unique data on 3 rd and 4 th graders in 11 Latin American countries. Cross-country variation in truancy regulations provides an exogenous shift in the ages of children normally in these grades, providing exogenous variation in opportunity cost of child time. Least-squares estimates of the impact of child labor on test scores are biased downward, but corrected estimates are still negative and statistically significant. Child labor lowers math scores by 7.5 percent and language scores by 7 percent, consistent with estimates of the adverse impact of child labor on returns to schooling. 1 World Bank 2 Department of Economics, Iowa State University 3 InterAmerican Development Bank Wallace E. Huffman, and Robert E. Mazur of Iowa State University provided numerous comments and suggestions. The findings, interpretations and conclusions are the authors' own and should not be attributed to the World Bank or the InterAmerican Development Bank, their Boards of Directors or any of their member countries. 2 Child Labor and School Achievement in Latin America 1 IntroductionAbout one of every eight children in the world is engaged in market work. Despite general acceptance that child labor is harmful and despite international accords aimed at its eradication, progress on lowering the incidence of child labor has been slow. While often associated with poverty, child labor has persisted in some countries that have experienced substantial improvements in living standards. For example, Latin America, with several countries in the middle or middle upper income categories, still has child labor participation rates that are similar to the world average.Countries have adopted various policies to combat child labor. Most have opted for legal prohibitions, but these are only as effective as the enforcement. As many child labor relationships are in informal settings within family enterprises, enforcement is often difficult.Several countries, particularly in Latin America, have initiated programs that offer households an income transfer in exchange for the household keeping their children in school and/or out of the labor market.Presumably, governments invest resources to lower child time in the labor market in anticipation that the child will devote more time to acquisition of human capital. The government's return will come from higher average earnings and reduced outlays for poverty alleviation when the child matures. However, there is very little evidence that relates child labor to schooling outcomes in developing countries. Most children who work are also in school, suggesting that perhaps child labor does not lower schooling attainment. Additionally, studies that examine the impact of child labor on test scores have often found negligible effects, although most of these are in developed country contexts. More recently, Heady (2003), and 3 Rosati and Rossi (2001) have found some evidence that child labor lowers primary school test scores in developing countries...

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Labor and School Achievement in Latin America

Gunnarsson

Orazem

Sanchez

2006

The World Bank Economic Review

136

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“…In fact, in certain cases, it is shown that working minors also usually attend school (Admassie, 2003), suggesting that variables associated with academic performance are those that show us the impact of child labor on the minor's education (Buonomo, 2011). Furthermore, it is possible to take into account specific subjects or specific fields of the educational development that are differentially affected by child labor and its associated variables, for instance, mathematics and language (Akabayashi & Psacharopoulos, 1999;Cervini, 2005Cervini, , 2006Gunnarsson, Orazem, & Sánchez, 2006;Heady, 2000;Orazem & Gunnarsson, 2004). However, the majority of these cases are based on the results of standardized tests that evaluate these fields, rather than on obtaining direct or indirect data on the performance of the child laborer in the educational center.…”

Section: Child Labor and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of child labor on academic performance: Evidence from the program “Edúcame Primero Colombia”

Ramos

Jariego

Ramos

et al. 2014

International Journal of Educational Development

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In this study, the effects of different variables of child labor on academic performance are investigated. To this end, 3,302 children participating in the child labor eradication program "Edúcame Primero Colombia" were interviewed. The interview format used for the children's enrollment into the program was a template from which socioeconomic conditions, academic performance, and child labor variables were evaluated. The academic performance factor was determined using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The data were analyzed through a logistic regression model that took into account children who engaged in a type of labor (n=921). The results showed that labor conditions, the number of weekly hours dedicated to work, and the presence of work scheduled in the morning negatively affected the academic performance of child laborers. These results show that the relationship between child labor and academic performance is based on the conflict between these two activities. These results do not indicate a linear and simple relationship associated with the recognition of the presence or absence of child labor. This study has implications for the formulation of policies, programs, and interventions for preventing, eradicating, and attenuating the negative effects of child labor on the social and educational development of children.

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“…From the interview, we found that most of the Thami boys drop out from school when they are of high school age to earn money and support their family because this ethnic group is one of the highly marginalized ethnic groups in Nepal (Gellner, 2007). Many studies in developing countries have found a strong association of children's involvement in economic activities or household chores and their academic achievement (Akabayashi & Psacharopoulos, 1999;Heady, 2003;Lancaster & Ray, 2004). As existing literature has already established the poor links between number of siblings and educational performance (Downey, 1995), we also checked whether the number of siblings is associated with the English test score or not.…”

Section: International Journal Of Research Studies In Education 27mentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors determining English test score of high school students in rural Nepal

Neupane¹,

Thapa²,

Sapkota³

2017

IJRSE

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Due to globalization and internationalization of education, the importance of English language has been growing consistently. Like many other countries around the globe, English is taught as a compulsory subject from the primary level in Nepal. Despite continuous public and private efforts, achievement in English education is not satisfactory, especially in rural areas, due to numerous socio-cultural and other factors. Thus, this article explores some important determinants of English achievement of high school students in Rural Nepal.Through the questionnaire responses of 407 students from the four villages of Sindhupalchok district, which is explored using Cremer's V analysis, a strong association between students' English test score and their socio-cultural, family, school and personal factors was found.

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The trade‐off between child labour and human capital formation: A Tanzanian case study

Cited by 142 publications

References 8 publications

Child Labor and School Achievement in Latin America

Child Labor and School Achievement in Latin America

Impact of child labor on academic performance: Evidence from the program “Edúcame Primero Colombia”

Factors determining English test score of high school students in rural Nepal

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