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Credit Program Participation and Child Schooling in Rural Malawi

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  • Shimamura, Yasuharu
  • Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susana

Abstract

Summary We evaluate the impact of agricultural credit program participation on children's school attendance in rural Malawi. Our paired-site sampling survey reveals that credit uptake decreased school attendance by young girl children. This finding raises concerns that young girl children are exploited as child labor, either at home or in the field, when working adults become more involved in income-generating activities financed by credit. The data, however, do not show clear evidence for young girls staying at home to do household chores or working in the fields in households that obtained credit, but instead find simultaneous occurrence between attending school and taking responsibilities for domestic chores by young children. It would appear, therefore, that credit uptake delays the realization of this concurrence among young girl children and leads to delayed school enrollment.

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  • Shimamura, Yasuharu & Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susana, 2010. "Credit Program Participation and Child Schooling in Rural Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 567-580, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:4:p:567-580
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    16. Mwale, Martin Limbikani, 2022. "Unintended consequences of farm input subsidies: women’s contraceptive usage and knock-on effects on children," MPRA Paper 112689, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Bhuiya, Mohammad Monzur Morshed & Khanam, Rasheda & Rahman, Mohammad Mafizur & Nghiem, Son, 2019. "Microcredit participation and child schooling in rural Bangladesh: Evidence from a cross-sectional survey," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 293-301.
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    19. Meishan Jiang & Krishna P. Paudel & Fan Zou, 2020. "Do Microcredit Loans Do What They Are Intended To Do? A Case Study of the Credit Village Microcredit Programme in China," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 763-792, July.
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